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Posts: 1651
Mar 8 09 9:40 PM
One question that might pop into your head upon hearing the church's new album would be, "How the hell do these four blokes in their 50s do it?" On this - the legendary Aussie quartet's 23rd album (or 31st official release, depending on which way you look at it) - the music of the spheres rules supreme. Ever since they burned themselves into the national consciousness with songs like 'The Unguarded Moment' and 'Under The Milky Way Tonight' in the '80s, the church have been busy exploring the subconscious with frontman Steve Kilbey's opaque lyrics, Marty Willson-Piper's rippling 12-string jangle and Peter Koppes's skyscraping leads. The above key elements dominate the record along with Steve's wise yet passionate voice; and, as far as the songs go, every one's a garden of aural delights. Examples? 'Cobalt Blue' is a deadset classic Church opener, 'Pangaea' is the sound of a natural high and the paralysing 'Happenstance' would make Radiohead green with envy. The band's best album since 2003's Forget Yourself, Untitled #23 is a reminder that veteran space-rockers keep getting better and better with every release.
Examples? 'Cobalt Blue' is a deadset classic Church opener, 'Pangaea' is the sound of a natural high and the paralysing 'Happenstance' would make Radiohead green with envy. The band's best album since 2003's Forget Yourself, Untitled #23 is a reminder that veteran space-rockers keep getting better and better with every release.
Posts: 1006
Apr 22 09 6:37 AM
Faith Healer
The trouble with approaching a new record by a band with the history and repute of The Church is that one has to place it in the context of a large sanctified oeuvre, while simultaneously considering it as a stand-alone work born of its own time.
Once the heyday of their career had passed, The Church moved away from the concise songwriting that characterised the era of their mainstream success. On the albums they released this decade, The Church tended to create denser soundscapes and jams that still sparkled with psychedelic flourishes, yet were in danger of becoming increasingly esoteric and impenetrable to casual listeners. Which was perfectly alright for a band that didn't have anything left to prove in terms of fashionability or commercial viability.
Now, releasing albums on their own Unorthodox label, Kilbey, Koppes, Willson-Piper and Powles have perfected the fine art of pleasing themselves while the iPod generation has moved on to more immediately gratifying musical territory.
Interestingly then, on Untitled #23, The Church attempt to harness some of the sounds of their classic albums and combine them with the more digestible aspects of their recent output. Clearly still relishing the alchemy of creating songs together, they fashion these elements into a series of mid-paced songs that echo with some of the chord progressions and turns of phrase of old. Individual tracks blend into a seamless whole that almost necessitates listening to it as one long song in the manner of '70s concept album epics. Luckily, The Church realise the value of brevity and spare us the triple gatefold.
The tone is set in opener 'Cobalt Blue', which washes over the listener in a gentle and unhurried manner. The following track 'Deadman's Hand' is the closest the album comes to having a song with a hook large enough to make it single material. In fact, it's a terrific number with one of Steve Kilbey's most intriguingly oblique lyrics - which revolution is he on his way to crush, exactly?
After such a promising beginning, the album settles into a comfortable groove, full of sparkling guitars, wafting atmospherics and melodic bass lines. It doesn't deliver the visceral thrill that songs like 'Electric Lash' or 'Reptile' did, but then it doesn't have to. It wouldn't be fair to expect such dizzying heights from the band, especially when songs like 'Happenstance' and 'Sunken Sun' are such brilliant musical excursions in their own right.
'Space Saviour' could teach Jason Pierce a few things about crafting a cosmic gospel tune with its insistent vocal and heavenly crescendos. 'Anchorage' revolves around a simple repetitive bass riff and jangling guitars that occasionally burst forth but are continually pulled back to make way for the rousing chorus. It's a fine teasing device that adds a certain amount of tension to a tune that would be perfect for the end credits of a road movie.
It's almost inevitable that critics - those who haven't paid much attention to The Church over recent years - will label Untitled #23 a return to form because of its more focused songwriting. Such assessments would be doing the band a disservice. Instead, Untitled #23 is another milestone in the career of a band that is nowhere near ready to let itself be considered a nostalgia act.
by René Schaefer
Apr 22 09 6:53 AM
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Apr 22 09 8:14 AM
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Apr 25 09 1:24 AM
Apr 27 09 6:29 AM
One of the things that makes these songs so good is their textured sound. The majestic pop of "Already Yesterday" or "Under The Milky Way" was a thing of beauty, no question. But that style dated very quickly, which is one of the reasons they had such difficulty following up their early success.
The atmospheres The Church toyed with back in the day have now fully matured. Untitled #23 is a dark dream of a record, hypnotic almost. The opening track "Cobalt Blue" draws the listener in immediately. With Marty Willson-Piper's chiming guitars framing Steve Kilbey's haunting refrain "Let it go, let it go" the results are riveting.
"Pangaea" and "Space Saviour" continue the mood, but it is with "On Angel Street" that this record becomes triumphant. It is a film noir journey through Kilbey's subconscious, as he ruminates on a relationship's end. This is the most personal song I have heard in ages, an achingly beautiful piece of music.
"Anchorage" is another peak, the interplay between the band is just incredibly tight as the song builds to it's climax. "Operetta" closes things out as they began, with swirling guitars framing stream of conscious lyrics, as only The Church can do.
Given the band's spotty record since Starfish, I thought they might have front loaded the best tracks, and I kept waiting for the clunkers to appear. There are none on Untitled #23. To record what is quite possibly their best album ever after nearly 30 years together is an extraordinary achievement.
It is also one hell of a record. I wish I knew the significance of the title, but like everything else here, it really does not matter. All that matters is the music, and in that regard The Church have hit a home run. http://blogcritics.org/archives/2009/04/27/011052.php
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May 1 09 10:56 AM
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May 4 09 5:50 AM
The Church ★★★★★
Untitled #23 Unorthodox/MGM
While many of their contemporaries are coming out of retirement and dusting off their Eighties hits for reunion tours, the Church, like Nick Cave, have never called it quits, instead continuing to evolve and experiment with music in a way that puts "cutting edge" rock dinosaurs like U2 to shame. The band have deftly kept the key elements of their trademark sound constant, allowing them to try all manner of experiments around the edges without ever alienating or confusing their die-hard fans. Untitled #23 is their most accessible album in recent years, but it's no less ambitious than recent efforts. Marty Willson-Piper and Peter Koppes's guitars bubble, scrape and swirl in layers so dense that it takes multiple listens to appreciate the complexity of the arrangements. Amazingly, Steve Kilbey's instantly recognisable voice and off-kilter phrasing cuts through even the most murky passages, showing studio-smarts that are seldom seen these days outside of Sigur Rós recordings. Like My Bloody Valentine and the aforementioned Icelanders, the Church know that even the most sonically extreme psychedelia needs to be anchored with a solid melodic idea, and this is where Kilbey earns his stripes as one of the country's most underrated songwriters. You have to admire the Church's stubborn refusal to cash in on their early success and do the whole nostalgia rock circuit thing. By hanging everything on the faith that their best work is still ahead of them, the Church sound every bit as relevant now as they did way back in 1987. Their new songs sound emotional, raw and at times even scarily angry, without ever sounding like they're trying to conjure up demons-long banished by years of comfortable living and golfing trips. Even those with a short attention span will find enough immediacy in their sound to remind them that the band that penned one of Australia's unofficial national anthems "Under the Milky Way" won't be appearing at a leagues club near you anytime soon. - MATT COYTE Key Tracks: "Happenstance", "Operetta"
May 4 09 6:11 AM
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May 8 09 4:39 AM
Dug you are a star
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May 8 09 7:18 AM
Maven
May 8 09 10:38 PM
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