Steve Kilbey and Ricky Maymi present: David Neil "The Wilderness Years" in Two Places At Once / Solo Work & Side Projects Forum

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Steve Kilbey and Ricky Maymi present: David Neil "The Wilderness Years"

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timetunnel		#41	[-]
Snowfaller Posts: 446 (08/26/2011 12:03) Glow Worm Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Strangers have the best candy. Don't be tempted Remove this ad Got the CD a few days ago and played it in heavy rotation since then. Wow, what a record! It has a great 60s/70s feeling with all these harmonies and guitar sounds, and the songs flow along nicely and homogenic. There's not a single filler song on it. One thing that I really like and surprises me a lot is Steve's "new" kind of singing. His usual kind of singing in The Church and other projects was always one of the key signatures of him and the band. But I always liked it a lot when he left that path and tried a more, uhm (have a lack of proper words here), "dynamic" singing style. More "real" singing, higher notes etc. Like on "She Comes In Singing" from Re:Fo, or "Untitled Too" from his Dabble album, which I both love a lot. I think he enters new singing territory on the David Neil album and he should by all means return to that territory every now and then! As for the instrumentation on this record: I haven't (musiacally) grown up with the 60s/70s and am not that familiar with the music from that time, but as far as I can tell this record shows real mastership in analyzing these 60s/70's styles and transporting them to the musical spirit of today. Ricky, your psychedelic guitar work (and all the other instruments as well) is fantastic (really cool wah-wah effects). My favourite tracks are "Hollywood Ending" and "Walk With Me" at the moment. "Hollywood Ending" is a cool rocker with a great psychedelic feeling. And then "Walk With Me"! Aaaah, I LOVE that one. It's a bit like a cute, naive song, but only on the surface because I see depth and irony in there. Like a 10-years old child whose personality appears more like a grown-up character than a 10-years old child but who also has, and likes, it's childish moments. The cover is also great. This is one of the records which makes me think: why the heck did I ever give away my LP player? I try to imagine this as the LP which seems to do so well at Red Eye Records and I immediately feel being sent back some decades. The font and layout look very 70ish. Well done! The only drawback is the packaging of the CD. It's one of these thin cardboard things which prefer to disappear between all the other CDs on the shelf. I'd love CD covers to have at least a small spine (spine? is this the right word?) with the artist and album name printed on it. But that's really only a small drawback. So, yeah, this will absolutely be in my Best of 2011 list. Top 5 I guess. As for the marketing stuff mentioned in the previous posts: I don't like and avoid by all means, if possible, to use iTunes. There are several reasons for that which I don't want to explain here (would bloat this post). I think web-based sites like Bandcamp (which Martin Kennedy use for All India Radio and which offers to download in FLAC or any other format) or 7digital.com (which seems to focus on digital indie music) are much better alternatives. Another thing: if one goes to the David Neil page on MySpace or Facebook there seems to be no information about where to buy it. Maybe I just didn't see it, but links to Red Eye or Heyday Mail Order or so should be added there. That's it so far. More thoughts as they come to mind. Jens The Timetunnel Files » photos » myspace » last.fm Last Edited By: timetunnel 08/26/2011 12:46. Edited 1 times.
Mr Ricky		#42	[-]
Glow Worm Posts: 66 (08/28/2011 18:53) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Here you go!!! http://davidneil.bandcamp.com/
beautiful furniture		#43	[-]
Pantechnicon Posts: 136 (08/29/2011 00:13) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	$23 smackeroos is way too much for a digital download. There has to be a better way to get this in the hands of u.s. fans out here. I will probably just buy it, but I'm sure more people would buy it if it was available on Amazon or itunes. I know it probably isn't the greatest deal to go through them, but it at least gets the music a bigger audience and that is what is important. right? This album should be heard more. The album is great. I love the last 2 tracks! Good for you by putting one of the strongest tunes second from last. I remember Steve saying that track is usually weak. Also, just saw the band Night Beats last night. They are a great 60's influenced band from Seattle. A little bit Golden Dawn and 13th Floor Elevators vibe. I told them it was the best show that I have seen in quite a while, not counting The Church and Brian Jonestown Massacre. Check them out.
chrome3D		#44	[-]
Posts: 5300 (08/29/2011 00:51) Faith Healer Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	$21,9 Australian AUD dollars = 20,8 American USD dollars. Somewhere around 10-12 for a download would be more realistic. I paid $26 USD + shipping for a CD of this album from UK, so this download is a bit expensive but not like incredibly expensive. AUS $ used to have a lower rate in relation to US $ and Euro but it´s not like that anymore. AUS $ is so strong now. Oh oh, this is going to hurt in the future when buying church-stuff. ---- About the CD...the cover is a bit slim. Maybe one of those gatefold-covers like the church-remasters or SK-boxsets would have given it a bit more presence. Looks good like this, though. The closeup of the painting on the CD looks really cool. Looking For Myself/ Hollywood Ending is a really good opening combo. Excellent. Then tracks 3,4 and 5 are a bit strange. Hearing SK sing lyrics like "Little baby take a walk with me, little baby think how happy we could be, come on baby, have a little walk with me, aijaijaijaa" is strange. I´m not saying he should sing only about radiant revelations and ancient cultures of history all the time. Maybe it is okay for this kind of 60´s pastiche and it´s easy to let go "in character". Then there is Near, where SK sings in a high but not exactly falsetto voice. A strange one, not the eerie music, only the vocals. It´s going to take some time to sink. Unfortunately track 5, The Cockpit, is quite similar than Near and I felt that "side 1" could have used some more rock. Then "side 2" is mostly quite upbeat and mid-tempo rock. Lowboy is probably my fave from those. Was There Ever is also very good, like you said beautiful furniture. All in all enjoyable album. I´m just thinking that the album could have had 1 or 2 more riffing all out echo rock tracks like Hollywood Ending, since that track is so well done. Is that really SK in the vocals there? Last Edited By: chrome3D 08/29/2011 04:27. Edited 3 times.
Mr Ricky		#45	[-]
Glow Worm Posts: 66 (08/29/2011 02:36) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Well, my biggest problem with most modern albums is that they go on way too long and that too many of the tracks cover similar territory. I knew that after creating a song like "Hollywood Ending" that it would probably lose some of it's impact if we attempted to to make another song like it. I also knew that some people would love "Walk With Me" and others would be like "WTF"? Which was what I l loved about it and also why it was chosen to be the song to follow up "Hollywood Ending". It's not every day that such a sweet, simple song can be so challenging so, I couldn't resist rising to that occasion. From there, it was obviously time to challenge even further by introducing the darker side of David Neil, hence "Near" and "The Cockpit" appearing where they do in the album. I knew that had to happen before introducing songs like "Higher Than Yesterday" and "Lowboy" into the picture, as it would have been misleading the listener into thinking that this is just a pop record. I too feel that "Was There Ever..." is one of the stronger tracks and wanted to defy Robert Forster's "10 Rules Of Rock N Roll" idea of the weakest track being second to last by placing the song where it is on the album. I knew there would be divided feelings about the album and that different people would have different favourites for different reasons. To me, that makes for a great album! I like the fact that the album races by before you know it and the listener is compelled to start it again! That to is what a classic rock record does rather than meander on for 78 minutes with 17 songs that you never seem to be able to get through from start to finish, let alone start all over again when it is done. As for the packaging, I was primarily interested in this album being a vinyl release to keep in the spirit of things. So, the packaging for the cd was of little interest because generally speaking, nobody really cares about cd's anymore. As long as it was basically a miniature version of the record sleeve, I was happy. As for the pricing of the mp3's. Anyone else's guess is as good as mine as to why they cost what they cost. I have been warned off of iTunes by several people and I know that they basically keep all of the money for themselves so, I can't see how the "exposure" is really helping anybody but Apple. I don't think they really need David's help all that much so, this is the option we decided on. Sorry if you don't like the pricing. I'm sure it's available on some torrent sight for free somewhere if it really means that much to you to not pay for it. So, pirate away! What do I care? I don't make records to make money. if I did, I would have quit a long time ago. It was made available online as a courtesy because, like I said, all I cared about was that it was released on vinyl because this album is a period piece that is designed to harken back to another time and place. I've learned that you can't make all of the people happy all of the time so, I just make whatever I do satisfactory to my own creative sensibilities and trust that it will resinate with others. Thanks for taking the time to check out what we have done here.
chrome3D		#46	[-]
Posts: 5300 (08/29/2011 04:18) Faith Healer Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thanks for the reply. I don´t know if someone cares about CD´s. At least I do, and I don´t want to collect other formats. Still, I dig the idea that the sleeve is a miniature LP. It definitely looks like that. Yeah, it´s good that the length is only 35 mins. Just the right amount of stuff for this kind of music. I still get confused by tracks 3,4 and 5 but at least the sequencing of the album makes me think of something, Saskatoon among other things, and that is a good thing.
Mr Ricky		#47	[-]
Glow Worm Posts: 66 (08/29/2011 04:28) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	i like to think of it as each song kind of being on it's own trip and a bit of a concept unto themselves. you could make a whole album of songs like any one of those songs but I reckon that would be boring/redundant. they all have their own thing going on and aren't too concerned with what the other songs do. like Revolver, for instance (ooh! i know i am walking into a shit-storm by comparing it to the Beatles but it really was the first thing that came to mind). I think the album price on bandcamp has been slightly reduced a bit after sending the message to the man on high that people were a bit "miffed" over it. I am told that it is a fairly standard price for a "new release" The cover really is far more impressive on the vinyl version.
arcane93		#48	[-]
Transient Posts: 1 (08/29/2011 07:18) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I can't speak for others, but I do definitely still care about CDs. I'd like to care about vinyl more than I do, but I can only listen to it in my living room (where I rarely am), and I don't have the space to store it anyway. Any word on CD availability in the US?
Mr Ricky		#49	[-]
Glow Worm Posts: 66 (08/29/2011 08:10) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	unfortunately not. it will remain an "import" in america. there just isn't enough interest...
timetunnel		#50	[-]
Snowfaller Posts: 446 (08/29/2011 12:22) Glow Worm Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Strangers have the best candy. Don't be tempted Remove this ad "nobody really cares about cd's anymore" is a bit exaggerated probably. I think that applies to the Lady Gaga / Kate Perry / Justin Bieber audience, but I also believe that indie music lovers like us still do care about CDs. At least a little bit. But I understand your point. Vinyl is more interesting from an artistic point of view. Man, this album really raised the irresistible desire in me to own a vinyl record player again. Have to shuffle some €€€-priorities, I guess... The Timetunnel Files » photos » myspace » last.fm
jmb066		#51	[-]
Perfect Child Posts: 205 (08/29/2011 17:37) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Ricky, Regardless of peoples opinions thank you so much for making this avaialble as a download. I used to do vinyl years ago and I do miss the warmth of the sound but it is not practical for me anymore. Kids ruined my turntable and I sold most of my vinyl on E-bay when it was good to do so. No regrets, CD's well I have them but I usually rip them and then make new CD's with extra tacks from the album, singles unreleased etc. So for me now downloads are ideal, I add/delete what I want and then burn it. I travel a lot for work and try to load up the CD if possible. Anyway this album fucking rocks, cant wait for the next one. So I may mix this with Shriek so I have a full CD until you release some more material. Cheers, Jason
chrome3D		#52	[-]
Posts: 5300 (08/30/2011 02:20) Faith Healer Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I feel for you, Jason. My kids are also very interested on the turntable but they haven´t yet ruined it. I don´t feel any interest towards vinyl, simply because I have no opportunities to play them. Now that I have the CD and MP3 rips I can play the album almost anywhere I go. I have played David Neil around 15 times. If I only had the vinyl I would have played it 1-2 times, maybe 0, because I have only the 4th opinion of the family entertainment in the living room. I have collected most of church and related albums on CD and I intend to keep it that way. U#23 vinyl was nice but I have played it like 4-5 times during the years. Too much hassle, not enough entertainment. Also, why there was so little to see and read in U#23 cover when the vinyl cover was so big and there could have been so much more stuff? So, as much as people keep on raving about vinyl, I see vinyl as a secondary format to get if I already have the CD. Hell, even a cassette would be better than vinyl as all my CD players and car has a cassetteplayer.
jmb066		#53	[-]
Perfect Child Posts: 205 (08/30/2011 04:24) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Well said Chrome, I downloaded U#23 and all of the EP's as they were released, when I made a CD for travel I laid it out like the vinyl version. That's what I love about downloads or ripping CD's I have the freedom to create my own Church album. I mostly keep the original albums as they are with the b-sides added at the end. When at home I listen to everythig on I-tunes, my computer speakers are amazing,when I work from home I shuffle 590 Church related songs and its amazing how much work I get done while the music is going. I used to hace all of the Church albums up tp GAF on cassette, Priest was my first CD purchase, and then sold all of my casseetes to purchase all of the CD's. Now that I have all of the tracks digital and backed copies on a zip drive in case of computer crash I sold all of the CD's (Painful) but took the $600 plus and bought my kids a giant wooden swing-set. Its funny how media changes, I am usually slow to change just got into Blue Ray a month ago and now I am looking to change my DVD collection to Blue Ray. Never ends. Jason Last Edited By: jmb066 08/30/2011 04:28. Edited 1 times.
Mr Ricky		#54	[-]
Glow Worm Posts: 66 (08/30/2011 17:59) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	David Neil @ #1 for a 2nd week on the Red Eye Records vinyl chart!!! 1. KILBEY, STEVE & RICKY MAYMI - DAVID NEIL - THE WILDERNESS YEARS (RED) 2. BOY & BEAR - MOONFIRE 3. BON IVER - BON IVER 4. TOTAL CONTROL - HENGE BEAT 5. TAME IMPALA - INNERSPEAKER 6. HORRORS - SKYING 7. FLEET FOXES - FLEET FOXES + SUN GIANT EP 8. FLEET FOXES - HELPLESSNESS BLUES 9. MCCARTNEY, PAUL - MCCARTNEY : 2011 REMASTER (180 GRAM) 10. WINEHOUSE, AMY - BACK TO BLACK (USA)
Stateless		#55	[-]
Transient Posts: 4 (09/02/2011 19:03) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I bought the download from Bandcamp in Apple Lossless. It was almost 20 bucks, but you can't find it anywhere else in the USA...and like I said before, you can get it in lossless (CD quality). I'm really digging the album. It's got a "psych-pop" vibe to it that I love, and Steve's cover is great. There are 11 tracks on the full download. I don't mind the under 40 minutes time length at all. It easier to listen to in one sitting. Most classic albums are usually around 40 minutes anyway. I just listened to the new Red Hot Chili Peppers album. It's good, but it's about and hour long. They could of easily cut off a couple of the weaker tracks and the album would have been much more solid IMO. Quantity doesn't always equal quality.
eyestothesky		#56	[-]
Glow Worm Posts: 95 (09/02/2011 19:23) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	As I wait patiently for Red Eye Records to get their stock replenished and my order shipped, I've been streaming the album pretty much non-stop from the bandcamp website. Love the record! As much as I enjoy Painkiller, it's really wonderful to hear such a bright album coming outta Steve & Ricky. Many highlights - Looking for Myself, Hollywood Ending, Little Baby, Higher Than Yesterday... But I think my fav might just be the finale, So Long. Love the delicate piano & guitar intro, love the way the drums slide in a few seconds in, love the wonderful chord change that separates verse from chorus, love the chorus's paired guitar riff and vocal melody, and love the way it ends. Congrats on putting together such a satisfying album guys!
Mr Ricky		#57	[-]
Glow Worm Posts: 66 (09/02/2011 20:51) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Glad you like "So Long" the guitars were inspired in equal parts by The Rain Parade and The Go-Betweens. That's Lindy Morrison on Tambourine.
chrome3D		#58	[-]
Posts: 5300 (09/05/2011 01:39) Faith Healer Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I think it´s wonderful that this album introduces all new ways for SK to sing. There are 3 or 4 vocal styles in this album that I think haven´t been around before. It will be intriguing to hear if these will show up later on in other projects. Another wonderful thing is that this album flows very well AND it flows to itself. Often I´m glad that some album is over but this one wants me to actually listen it again. For example, Accelerate by REM is even shorter than this but one time is enough with that. In David Neil there are the odd songs in the middle and it has a blurry undefined space, not too long, but side 2 goes by so soon and when I push play again, the last untitled track flows to Looking For Myself like it was always meant to be so.
Mr Ricky		#59	[-]
Glow Worm Posts: 66 (09/05/2011 02:16) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Right on! I wanted it to be the kind of record that made you compelled to start it over again when it's finished. Better to leave you wanting more, right??
DPR36		#60	[-]
Glow Worm Posts: 57 (09/06/2011 16:10) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Strangers have the best candy. Don't be tempted Remove this ad Ricky You said 'better wanting more right' - if you gave me a triple album of stuff this good i'd still want more !! Dave

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Steve Kilbey and Ricky Maymi present: David Neil "The Wilderness Years"