The Church - a reassessment

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Guy E, Aug 12, 2006.

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  1. Guy E

    Guy E Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Antalya, Turkey
    My wife and I went to see The Church on Thursday night in NYC and it was a wonderful concert. Generous of spirit and music. They performed on acoustic guitars with electric bass; the drummer played with tympani mallets and the group was fleshed-out with occasional piano and harp (the string instrument, although Koppes also blew some harmonica). But this was not a "precious" acoustic concert... they rocked mightily.

    I had followed them early on and lost interest by the end of the Arista years. I bought Uninvited, Like The Clouds on a whim a few months ago and have been going back through their catalogue. Since Peter Koppes rejoined and Tim Powles took over the drum stool in 1998 they've really been on a roll; Hologram of Baal, After Everything Now This, Forget Yourself and Uninvited are all solid, solid albums. Those have alternated with worthy counterpoint projects; the covers album A Box of Birds, the remix album Parallel Universe (with bonus CD of After Everything outtakes) and last year's acoustic El Momento Descuidado, not to mention some Internet-only releases.

    Let's hear it for The Church. They're just about the last guitar-slingers of their generation standing. What a pleasure to find them standing so confident and proud.
     
  2. Pinknik

    Pinknik Senior Member

    I always thought I should check out The Church, 'cause I bought the 3" CD single of Under the Milkyway, which had a couple of other tracks on it, and I really liked all 3 of them. I just never did. Maybe now . . .
     
  3. Gregory Earl

    Gregory Earl Senior Member

    Location:
    Kantucki
    I saw "The Church" a couple of times back in the early 80's. Excellent shows. And excellent albums as well. Always been a big fan. Good to hear they are still making great music.
     
  4. cdice

    cdice New Member

    Location:
    U.S.
    I'm not really familiar with The Church, except for the "Under the Milky Way" song. If there was one Church album I should buy to get my feet wet, what would you guys recommend?
     
  5. Blair G.

    Blair G. Senior Member

    Location:
    Delta, BC, Canada
    I'd start with Starfish, the album Milky Way came from.
     
  6. bonjo

    bonjo Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I'd start with Blurred Crusade or Starfish. Blurred Crusade came out way back in 1982 and has a 60's sort-of-jingle-jangle guitar psychedelia sound which they would develop over the next few records..Starfish came out in '87 and includes Milky Way, and it's also when their headier/trippier sound started to slowly take over.
     
  7. seg763

    seg763 Forum Resident

    Location:
    NJ
    Heyday, Priest = Aura and Hologram of Baal are good too as is the disc of their 3 eps Sing songs/Persia/Remote Luxury

    I've seen them live 4 or 5 times including the first night of a 2 night stand at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC in 99 or 2000, the 2nd night Steve Kilbey was arrested for trying to buy herion in the east village and the band had to proceed as a trio.
     
  8. Guy E

    Guy E Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Antalya, Turkey
    I'd recommend starting with their current album Uninvited, Like The Clouds. It plays to all their strengths and like I said above, how many bands are making solid albums 25 years on? If you like that one you might volley back and forth with earlier and later albums... there're some pretty good deals on Amazon if you're interested. I honestly can't say I like Starfish all that much (too slick) and I think it's currently OOP so it would be a hard one to find. The Blurred Crusade and Seance were my favorite of their early albums, Priest=Aura harkened a new group dynamic in 1992, but then they pared-down to the duo of Kilbey & Wilson-Piper for a couple albums.

    I'd recommend their last four albums from 1998 on that I mentioned in my first post... one at a time of course to see if they're to your taste. They occasionally evoke the more muscular efforts of pre-Dark Side PF... Obscured By Clouds and Meddle, especially when Marty Wilson-Piper is singing.

    I started reading Kilbey's blog after Grant McLennan (of The Go-Betweens) died - he and Grant did a couple of albums as a duo called Jack Frost and he expressed some heartfelt thoughts. Kilbey has talked long and candidly about his heroin addiction (he certainly doesn't recommend it). I'd never heard about his being busted in NYC.
     
  9. Metralla

    Metralla Joined Jan 13, 2002

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    I'd recommend "After Everything - Now This". I have the latest one "Uninvited, Like The Clouds", which is also good, but has not yet reached the same ranking in my mind as "After Everything - Now This". Listen to the last (quite long) song on that CD - superb.
     
  10. Guy E

    Guy E Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Antalya, Turkey
    After Everything Now This is probably the most deliberately accomplished album of their current run; recorded in Sweden and Australia over a period of a couple years the album establishes a wonderfully consistent dreamscape of guitar psych-pop. Univited, Like the Clouds is more varied in tempo and instrumentation, Forget Yourself is harder-edged, Hologram of Baal... is just pretty darned perfect all around.

    I am finding myself enjoying these recent albums more than I ever enjoyed the earlier ones.
     
  11. Blair G.

    Blair G. Senior Member

    Location:
    Delta, BC, Canada
    "Sometime Anywhere" from '94 is also good. Fly Home is a killer track.
     
  12. Jack Son #9 Dream

    Jack Son #9 Dream lofi hip hop is good

    Location:
    U.S.A.
    These are some of my favorite Church tunes:

    "Radiance"
    "Don't You Fall"
    "Chromium"
    "Lustre"
    "Fly Home"
    "Constant In Opal"
    "For A Moment We're Strangers"
    "Anyway" (cd single b-side)

    I could list a dozen more off the solo albums:

    "Swan"
    "Even Though You Are My Friend"
    "Pretty Ugly, Pretty Sad"
    "Surrealist Woman Blues"
    "Shell"
    "Soft Murder"
    "Winter Splinter Bay"
    "Life's Little Luxuries"
    "Sleep With Me"
    "Too Round To Be Square"

    They're on tour right now. :)
     
  13. cdice

    cdice New Member

    Location:
    U.S.
    Thanks for the recommendations. I think I begin looking for "Starfish" and go from there. With the 'hit' song on it, and the CD being out of print, maybe this could be an Audio Fidelity project? Gold disc?
     
  14. eelkiller

    eelkiller One of the great unwashed

    Location:
    Northern Ontario
    The Aussie versions of the albums have some great bonus material.

    Avoid the Raven compilation which is NR'ed to death.
     
  15. seg763

    seg763 Forum Resident

    Location:
    NJ
    The Jack Frost albums are great
     
  16. Dusty Chalk

    Dusty Chalk Grounded Space Cadet

    I love the Church. They always have been a "blank check" band for me (would buy anything they put out sight unseen), but have to agree with your assessment that their last few albums have been incredibly solid albums. I, personally, especially like Hologram of Baal and After Everything, Now This.

    Unfortunately, I missed them this tour.
     
  17. beatlebum

    beatlebum Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hannover, Germany
    My favorite Church albums:

    Of Skins And Heart
    The Blurred Crusade
    Seance
    Remote Luxury
     
  18. Guy E

    Guy E Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Antalya, Turkey
    It’s unusual for me to rediscover a band that I’ve stopped following and to have multiple albums to digest at once; eight if you include Box of Birds, Parallel Universe, El Momento and the internet & gigs-only Back With Two Beasts, an album of Uninvited outtakes. If I’d bought the albums in sequence I might agree that Hologram of Baal was a major return to form, After Everything an impressive refinement and feel that Forget Yourself and Uninvited didn’t really break much new ground or improve significantly on the formula. As it is, I like all four more or less equally with a soft spot for the harder-edged Forget Yourself and a tip towards Uninvited; I just like the variety on that one. It features typically strong guitar work, but also acoustic guitar and mandolin in spots, a few guest instrumentalists and some electronic touches… a nice mix all around.

    I liked the direct jangle-psych-pop of Blurred Crusade and thought Séance was a strong third album… I don’t generally like it when guitar bands use synthesizers, but the keyboard and electronic touches on Séance were fine. Remote Luxury and Heyday did not disappoint. But I’m really impressed with the artistic growth that The Church has shown in the past decade. Wilson-Piper and Koppes are more expressive guitarists than they were in the mid-80’s and they haven’t lost their sense of adventure. There’s a wonderfully rich palette of guitar sounds at work on their recent albums. The group compositions sound like real songs and Kilbey is an appealing (primary) lyricist and vocalist.

    Well, I’m mostly preaching to the previously converted here, but I’m having trouble containing my enthusiasm. :thumbsup:
     
  19. Jack Son #9 Dream

    Jack Son #9 Dream lofi hip hop is good

    Location:
    U.S.A.
    Their level of creativity seems endless. Kilbey has an incredible ability to contiuously come up with awesome lyrics. Doesn't he ever get writer's block? :p

    Picking a favorite album is truly impossible for me. Seriously, I wouldn't know where to start. I would just say if you really like the songs you've heard just take the plunge and get their whole catalog. Even their b-sides are interesting.

    There was a period when they lost Ploog and Koppes and I thought it was going to be all over. Then they get Powles in there and Koppes returned and sometimes I think their music is better now than it ever was in their "heyday."
     
  20. avalanche

    avalanche Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    How are the Australian 2-disc remasters?
     
  21. seg763

    seg763 Forum Resident

    Location:
    NJ

    I bought and quickly sold Starfish, it was expensive, I don't remember the album proper sounding any better than my original Arista cd and the 2nd disc had stuff that I already had most of (a lot was on 'A Quick Smoke At Spots' a cd of bsides and rarities)
     
  22. Guy E

    Guy E Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Antalya, Turkey
    That's where I'm coming from and how many bands from their generation can you say that about? Or from any generation 25-years into their career? It's an extremely short list.
     
  23. seg763

    seg763 Forum Resident

    Location:
    NJ
    Steve Wynn (of The Dream Syndicate), putting out some of his best stuff in the last 5 years.
     
  24. Guy E

    Guy E Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Antalya, Turkey
    Well, maybe I'll have to rediscover him too.

    I actually had a dialogue with Steve Wynn a year or two ago. I'd taped The Dream Syndicate's show at Maxwell's (in Hoboken) during their first East Coast tour back in 1983. It had some historic value (being the original line-up) and also sounded pretty good so when I did a CDR transfer twenty-odd years later I got his address and sent him a copy. He really liked it and posted one of the songs on his website. He was extremely appreciative and a real gentleman all around.

    The Church also played Maxwell's on their first US tour, but I didn't tape that one.
    :(
     
  25. bonjo

    bonjo Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I enjoy the new 'Uninvited...', but like so many releases since the Dawn of CD it is too long: 40-45 minutes of great music within a 60+ minute disc.
     
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