S/D: David Kilgour / The Clean

no haven't heard that. but new Clean song available on pfork!

yeahhhh it sounds sweet! latter day Clean should not be overlooked!

New Clean album - "Mister Pop" is at least half utter brilliance and the rest is solid and will likely grow on me.

I pulled out Stephen's "Radar Of Small Dogs" and it's really great, I had completely forgotten it. Pity Flying Nun can't get their act together and reissue more from the vaults.

Good grief does the title track of "Here Come the Cars" act as a perfect destressing balm or what.

ooh, I need that record. Is it available anywhere other than Amazon? Selling for $36 there ...

Looks like you can get it for rather cheaper here:

http://www.newzealandcds.com/products.asp?product_id=1000

Here's his overall 'buy stuff' page for reference:

http://www.davidkilgour.com/buy-stuff.htm

Haha, bless their hearts, they link to a number of my AMG reviews.

oh, nice, thanks Ned!
Just discovered this Kilgour band: http://rootstrata.com/rootblog/?p=2171
Dunno if that CD is out of print or what, but you can grab it there.

just pulled out my stephen cd last week! mostly really good. the first tune gets me every time.

also pulled out & the heavy eights for the first time in a long while. "diggin for gold"!

so awesome!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3Q6lFP47FE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_TUP_d1nIo&feature=related

All of David's solo albums are great in different ways. "The Far Now" just satisfies the soul...

I should rate his solo albums but in many ways they've each been somewhat better than the previous, with the exception of The Heavy Eights album which is my favorite of all, and also not counting the False Alarms demo comp. A Feather In The Engine is really slept on, and vies with Heavy Eights for my favorite some days.

i wanted to hear 'today is gonna be mine' the other day + the internet failed me

Feather in the Engine is maybe my fave solo release of his, pretty perfect throughout. Especially love "All The Rest" -- when I saw him play with Lambchop as his backing band (2002?) the guitar break on that one was immense. still need to get a few ... never heard Frozen Orange for some reason. Those Clean vids are amazing.

frozen orange is . . . nice enough. don't get me wrong; it's totally worth hearing. but the edges are a little smoothed out compared to earlier stuff

does David still live in NZ? is he alright? has he been accounted for in the earthquake?

yikes, hope he's ok.
this just landed in my inbox! good news:
David Kilgour and the Heavy Eights will release their new album Left By Soft on CD and digital download April 26th!

Left by Soft was recorded in the Catlins, about two hours south of Dunedin, New Zealand, in an old lodge surrounded by native bush, birds, and the sea. David spent about a week down there with the Heavy Eights. Thomas Bell engineered and produced but also played bass AND cooked the band awesome meals every night. After chilling out most mornings, the band would start recording mid afternoon into the night. Apart from a couple of overblown tracks, they kept overdubs to a minimum and when mixing left most takes as is—no cleaning up via Pro Tools editing, etc.

“To me, it sounds like the band on a good night, warts and all,” says Kilgour. “It’s probably the first real “band” LP I’ve made since Frozen Orange or the David Kilgour and the Heavy 8’s LP from the mid ’90s.”

David Kilgour is a guitar god for guitar atheists. He’s worthy of worship, but his style neither demands nor expects it, all of which only serves to increase his otherworldly cool. Left by Soft, his first album in four years with the Heavy Eights, comes on the heels of the Clean’s excellent 2009 outing, Mister Pop. You could say it’s all part of a late-career renaissance, but that implies there’s been some sort of valley in his 30 years of making music. This time, there are more of the elegantly chiming chords and beautifully drifting solos, all presented with Kilgour’s sparkling pop sensibilities.

The Heavy Eights are Taane Tokona on drums, Tony de Raad on guitar and keyboards, and Thomas Bell on bass and keyboards. David plays guitar, keyboards, and harmonica. Mike McCloud from Shifting Sands guests on “I’ll Climb Back Up That Hill.”

greeneyedowl has uploaded some great stuff to youtube. i remember sitting behind david and hamish in the theater watching 'to die for' trying to see when they laughed, if they laughed, hamish always looks so serious.

David Kilgour is a guitar god for guitar atheists.

yes.

and yes--those Clean videos on youtube are fantastic.

new song is great -- looking forward to the album.

I think David lives in Dunedin which is about 5 hours from Christchurch so he should be unaffected by this.

Had missed the revive last month. Can't wait for this!

just one listen in to the new one, but it sounds amazing. more soloing than the last few, i think, which i approve of. love everything this guy touches, but this one might be a cut above the usual.

Point That Thing Somewhere Else, just the other day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dQRJkKv7E0

I love "Nail In My Foot'

Is it wrong, or is it right to be a beatnik???

sweet clip! long live the clean!

just one listen in to the new one, but it sounds amazing

Tyler, old bean, you got an advance copy? Jealous!!

You know, "Autumn Sun" really sounds like Kilgour and company doing a hell of a tribute song to the Church, in their own way. It's more like a parallel approach but it's kinda weird how I can't hear it any other way!

that sounds fantastic. when's the new one out? is it with the heavy eight again?

Out next week officially, and yes with the Crazy Eights. Am reviewing it for the AMG and it's almost like he's found his own personal Crazy Horse at this point.

hadn't thought of the church comparison, but it makes sense now that you mention it. i posted my rave over here: http://ow.ly/4BhjG

oh my god that sounds awesome. can't wait to read ned's too and pick this up proper

this is really great. on first listen anyway

Really looking forward to this

"purple balloon" is very very pretty

yeah, it's perfect. it's the sort of song that *sounds* easy and effortless, but i don't think anyone except kilgour could do it.

album of the year, etc.

it's the sort of song that *sounds* easy and effortless, but i don't think anyone except kilgour could do it.

Completely agree, after just one listen. I can't say I'm blown away by this, let's see how it stacks up after repeated listens, but it's at least yet another solid release from a man who seemingly can't do wrong. Really, is there a single dud in his catalog, even his side projects? No. Impressive after 30 years!

the last two clean albums have been pretty dud.

They've had some misses but by no means are they duds - "Mister Pop" was half great and half meh, that's not a dud in my book.

I love David Kilgour but also agree that he seems to have reached some sort of comfort zone with his work. He is great at creating texture and atmosphere but often is not so good at constructing a song. Give me Robert Scott's compositions any day. Kilgours lyrics are typically vague and almost unnecessary. I know he is a kind of sacred cow and all but I do think he is coasting. Good luck to him though, why shouldn't he be relaxing?

nice onion review

http://www.avclub.com/articles/david-kilgour-and-the-heavy-eights-left-by-soft,55411/

haven't heard the new one, but this thread inspired me to break out unknown country. fun album.

"Mister Pop" was half great and half meh, that's not a dud in my book.
yeah i agree -- from what i understand, clean albums these days are pretty loose affairs, like they kind of go into recording without even knowing the songs all that well (or at all)? So there's room for both brilliance and missteps. It's probably the right approach, though. The main thing with the Clean is just their sound.
still loving the new kilgour -- definitely my go-to "turn it up loud in the house" record for this spring.

yeah there's something about the guitar tone that's really thick and satisfying. good record!

i think all of the clean albums have been like that, show up and press record. they just seemed to be better at before. it might be that robert scott is finally out of songs and this is affecting the overall quality of the clean. i could be attributing too much to him, but the last couple of Bats records have been pretty dull too, trend, but then I like that recent song he did with Adalita Srsen although I'd rather he had done it with Jane Sinnott.

man, the Clean In-A-Live EP is sooooo good. is there a recording of the full show floating around out there? help a dude out!

https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/130639132/police-searching-for-awardwinning-kiwi-musician-last-seen-four-days-ago?fbclid=IwAR2z64QdKt1bo8xQ32JkxPHv86ino-LA7qIVKksEXUqeRqwTsfBXlVffW9Q&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

Not good. Hamish Kilgour missing for 4 days