C/D: the clientele

I note that even a thread about Tim H's favourite band hasn't succeeded in making him post here again, sadly.

they sort of skirt the edge of self-parody with all the "mrs jones"/"rain" references. jess and i had a joke going about this once upon a time. jess likes them too.

Not quite - Innes (Relict main man) used to be in The Clientele some years back but not since I've known them ('99). It's true that the rest of The Clientele appear on Relict recordings.

Is it me, or does anyone else think that if someone took out all the upbeat pop songs off their all albums, took the remaining slower, sadder, melodic stuff off (e.g. As Night Is Falling, The Violet Hour, policeman getting lost etc.) and put it all one one album, it would be the best thing ever made? As opposed to just really good, of course.

i don't, but that's because i like the upbeat stuff better

I love virtually everything I've heard from them. CLASSIC.

what is the thing that is coming out on acuarela?

Suburban Light is one of my favorite albums of this decade.

Alright, my above comment was unfair. They have as much good upbeat stuff as slow stuff, and I really really hate to say it but they could have done with taking some of their songs off their albums. That is to say, they could have released some impeccable EP's, rather than really good albums.

Still love them nonetheless. I also thought they were a hip-hop group the first time I heard of them.

The Violet Hour is utterly flawless from start to finish. The only song I could possibly see being taken from it might be House on Fire but even if it seems like it could be removed I suspect the truth is something terrible might happen to that perfect, perfect record if you did.

always meant to check these guys out. this has piqued my interest

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uE2YCGxh31Q&feature=related

Nice article in the LA Times today:

http://www.latimes.com/theguide/music/la-et-clientele5-2010mar05,0,2867627.story

thanks for this article. it points out that i've been mis-pronouncing the band's name for years. i've said "cl I entele," but in fact it's "cl EE entele."

Well, if you're American, you would in fact correctly pronounce it "cl I entele," because that's how that word is pronounced in an American English dialect.

excited about Alasdair MacLean's side-project. his fluttery style of guitar playing seems a perfect match for this type of music. thus far, there's no samples of the group's output, unfortunately.

huh, does the English press really think they sound American? They're like the most British band in the world!

yeah, ^^^^^^ this.

Amor de Dias have samples up here: http://www.amordedias.com/

I got the impression that the British press didn't give a shit about them. I can't wait to hear that Amor de Dias album!

yeah i think they sound ultra brit. when i think of the american version of that folk informed chamber shit i think pernice bros.

totally dig those samples. thank you. any word on what label will release the album?

how is the new ep ?

It's not strictly the Clientele, and it's not quite six years since anyone asked me to post on this thread, but I'm proud to say I've been involved in releasing the first available Amor De Dias song, one of six songs on an EP. It's wonderful.

Details here: http://hangoverlounge.blogspot.com/2010/08/hangover-lounge-10-ep-now-available.html

(If you don't want to take my word for it - and frankly why should you? - we'll be streaming some bits and pieces from the EP on that blog over the next week or so.)

i'm incredibly excited to hear this. i'm also encouraged to read that the clientele are releasing a new EP in october, which suggests to me that, contrary to earlier reports, the last album may not be their last work together.

if i may ask, what's your connection to the clientele?

I'm just a long-term fan (and I hope friend) of the band!

My connection to the release is as one of the people who runs The Hangover Lounge every Sunday, but I won't bore you with that.

I note that mp3 copies of the new EP are to be given away free with tickets to the show in early September - coo!

Ordered it yesterday, looking forward to it arriving.

first(?) Amor De Dias release available to listen to here (for a while):

http://www.mergerecords.com/store/store_detail.php?catalog_id=792

liked the mp3 that surfaced a little while ago. kind of like charlotte gainsbourg fronting the clientele.

amor de dias are playing tonight in london for free, 18:30 at the national portrait gallery(!)

http://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/late-shift-1/music-series-amor-de-dias1.php

for the quietest band on earth, i found this too loud (had only ever heard them unamplified before). the string sound was a bit harsh.

that said, they played in front of this and this

http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portraitLarge/mw00166/The-Somerset-House-Conference-1604
http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portraitLarge/mw02079/Queen-Elizabeth-I-The-Ditchley-portrait

400 years old...

they play again tonight at the bull and gate - http://www.clubfandango.co.uk/gig.php?id=2062

bit of a comedown... 8)

that show tonight was supposed to be on a thames riverboat with laetia sadier on the bill, which wouldn't have been such a comedown. i like the amor de dias record a lot but i wonder what it's failure to set the world alight augurs for the clientele.

why should it mean anything? it's a side-project, that got little fanfare.

clientele were thinking of breaking-up anyway, IIRC. that would be sad. every record has been beautiful and moving.

Just got through 4 Clientele albums in a row on Spotify. They have a pleasant sound, but it seemed to me like every song was virtually identical in tone and tempo. Confused a bit by the strong love for this band.

they take a while to sink in. give the violet hour a few more spins.

Strange Geometry was the peak, imo

Legit question

I think maybe there's a thread for that? Or it's discussed upthread.

Recently I've gotten a similar vibe from deerhunter's fading frontier

But the short answer is no nothing

There's just nothing quite as sophisticated and tuneful. Melodic indie rock, even the more sonically consistent bands in that category like Real Estate don't seem to have the effortless complexity and even-handedness Clientele has. Everyone else is "trying" in different ways and Clientele never had to in the first place. Their music goes well with similar things in other categories, like charming old houses and pretty gardens, things that are undeniable.

Which Durutti Column song, koogs?

i was going to say Real Estate but their thing is a little different.

> Which Durutti Column song, koogs?

Is there more than one? The guitary one.

(I did recognise it but am terrible with names)

well, it was either the missing boy or the guitary one.

(Devil Got My Woman by Skip James was the other cover btw)

wow, i'd love to hear Alasdair's interpretation of that one!
my band has a song I wrote as a kinda clientele inspired thing, but i'm not sure if it actually comes across that way.

DGMW was on the flip of one of the strange Geometry singles iirc.

The Swedish band Cocoanut Groove had a bit of a Clientele thing going on for a while.

wow, i'd love to hear Alasdair's interpretation of that one!

There's a link to mp3s of a couple versions here that still work.

oh nice, thanks!

kinda jansch-y

I like the dreamy b-side version, but the KEXP one has its appeal too

reminder: alasdair's playing as part of daylight music at the union chapel tomorrow. starts at 12.

http://store.unionchapel.org.uk/about/events/5-nov-16-daylight-music-237-union-chapel/

New album and new song out, which sounds autumnally awesome to me!

http://pitchfork.com/news/the-clientele-announce-first-new-album-in-7-years-share-new-song-listen/?mbid=homepage-more-latest-and-video

aaaaawesome!

That is very exciting news. Love the title and the artwork.

fantastic... hope there is a North American tour with the new album

edit, guess I should have clicked through to the Merge website. Very excited to see that they're coming to the west coast in the fall.

niiiiiice, TO show on Halloween!

album's very good, i <3 "everyone you meet"

Has there been any discussion of the new album since it came out? I like it overall, though even after many listens I'm still having distinguishing songs from each other.

Discussion here:

The Clientele - Best Band Since The Smiths