the chills c/d?

Kiran’s a great follow on Twitter, not surprised she came up with that list.

oh shit, I didn't even realize the new album was out!

The new album's another solid winner.

seems the record store's having trouble keeping it on the shelves! I'll try again in a few days

I love the sequencing of Scatterbrain -- the first half's mortality suite, then the second's return to earthly things, like he's granting permission. We're each alone, and yet.

(it's a fantastic album, which I assume they'll re-release once they come up with a conforming title for it)

― fbclid=fhAZ3l (f. hazel), Friday, January 29, 2021 12:55 AM (seven months ago) bookmarkflaglink

Simply, Brave

Spaceless: Bravewords

He once said it would be Braver Words.

Suave Words

It never ceases to amaze me just how many incredible songs continue to flow from this old school crew of New Zealanders. Just dozens and dozens and dozens.

(I'm including not just Martin Phillipps but David Kilgour, Robert Scott, et al.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUTp4eBokNo

So good.

Chills are playing two shows at City Winery in NY - some inexpensive seats available thanks to a labor day sale.

Weird that their website, or what appears to be their website, doesn't list a Chicago show, but they are coming here as well.

Turns out the upcoming tour is celebrating the 30th anniversary of Soft Bomb, at least according to City Winery's listings. Strange because their website lists it as the "2022 Scatterbrain Storms Tour"

New 3 track EP out on Bandcamp today.

I wish I could muster up some enthusiasm for the last 3 LPs but, while they're fine, it all just blends in my head. Nothing thrilling jumps out at me.

I'm actually not familiar with anything past Soft Bomb - I generally just listen to the three CD's I have: Kaleidoscope World (original CD pressing, not the later one with even more bonus tracks), Submarine Bells and Soft Bomb (which is interesting to hear using Christgau's suggested re-sequencing). Anything else I should check out?

I'd suggest to check/get the expanded Kaleidoscope World as I think that includes The Lost EP, which is essential imo

I don't recall "Sunburnt" being particularly good, but I really like "Silver Bullets" and "Snow Bound," and the new songs were great live. "Scatterbrain" didn't click with me the couple of times I listened to it, so I should go back.

The last two albums are almost as good as their best imo.

Brave Words still their highpoint for me but do people not like it or something? I know it's difficult to find nowadays.

Nothing the band has done is bad, imo, but iirc "Brave Words" was considered a little bit of a letdown after the initial salvo of singles and EPs. And definitely compared to "Submarine Bells."

I also recall a pretty muted reception for Brave Words, but the few songs I've heard from it ("Rain", "Night of Chill Blue") are among their very best. Wish I had snapped up a copy when it was an indie record store mainstay.

The songs are great (Dan Destiny!) but I think there was some issue with the production or mixing?

"Brave Words" was considered a little bit of a letdown after the initial salvo of singles and EPs. And definitely compared to "Submarine Bells."

wow, cannot get my head around this, as somebody for whom "Submarine Bells" was a letdown after "Brave Words," which remains the Chills I come back to.

Yes, it's better than Submarine Bells.

"Brave Words" was considered a little bit of a letdown after the initial salvo of singles and EPs. And definitely compared to "Submarine Bells."

This was definitely true at the time. "Brave Words" is very good, and shows Martin has matured as a songwriter after the punky early singles, but the reception was mixed. "Submarine Bells" was feted in the press and by fans as a major achievement, though personally I feel that "Soft Bomb" is the one that is completely underrated. I almost got into a car accident the first time I heard "Male Monster From The ID" on the radio, so transfixed was I. "Sunburnt" has the keyboards mixed way too high and loud and distract from the solid songwriting ("Come Home" is particularly great, should've been used over a romcom movie montage). "Sketchbook" is a set of demo which is surprisingly good. And it's a pity that "Secret Box" was so limited, it's chock full of brilliance.

Brave Words is my fave too, but I think the production was controversial. I think Martin Phillips himself dislikes it which is why it's hard to get. There's talk of a remix and reissue, which would be interesting.

I really like the production on Brave Words. Yes, it's muddy and muffled but that adds to the mystique as far as I'm concerned. Like Submarine Bells too but Brave Words is one of the top albums of the 80s for me.

I mean given that it came out in the same year as Hüsker Dü's Warehouse album the production doesn't seem too bad. Maybe they were after a pro 80s sound or somesuch, thankfully they picked Mayo Thompson to produce so that was never likely to happen.

Thanks for all the suggestions and yes, they are trying to remix it, but apparently they posted this a year ago:

THE CHILLS - BRAVE WORDS UPDATE

Very good news indeed! We are working with Martin and The Chills on a new reissue of Brave Words. As per Martin's instagram post above, we have most of the original multi-track tapes and these have have been digitised via the Alexander Turnbull Library. Work is underway on these tracks, but we still need to locate the third reel. As Martin says above, we are asking anyone who worked or recorded at The Point Studios, Belgravia, London in the late’80s to have a think and a look around just in case it can be located. We may have gotten to the bottom of this already, but if anyone has any further information please email us enquir✧✧✧@flying✧✧✧.c✧.n✧. Stand by, more release details and other info will be announced in the coming months.

(Anybody know if they ever found that missing reel?)

I should add that post came from Flying Nun. If by some miracle someone has an answer and can help them, the email address is: enquiries AT flyingnun DOT co DOT nz

yea pretty sure Brave Worlds is getting remixed/mastering process as we speak

Speaking of Flying Nun:

https://thirdmanrecords.com/collections/books/products/needles-and-plastic-flying-nun-records-1981-1988-special-edition

The remix is done - coming in 2023

https://www.facebook.com/thechills/posts/pfbid02riVuWeUu1hFzvQcvx5MCmP3Mqa2UhEp74G8pzJUa7v5o5WBMREWHsTK7tSnywRe8l

Excellent show tonight, though I was surprised that the late show was pretty empty compared to the early show.

Apparently they weren't sure what to call the tour, so you can ignore the "30th anniversary of Soft Bomb" label, it's basically a standard "fan favorites + stuff from the latest album" setlist.

Forgot to mention, it sounds like they’re in the process of releasing or recording ‘80s songs that were left on the shelf and they performed one called “Stay Longer” that was a highlight - the instrumental break alone was gorgeous.

Found this long interview with Phillipps for a New Zealand publication that's pretty excellent. They go into the unreleased songs project as well.

https://0800phantom.co.nz/martin-phillipps-chuffed-and-chilled-out/

Q: I notice that you did record an old song, ‘Lost in Space’ that goes back to your early days on that cassette Fire Records issued in 2016, Single-Burger…

A: Yeah, there’s a live version on Secret Box. (A three CD package of rarities, it had two limited press runs of 500 copies each.) Essentially because we didn’t get to record our first album for seven years there are at least two albums of Chills stuff that never got recorded. We’ve been talking seriously about making use of this downtime while we can’t tour overseas, and just nail those old songs one at a time and basically record what would've been the ’82 Chills album and the ’84 one.

I’m hoping that happens, there’s a lot of really good material. There are other things like ‘I Saw Your Silhouette’ and ‘Frozen Fountain’ and ‘Juicy Creaming Soda’, ’Steinlager’ crappy title but I have a different set of lyrics for it and it’s called ‘Stay Longer’. I reckon getting members of the old bands and the new bands together in a good relaxed environment, listen to the tape a few times, learn the songs and bash them out with as much of the old equipment we can find, not dwell on it too much, that would be a dream to finally record those.

Looks like the Chills cancelled their Detroit and Toronto shows due to exhaustion. They flew 16 hours into NYC then played two back-to-back shows the next day, so it's not that surprising. Hopefully Martin's voice will recover in time for Chicago.

Also *cough* http://wilfullyobscure.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-chills-secret-box-1980-2000-2001.html

huh. I was considering seeing them Friday, but had decided to sit this one out.

I see they're playing at Sleeping Village which actually feels like a venue for rock music whereas City Winery in NY is almost too posh and gentile, especially the new location which makes it feel more like a sprawling restaurant on the Hudson that happens to have a stage in the main dining room.

Menus alone couldn't be more different. A ton of beer (Pabst Blue Ribbon on top) vs. lots of fine wines and $30 salads and entrees.

Yeah, Sleeping Village. It's kind of a pain for me to get to.

DC show is at a City Winery that wants to be posh, but is simply overpriced for everything

Do people avoid City Winery because of the expensive menu? I know you don't have to buy anything, but I wonder if people do feel pressured into ordering something off the menu. As mentioned, it's not cheap beers or anything, you can easily spend more on food and wine than the show itself.

I like the City Winery, it's civilized! I don't order alcohol and get one dish and the cost is acceptable.

they played Austin last night it was pretty great... wish more people had turned up because they sounded really good. hope they get to tour again over the next few years so I have to chance to experience some different set lists. a lot of the newer songs sounded better than the classics!

It's been low turnouts (and as a result some bargain ticket promotions - $15 in L.A. IIRC) which is disappointing but I think the tour wasn't publicized well. I didn't even know they were playing at Baby's All Right in Brooklyn until I saw a post from someone else who's been following them closely. Unless you're actively following the Chills on social media, it's probably easy to miss word of these shows.

I noted somewhere else I think but that's been another effect of the death of alt weeklies and music journalism in general. no press, no previews, no listings or ads ...