Se press Release hd steve Kilbey (The Church) New Zealand tour July 07
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| Culminating on New Year's Eve, this week-long event is designed "to give everything a life of its own rather than throw it all at you like a sideshow that you see in between trying to take a piss".
There'll be an art exhibition featuring American street muralists, underground painters, poster artists, photographers and image makers such as Spike Jonze, Rita Ackerman, Larry Clark - responsible for the movie Kids - Mike Kelley and Mark Gonzales. A MoWax (the very hipdance label in the world) event is also taking shape under the Summersault umbrella with DJ Krush, Keyboard Money Mark, DJ Shadow and MoWax founder James Lavelle all on deck. According to Pav, "this is my dream party, I guess". If Pav can pull in some decent local acts to match the emphasis on overseas talent, Summersault will be exactly what he says - "the best cross-section of the coolest s--- around". The music festival at Macquarie University, Sunday, December 31. Unbelievably, the MoWax dance party is also scheduled for December 31, venue TBA. The art and film exhibit runs January 1-7. For those who want to leave town to rock, Livid in Brisbane on Saturday, November 25 features the Rollins Band, The Cruel Sea, Babes In Toyland, You Am I, Morphine, Alex Chilton, Custard, Supergroove and a spoken-word performance from former Dead Kennedy Jello Biafra. Homebake '95 at Byron Bay on Friday, December 29 is an all-Australian affair with a young band from Newcastle called silverchair as well as Tumbleweed, Spiderbait, Powderfinger, Magic Dirt and the increasingly stunning You Am I, who seem poised to overtake The Cruel Sea as the most vital band performing live in Australia today. There's also Queensland's Maleny Folk Festival over New Year's, a hippie/eco-surfie fall-out zone where alterna-culture is still dreaming and happy. It might help you with a pressure drop. Survival '96 at La Perouse on Australia Day, an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island celebration with bands, comedians, dancers and food, exudes the same ease, a giant multicultural picnic. Out of respect to Survival and it's rightful place as the dominant social event for Australia Day, the Big Day Out's promoter, Ken West, has moved his rock 'n' roll festival back a day from its usual date and onto January 25. Still at the Showground, BDO features Nick Cave, P.J. Harvey, Porno For Pyros, Rage Against The Machine, Elastica, Jesus Lizard, Spiderbait, Regurgitator and TISM. WELCOME GATECRASHERS Aboriginal singer-songwriter Kev Carmody's new album Images & Illusions is the most experimental and artistically ambitious release of the Australian summer: everything from the angry blues Dylan flavours we expect of him through to ambient cinemascapes and African beats, all under the aegis of producer Steve Kilbey (The Church). There's nothing out there that has even tried to come close. Viva Last Blues by Palace Music is the brainchild of one Will Oldham. While hardcore punk revivalism, simpering grunge pop and Neil Young fan-worship overwhelm the U.S. alterna-music scene - Palace Music prove there's still originality left. Fight For Your Mind is the fine new CD from LA native Ben Harper, whose fleshy '90s soul rock has earnt him tour slots opening for everyone from Ray Charles to P.J. Harvey. Keep an eye out for Ian Rilen, Australia's answer to Iggy Pop, last seen in Sydney with Skindiver, an oily, aggressive, glam-and-guts band. It's hard to know what to expect of Rilen, but he remains one of the great untamed - and intimidatingly unwanted presences - on our music scene. INVITES PENDING Big Heavy Stuff's pop-guitar density and feedback-charged air of superiority is finally paying dividends in the pubs they've been dominating. Covered In Bruises is their latest release. Drop City are barely in their 20s and still the new kids on the block, but their psychedelic-flavoured rock 'n' roll -You Am I meets Donovan? - proffers enormous scope. Their CD is a delicate guitar trip touched with trumpets and high yearning. Also watch for Spiderbait - two minute popsters with a sense of fast humour to match and a wild range of musical references - and The Jackson Code - moody, romantic, quietly humorous, these guys show the influence of Tom Waits, Elvis Presley and the soon-to-tour Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra. Also of note - Bluebottle Kiss, Ammonia, Peg, Crow, Regurgitator, Header, Custard, Automatic. Watch for the Truckstop tour in December featuring Sidewinder, Powderfinger and Fur. THE BRITISH ARE COMING England is split between Blur and Oasis, and their respective mentors/inspirations, Ray Davies of The Kinks and Paul Weller of The Jam. While Weller is now the role model for aging with your rock cool intact the more tormented Ray Davies will be here for a solo tour next month to play live at the Everest Theatre and promote his confessional, schizoid autobiography, X-Ray (Penguin Books). Let's pray a loosely grooving Weller soon follows. PARTY GIRLS P.J. Harvey is the most highly anticipated international artist arriving this summer. Harvey is a Patti Smith for the '90s - melodic, sexy, gutteral. Meanwhile Christine Anu, Single Gun Theory and Max Sharam, are making more challenging pop here and the arrival of Deni Hines this January with a new album should see them all find more competitive company. TOUGH GUYS Henry Rollins has produced the new Mark of Cain album Ill At Ease, which is why they are about to get American release on Rollins's 2.13.61 label. A hurt and angry unit, Mark of Cain draw inspiration from the breakup of their singer's marriage and a much broader political rage to make the tense rock 'n' roll mathematics of comparable, yet younger American acts like Helmet sound like an Abba-fest. Assorted pop acts masquerading as punks - Green Day, The Offspring, Rancid - should go back to rebel kindergarten now. Mind you, even The Sex Pistols and The Clash had a laugh or two. BRING A DANCE TAPE Itch-e & Scratch-e and Friends promises to be the Australian dance release of the summer. It's from Volition. Like you should seek out Harry's Laundry, one of the few groups around playing techo music with accomplished power and originality. Or D.I.G., whose new Speakeasy release proves we have an international act capable of fusing acid-jazz and the improvisational joys of music without straining to be cool. P.M. Dawn, Coolio and Pharycde all have new records on the way. And Frente have a new album recorded with Neneh Cherry's producer. SURPRISES A new Michael Hutchence album, strongly influenced by the likes of Portishead, is in the wings with recording help from Andy Gill (ex Gang of Four), Tim Simenon (Bomb The Bass) and Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads). The Warumpi Band, one of the greatest rock 'n' roll bands this country has ever produced, are currently recording a new album after five years of sporadic live performing, in between breaks taken by Aboriginal group members in the desert and Arnhem Land. Brian Eno and U2 are about to release a collaborative project of B sides, ambient works and tangental playthings called Passengers - it features everyone from Luciano Pavarotti to Howie B. AN
Document smhh000020011026drb300ott SE Spectrum HD Comfort in the familiar marks a merging of new and old BY Bernard Zuel WC 445 words PD 14 April 2006 SN The Sydney Morning Herald SC SMHH
ED First PG 12
LA English CY (c) 2006 Copyright John Fairfax Holdings Limited. www.smh.com.au Not available for re-distribution. LP CD OF THE WEEK THE CHURCH TD
Uninvited, Like the Clouds (Cooking Vinyl/Liberation) There is a difference between being backward-looking and drawing on the past: one seeks comfort in the familiar to avoid having to deal with the present; the other draws strength from earned knowledge to enhance the present. Musically, it means the difference between repeating (because the best ideas have already happened) and encompassing (because good ideas, then and now, are still good ideas). So, my saying that the new album from Messrs Kilbey, Koppes, Willson-Piper and Powles is the kind of collection that will warm the hearts of those for whom the 1980s and early 1990s remain the golden years of the Church, should not be read as an indication that the band has retro-fitted its career in its 26th year. For a start, while the results did fluctuate in the past decade and a half, the Church made some quite captivating, dramatic and atmospheric music in that time, even if fewer people heard it. Second, we should not forget that in hindsight it's possible to see the limitations and weaknesses of the first half of the band's career. And third, crucially, rather than slipping on the old paisley shirts and saying "remember us, please", Uninvited, Like the Clouds is a summation of 26 years, drawing from all of the elements with sure rather than desperate hands. So across these 12 songs - in various combinations, in varying degrees - are pop melodies, charged ambience, oblique lyrics, classically romantic imagery, ascending guitars and droning chords, gargoyles and angels. It is possible, then, and comfortable to contain songs such as Space Needle, Easy, Real Toggle Action and Never Before on the same disc. Like Block, the compelling opening track that has traces of German art rock, Space Needle takes creeping tension as its starting point, a low throbbing bass line, sweeping night-time guitars and a hoarse Steve Kilbey vocal. In contrast, Easy has a familiar mix of 12-string rhythm, a thin bed of synths, a lead guitar line with echoes of 1982's Different Man and a drawled melody line. And while Real Toggle Action has an opiate edge to its urban moodiness, Never Before offers a dream-like, Pink Floyd pastoral moment. The particulars may differ from track to track but the focus never changes: this is the Church as a sum of its parts, both old and new. smh.com.au Listen to the Church's Unified Field at smh.com.au/music. NS
gent : Arts/Entertainment | gmusic : Music | gcat : Political/General News | nrvw : Review | ncat : Content Types | nfact : Factiva Filters | nfce : FC&E Exclusion Filter RE austr : Australia | ausnz : Australia and New Zealand PUB F2 Australia & New Zealand Limited AN Document SMHH000020060413e24e00054 SE SUNDAY DATEBOOK HD 'Starfish' a Hit / Church's Prayers Answered BY GINA ARNOLD, SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE WC 1256 words PD 14 August 1988 SN The San Francisco Chronicle SC SFC
ED SUNDAY PG 42
LA English CY (c) 1988 Hearst Communications Inc., Hearst Newspapers Division. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All Rights Reserved. LP .
TD Two summers ago, the band's spirits hit rock bottom when, after a particularly prolonged period of touring Europe and America, guitarist Marty Willson-Piper stormed out of a band meeting in Spain and flew back to Australia. A vista of ever-decreasing record sales and band debts caused the Church's members to think they'd never play together again. Willson-Piper rejoined the band two days later, but the Church's streak of bad karma wasn't over yet: Soon after, the band's American record company, Warner Bros., dropped it. But this rock-and-roll story has a happy ending: Less than two years later, "Starfish," the Church's sixth domestically released album, a last-ditch effort on the band's fourth American record label, Arista, has generated a top 25 single called "Under the Milkyway." The record also recently went gold, making it one of the few alternative-music records to break through to commercial radio in the last decade. Says Willson-Piper proudly, "We are one of the weirdest bands ever to have a hit in America." But the Church's good fortune isn't that weird. The band had been touring and making critically acclaimed records for eight years before the sudden success of "Starfish." And, according to Willson-Piper, the band members (guitarist Peter Koppes, bassist/vocalist Steven Kilbey and drummer Richard Ploog) weren't about to stop just because a large record company in the United States told them to. "LUCKILY, I'm the kind of person who doesn't get upset when it rains," says Willson-Piper, speaking from his parents' home in Wales, where he's currently rehearsing for yet another Church tour. "In fact, I'm more suspicious when things go well." Which is why, he adds, he's beginning to feel a little tense: "Half a million people have bought our record. Now that's suspicious!" Willson-Piper's good nature in the face of bad luck probably stems from the workaholic nature he and his band mates share. "After Warners dropped us, none of us went out and commited suicide or anything," he says. Instead, they all took time off to record solo albums (Willson-Piper's own, "Art Attack,`' is available as an import on Rykodisc Records.) In addition, Willson-Piper, for one, played guest guitar with some Sydney bands, produced a local band's record, wrote more songs and toured New Zealand. "The whole incident really served as a good break, time to get our lives in order," he says. "And while we were doing that, Arista contacted us about making another record." The rest is, as they say, history. "THE ironic thing is that our last album on Warners, `Hey Day,' was a much more commercial effort than `Starfish,' " Willson-Piper says. "It got great reviews; people seemed to like us. But it just wasn't selling enough to justify our existence. It's not like we suddenly started writing great songs or something. We'd sort of been doing that all along." The Church's great songs were no big secret - at least not to the Australians and American alternative-music fans who had been following the band's fruitful, if obscure, eight-year career. The distinctive sound of Willson-Piper and Koppes' dueling lead guitars has become a trademark for a revival of modern-day psychedelia. But despite the melodic charm of such songs as "The Unguarded Moment" and, more recently, "Tantalized," the Church's impressionistic lyrics and complex instrumentation had never made a dent on commercial radio. "Starfish" changed all that - partly because the record company believed in it enough to put a lot of money into promoting it, Willson-Piper says. The resulting hit has become, along with a quirky American alternative band called 10,000 Maniacs and R.E.M., a byword for alternative routes to success in the record industry. "We've become a sort of role model for bands that won't compromise their integrity for a hit," Willson-Piper says. "And if we've been an encouragement to anyone at all who is sitting alone in their room writing songs, or is out on the road struggling to make ends meet in a rock band, then that's the best part of our success. Obviously, our story just proves it can be done." But why is "Starfish" a hit when its predecessor, the highly praised "Hey Day," was a failure? The difference between the two LPs, Willson-Piper says, is just that more time and money went into the making of "Starfish." " `Hey Day' was very elaborate, very ornate," he says. " `Starfish' is sparser in detail, but we put a lot of time into it. Sometimes simplicity can operate better, but it takes a lot longer to get it right." Additionally, the Church made an unusual choice for producer of "Starfish": the production team of Greg Ladanyi and Waddy Wachtel, best-known as session musicians for such laid-back L.A. acts as Linda Ronstadt and Jackson Browne. Willson-Piper says he's pretty sure neither Ladanyi nor Wachtel had heard of the Church prior to working with the band. "It was a bit disturbing in some respects," he says. "I'm sure that Greg and Waddy had never heard of XTC or Tom Verlaine or the Cure or any of the music we listen to. But that's not necessarily that important. I don't think you need to know who John Lennon is to write a good song, either. Sometimes a completely opposite influence can add something to your music. I mean, if everyone is running around and clapping each other on the back over how great it sounds, the only person who will be moved by the music is the drummer's girlfriend." Also, he says, "it's kind of a good thing that Greg's world revolve's around Linda Ronstadt and ours revolves around what's the latest release on Rhino Records. I think they'd be loathe to admit it, but maybe they (Ladanyi and Wachtel) learned from us a little, too. I hope so." Willson-Piper admits, however, that despite the success of "Starfish," the Church won't be working with the team again. "The personalities just didn't jibe," he says. "It's so funny . . . Now we're all really wondering what it's like to make a record once you've had a hit. I mean, it wasn't hard to make one when we weren't setting the world on fire. But now it's like we have to wonder . . . what does the world want now ? "But we'll have to remember that the world's standards aren't all that's important. I don't think Patti Smith's new record is a chart-topper, but to me it's a huge success because she has so many really profound things to say on it and it's such a great record." ----------------------------- The Church appears with Tom Verlaine and Peter Murphy today at 7:30 p.m. at the Orpheum Theater. ART
PHOTO; Caption: The Church: Marty Willson-Piper, Steve Kilbey, Peter Koppes and Richard Ploog IPD MUSIC BIOGRAPHY PUB The Hearst Corporation AN Document sfc0000020011118dk8e00tsx SE News and Features; Reviews HD A WHOLLY DULL CHURCH BY JON CASIMIR WC 427 words PD 9 April 1990 SN Sydney Morning Herald SC SMHH
PG 21 LA English CY Copyright of John Fairfax Group Pty Ltd LP
WHY is it that The Church have been on the receiving end of adulation in this country for more than a decade, when their catalogue veers so erratically between the sublime and ridiculous? One great song every two or three years should not be enough to sustain a legend, and they haven't made a consistently listenable album since 1986's Heyday. But still they inspire devotion. The occupant of the seat behind me was excited to the point of hyperventilation before the road crew had even finished setting up the equipment. "That guitar |" he shrieked, gesturing frantically to his companions. "That's STEVE'S GUITAR | |" TD
When the lights finally dimmed, the smoke machines clicked on, and the band appeared, the screaming and whooping was more in keeping with what you'd expect for the latest teen sensation at the Entertainment Centre than a band well into its middle age. It more or less remained at that fever pitch through a performance that rose above dreariness only very rarely, and spent most of its time wallowing in the rockist cliche that the only way to win over an audience is to bash through any subtleties in the songs, and append bludgeoning codas wherever possible. At a time when rock has splintered in so many complex and fascinating ways, The Church seemed hopelessly dated, with a career built on an inward spiral, still flogging the same ideas they did on their first albums. The new single, Metropolis, could have nestled quite comfortably on any of their records. They lack the iconoclastic charm of REM (contemporaries whose career has traversed much more interesting terrain), the intensity of Sonic Youth, the visceral pop thrill of the Hummingbirds or the techno-celebration of Jesus Jones, who should provide very stark contrast at their shows in Sydney this week. Perhaps their biggest crime is that they are dull in such a dull way. With Steve Kilbey communicating with the back wall rather than the audience, the atmosphere is one of detachment and indifference, and aside from Marty Willson-Piper's unintentionally amusing axe-hero antics, the stage is a personality-free zone. It's fine to argue that the music should be allowed to do the talking, and indeed many bands have raised that ideal to the level of art, the Jesus and Mary Chain and New Order for example, but what the music of The Church has to say is: "Wouldn't you rather be at home with the kettle on?" NS
NCAT : Content Types | NRVW : Review AN Document smhh000020011116dm4900b48 HD ACCESS ALL AREAS,. BY By DINO SCATENA,TEZ. WC 1024 words PD 21 August 1997 SN Daily Telegraph SC DAITEL PG 64
LA English CY (c) 1997 Nationwide News Proprietary Ltd LP WHEN that futuristic freako Gary Numan suddenly stopped making his regular appearances in the Countdown top 10 a couple of decades ago, we all simply assumed his mother ship must have come back to collect him and take him home. But, as it turns out, nothing could have been further from the truth. In fact, life away from the top 10 turned out to be rather tragic. TD
"The 80s for me? Started great, went shit," a gleeful Mr Numan told AAA recently when we tracked him down to his home outside Essex, England. It all started going bad for Numan around 1983 when he set about forming his own label. The venture put him about $1 million in debt. The toughest of times followed. Then suddenly, 18 months ago, things took a dramatic, unexpected upturn when a British beer company chose to use Numan's old hit Cars as the soundtrack to a new TV campaign. It put the song back in the UK charts and Numan back in the limelight. Now, a year on, a collection of the world's most respected electronic artists have gathered and created a tribute album in the name of their forefather. Random features the likes of St Etienne, EMF, Gravity Kills, Jesus Jones, the Orb, Moloko, Dubstar and Republica interpreting such Numan classics as Are Friends Electric, We Are Glass, We Are So Fragile and, of course, Cars. "I've had some quite good success and highs but this has to rate as one of the top three things that I'm proud of," Numan said. "I was about as trendy as a slug. Then all of a sudden, from nowhere, this happened. And people over here are now saying things like, `Oh, you were a great innovator. You opened all these doors'. "And I'm like, `That's not what you said before! You said I was a twat! You said I was a wanker and these are the same songs'." Numan plans to have a new album of his own out before the end of the year and hopes to get to Australia early in 1998. FEAR not, ladies - those four dashing young lads from Human Nature will soon be with us again and, to celebrate their return home, the boys have scheduled a concert at the Sydney Entertainment Centre on October 11. But for the moment, it's business as usual in Europe where the band have been based for the last three months, filling the support slots for Michael Jackson and Celine Dion. AAA caught up with young Toby and was shocked to learn that after 30 shows supporting Jacko, including three nights at Wembley Stadium, our wholesome foursome still haven't been granted an audience with the weird one. How rude is that, hey Toby? "We don't know why," said the Tobster. "We've got eight to go, and maybe it will happen before the end of the tour." Ms Dion proved to be somewhat more congenial. "She remembered us from Australia ... she came up and spoke to us and made sure we were having a good tour." WHAT do you do when your best rock n' roll days are behind you? How about getting together with some old mates and setting up your own lifestyle TV show. It seems to be working for everyone else. The latest generic self-help program to debut on our screens next week is a little creation called What On Earth. Its hosts might appear distantly familiar. They include Gaynor Wheatley, wife of John Farnham manager Glenn. Then there's Steve Williams, the harmonica player whose collaborative credits include John Farnham, Southern Sons and Chad Morgan. Finally, rounding out this power trio, is former Chantoozies and Australian Crawl manager Simon Fenner. Gee, should be a hoot! NOT! OH, by the way, here's a couple more solid tour rumours to add to your diary. How's a theatre run by INXS grab you for later in the year? Perhaps the return of Pearl Jam in the first couple of months of next year will grab you more, huh? OKAY folks - y'all ready for the trek up north for Livid '97? Well, this is what you'll see. The virtual final line-up for the festival will include - big breath! Devo (in a one-off, exclusive Australian performance), Dinosaur Jr, Veruca Salt, Ween, Spiderbait, Cake, Reef, Ben Folds Five, Powderfinger, Dave Graney and the Coral Snakes, Millencolin, Bloodhound Gang, Sneaker Pimps, Pangaea, Shihad, the Jason Falkner Band, Ammonia, Superjesus, Sidewinder, Webster, Aquanought, Screamfeeder, Tomorrow People and Lewd. Acts on the Loudmouth and Zoo stages include Grinspoon, Bodyjar, Zenigeva, Ed Kuepper, Steve Kilbey and a spoken-word performance from Damien Lovelock. The party is at the RNA Showgrounds in Brisbane on Saturday, October 4. EVER wondered what became of that funny little fellow who used to bash the skins in that cute little trio we all affectionately knew as the Crowdies? Well, young Paul Hester took a few years away from the limelight after leaving Neil and Nick to fend for themselves (with the exception of that low-key gig outside the Opera House late last year, of course). He went back to Melbourne and found happiness in his family, a cafe and a studio. The solitude was only broken by Hester's voice becoming a regular feature on Martin and Molloy's national radio program. But now we hear Mr Hester is about to reemerge out of his self-imposed musical hibernation. Recently in Melbourne he's been popping up in clubs playing guitar and fronting a new four-piece outfit he's christened Largest Living Things. We're told to expect an EP from the gang within the month, possibly to be released through a new indie label set up by Neil and the Crowdies' manager, Grant Thomas. We're also warned that a visit to Sydney by the Largest Living Things could happen as soon as October, most likely in the shape of a support slot for Brisbane boys Custard. (c) Nationwide News Proprietary Ltd, 1997. NS
GCAT : Political/General News | GENT : Arts/Entertainment RE AUSNZ : Australia and New Zealand | AUSTR : Australia AN Document daitel0020010930dt8l009p3 Directory: files -> 2008 2008 -> Preparedness for the Health Consequences of Climate Change as a Potential Influence on Public Health Law and Policy 2008 -> Darryl Heller Dissertation Proposal Draft April 7, 2008 Law, Labor, and Politics: Street Railways in Brooklyn and New York, 1884-1904 2008 -> Anna Palladino Professor Calvert 2008 -> Jails replace schools in the mountain region of guerrero 2008 -> University of Arkansas at Little Rock Plan No 2008 -> This is a list of search engines we (Polson Enterprises) have found helpful from time to time 2008 -> Rnib centre for Accessible Information (cai) Literature review #2 2008 -> Anne louise cohen 2008 -> Time race# Download 1.73 Mb. Share with your friends:
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