Album of the Week - Vol. 23

Priest=Aura THE CHURCH (1992)
Week: Sat 22nd to Fri 28th October 2022 
Format: vinyl, CD and Spotify
Producer: The Church and Gavin McKillop
Track listing:
1. Aura *
2. Ripple *
3. Paradox
4. Lustre
5. Swan Lake *
6. Feel
7. Mistress
8. Kings *
9. Dome
10. Witch Hunt
11. The Disillusionist *
12. Old Flame
13. Chaos
14. Film *
BONUS:
15. Nightmare (not on vinyl)
16. Fog (not on vinyl)
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 1hr 12min

The Church's eight studio album is seen by many as the band's artistic highpoint, including frontman Steve Kilbey. I heard him on a radio interview years ago (possibly with Richard Fidler on the ABC?) refer to this record as their best album; and he calls it the group's 'undisputed masterpiece' in his autobiography, Something Quite Peculiar. The band underwent a 30th anniversary tour in 2011 dubbed "Future, Past, Perfect" which saw them play 2009's Untitled #23, 1988's Starfish and this album in their entireties. The latter being the 'perfect' component of the three album tour. 

Celebrating its 30th anniversary itself this year, Priest=Aura is quite a listen. While it's not a concept album per se, it has a cohesion that is lacking from their other long players, except for maybe Starfish. I've dabbled with The Church from time to time over the last few years, and I only own four of their albums, this being one of them. In fact, I have the 2011 remaster on CD and the coloured vinyl reissue. I've seen them live three times and each time they've had a different line-up. 

The first time was part of A Day on the Green show in December 2012 that also featured Models, Devo and Simple Minds. It was pretty damn great, and we have a CD of the Devo set! Very cool. Far out, that was nearly ten years ago! The band consisted of bassist/singer Kilbey, guitarists Peter Koppes and Marty Willson-Piper and drummer Tim Powles. They only performed a short eight-song set, including crowd pleasers Metropolis, Almost With You and Under the Milky Way, but interestingly, nothing from this album. 

Just under five years later, Rhona and I ventured douth to see them play at the Dunsborough Tavern in November 2017, touring their new album Man Woman Life Death Infinity. Again, nothing from this album was on the setlist. Willson-Piper abruptly left the band a couple of years earlier, and had been replaced by Ian Haug, who used to be in Powderfinger. Move forward another five years, and in October this year, our boy Lachlan and I caught them at the Astor Theatre in Mt Lawley. At this juncture, Koppes had left The Church for the second time, with Ash Naylor (Even, The Stems) taking his place. A third guitarist (and sometime keyboardist) Jeffrey Cain from Alabama, USA had also joined the line-up. In addition to that, a second drummer in the form of Nick Meredith was also thrown into the mix; and the band did sound immense on that night. 

This time around, they did play something from Priest=Aura: Kings. That was the only offering though, but it was pretty awesome, and really benefited from the extra drummer. Their rendition of You Took, from 1982's The Blurred Crusade was a big highlight for Lachlan and me, he not even having heard it before. But I digress!

Back to the album in question. I've been listening to it a bit this week after reading those very words Kilbey wrote in his book; which I bought a copy of at the Astor (signed by him too, no less). It's a great album, for sure, but I haven't really grasped what makes Kilbey so fond of it. One thing that makes Priest=Aura stand out from The Church's back catalog is the appearance of the wonderful Jay Dee Daugherty on the drums. His attack and style are so distinctive, that you can always pick a cut from this record. He came into the band's orbit after The Church's drummer of nearly ten years, Richard Ploog, became increasingly difficult to work with. His final album with the group, 1990's Gold Afternoon Fix, saw him play on only four tracks, while the rest of the songs utilised programming. 

Daugherty had previously been in the Patti Smith Group, and his presence on this record seems to lift the band out of their post-GAF doldrums. Very much a collaborative effort, each of the album's tracks are credited to Kilbey/Koppes/Willson-Piper/Daugherty, except for Mistress. All of the songs are simply titled as well, often using just one word. The opening track, Aura, sets the scene well. We are introduced to a fairly dreamy landscape, courtesy of some ethereal keyboards before Daugherty's snare cracks the band into life. Indeed, the interplay between guitarists Koppes and Willson-Piper as arguably never been better. Another reason for the album's distinctive sound is Kilbey's notion of using a 1960s Fender VI six-string bass guitar on every track.

That first track unsurprisingly includes the album's title in its lyrics, stemming from Kilbey misreading a Spanish translation of priest as 'aura' (and not 'cura') in a Spanish fan's English notes. The end section of song gives way to some great lyrical comparitives:

And life = time

And time = space

And space = sublime

And human = race

Oh and woman = man

And pot = pan

The fauna ought to equal the flora

But priest = aura

The next track, Ripple, is another highlight for me, with a great melodic refrain that will get stuck in your head, if you're not careful. Paradox is a meditation on Kilbey's slowly blooming heroin addiction, as he ways up the good and the bad. He would be a slave to the drug for over a decade, before starting the 21st century clean. 

Other big highlights for me include the aforementioned Kings and the gentle Swan Lake, the latter detailing Kilbey's feelings about his soon-to-be-born twin girls. Another favourite for me is the eerie tale of The Disillusionist, which features an amazing octave hopping bassline and a baffling chorus:

They say that he's famous from the waist down

But the top half of his body is a corpse

His gold won't buy him sleep

His poverty runs so deep

In winter he cracks, in summer he warps

My biggest pet peeve with recorded music almost ruins this track, as it fades out while Kilbey is still singing!! I don't know if this was done to save on running time, or if the band came to a crashing heap towards the song's end, but it is a puzzling choice! Even more frustrating to me, is that the performance of The Disillusionist on the excellent A Psychedelic Symphony concert at the Sydney Opera House in 2011 keeps going past that fade-out point! In fact, the band (and orchestra) start to peter out until it's just Kilbey reciting the lyrics a cappela. So, that's a weird ending as well. Could they not decide on a way to finish the song?! Anyway, I still love the song, despite this. 

The best and worst of this album happen in the last two tracks. The sprawling Chaos nudges the ten minute mark in length, and has several false stops. Although the bass riff the song is built around is quite cool, it does get a little monotonous after a while. The battle between the guitarists for who can make the most noise gets very grating too. After the sonic assault of this track dies off, your ears get treated to the wonderful instrumental Film. A lovely ending to the record, this feels like music that would run as the credits of a noir thriller roll. No doubt, a big reason why the track is titled as such.

The two bonus tracks on the CD are okay, but they don't seem to fit nicely with the rest of the album, particularly Nightmare. It sounds like a good fit, but the lyrics are too playful or something. Just doesn't belong, although it's an interesting listen. 

Like I said at the start of this post, I don't think this is my favourite album by The Church, but it's pretty damn great. It has been very interesting to listen to it in different formats. Having headphones on and streaming it while walking is very enjoyable. I do love listening to an album on vinyl when you have to change sides so often (it's a two platter offering). The songs get a chance to breathe and sink in before you listen to the next section. I like that. It's also nice to do the opposite and have the CD assault you continuously. He he he... it's all good!

Happy Birthday Neil!

Today is Neil Young's 77th birthday. I'm a bit of a fan. Safe to say. We've just bought tickets to see Harvest Time on 1st December too! So, any excuse to spin a few of his tunes will do! He he he...but we did bounce around a bit throughout the day.

All of these albums were played in full, on CD*.

1. NEIL YOUNG Neil Young (1969)
2. CAROLE KING Tapestry (1971)
3. FRANK ZAPPA & THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION Over-Nite Sensation (1973)
4. NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE Zuma (1975)
5. QUEEN News of the World (1977)
6. NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE Rust Never Sleeps (1979)
7. PHIL COLLINS Face Value (1981)
8. BOB DYLAN Infidels (1983)
9. KATE BUSH Hounds of Love (1985) *

* Hounds of Love was streamed via the Spottersfy, and was not quite wholly listened to. Two and a half tracks to go...Jig of Life indeed!

Now, the first solo Neil Young album seemed to be the obvious choice to kick off the day's music choices. It's not one that I listen to a lot, and I couldn't remember the last time I gave it a spin. Enjoyed it immensely. Patchy as heck in parts, but some wonderful songs. 

From there I grabbed Tapestry, because Rhones and I watched a couple of episodes of 1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything on the Apples last night. Carole King featured prominently in the first one, particularly the recording of the Tapestry album. Was a logical choice to follow on, as Rhones had expressed a desire to listen to it again. Such a great album.

It was time to step it up a notch, so I grabbed Over-Nite Sensation. A good dose of Zappa! Arguably, the pinnacle of Zappa's 1970s output. By this point, I had realised that I was moving ahead in two year intervals between releases. So, I decide to keep the trend going. I felt like going back to Neil Young, and I nearly chose Tonight's the Night, which was released in 1975, but recorded years earlier. So, I grabbed Zuma. The second album crediting his backing band Crazy Horse, this was the first record to feature Frank Sampedro. Although Crazy Horse contributed to the odd track in the early 1970s, they hadn't been co-credited since 1969's Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere. I remembered that a punter at a gig of mine got talking to me about Neil, and cited Zuma as their favourite album of his. Strange choice, I thought. But, there are some great tracks there!

For 1977, it seemed like a good time to pick a Queen album, which would be News of the World, naturally. This record was on my mind because I'd recently seen an album poll online that ranked Queen II as their best work. Another strange choice, I thought. But, it had been ranked by subscribers to the website, so a public, not critical selection. Anyway, it's not one of my favourites. Not even in my Top 5, so I had News of the World and The Game fresh in my head. Decision made!

I felt like some more Neil next, so following the rule of two, I selected Rust Never Sleeps. Such a great album. Almost every track is a classic. Dig it. So, then onto 1981, and with it Phil Collins! No brainer, innit? Face Value is fantastic from start to finish. 

For 1983, I picked Dylan's Infidels album. It's not one that I've actually listened to in full, but I knew a handful of tracks; namely Jokerman, Sweetheart Like You and License to Kill. I've recently become quite fond of the closing track Don't Fall Apart on Me Tonight, albeit the second version from the Springtime In New York 1980-1985 bootleg collection. I much prefer that take, but the one on Infidels is alright. It is amazing how the production has dated the material, but a very listenable effort from Zimmy.

Thought it was a good year for Kate Bush in 1985, so I landed on Hounds of Love. I don't own a physical copy of this unfortunately, so it was the Spottersfy to the rescue! Didn't quite get the whole album in, but a damn good chunk of it. Those first five songs are soooo good. What an amazing start to the record. The second half doesn't grab me as much, but still worth listening to.

So, there you go. If I had gotten to 1987 I think I would have grabbed INXS' wonderful Kick album. Or maybe Diesel & Dust by Midnight Oil. I had already decided that 1989 would be Neil Young's excellent, and eclectic, Freedom record. Might have to pick this thread up again sometime...

A Day of Music

Today has been a great day for music, delivered through different formats. It is Saturday, 5th November in the year 2022. Nothing specifically special about that date. Wikipedia tells me that it's the 309th day of the Gregorian calendar, and that 2022 has but 56 days left. I'm inclined to believe it. Oh yeah, and it's Guy Fawkes Day, innit? Or Bonfire Night or whatever you want to call it. Not of particular significance to this little black duck. The fact that it is also the birthday of Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood is of more importance. He's 51, if you're curious. It's also Gram Parsons birthday, who would have turned 76 had he not passed away the age of 26. 

But I digress!

I started the day off for us by spinning Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds' wonderful Push the Sky Away album on vinyl. While our record player is in need of serious updating, parts of it sounded really good. Other bits sounded a little distorted, much to my chagrin. So, I decided to ditch the vinyl for the next listen. 

My phone let me know earlier that morning that Neil Young had just dropped an unreleased studio outtake from 1972's Harvest album, which was recorded with a group of musicians he dubbed The Stray Gators. There's a 50th anniversary reissue of the album coming out very soon, you see. The song Journey Through the Past has popped up on numerous live albums and releases, but this was an unheard version. So, I streamed it via the NYA (Neil Young Archives) app and looked for a CD to put on. Really nice version, by the way.

I landed on the wonderful Fleet Foxes box set First Collection 2006-2009. Only got a physical copy of this a few weeks ago, as it's readily available on the Spottersfy. It was released to mark the 10th anniversary of the release of their debut album Fleet Foxes in 2008. Included in the box set, is the album itself, the Sun Giant EP (released a few months before the album in 2008), The Fleet Foxes EP (self-released in 2006) and a disc of B-sides and rareties. I'd not heard the first EP before, and it's quite different from their subsequent offerings. It's only Robin Pecknold, the singer and songwriter behind the band, and a fellow called Garrett Croxon on the drums. Robin plays/sings every part except the drums. For the sake of continuity, I listened to the three official releases in their chronological, and then finished off with the B-sides disc. Seemed like the way to go. It was very enjoyable, let me tell you.

The next listen saw me open up the Spottersfy and select the newly released Super Deluxe 2022 Remaster of The Beatles album Revolver. I've not really gone in for any of the Super Deluxe releases that have come out in the last few years, but Revolver is my favourite Beatles LP, so I felt like it was worth a delve. The actual remastered album sounded great, but I have trouble hearing major differences in remastering. I had to play the 1987 CDs back-to-back with the 2009 reissues to notice the changes. Certainly an improvement, but I don't think I'm the audiophile that other Beatles fans are. My first real dive into the Beatles was via a cassette box set of all the albums when I was 12. I guess those analogue recordings are my touchstone. 

Anyway, I enjoyed the listen, and got through all the different takes and versions. Some of those tracks popped up on 1996's Anthology 2 compilation, so it wasn't all new to me. When I got to the mono/stereo editions of the album I stopped. It was cool that the alternate versions and stuff kicked off in reverse order. After Tomorrow Never Knows finished on the 2022 remaster, an early take of it signaled the beginning of the bonus material. Then it went to the different takes of Got To Get You Into My Life. It was pretty cool, reliving the album backwards with the alternate recordings. But then you got the Love You Too takes, before launching into the Paperback Writer and Rain ones. The mono and stereo mixes of Revolver included in the package feature those two tracks on the album. Nice idea. Those songs were recorded in the same sessions, but were released as a single in May 1966, three months before Revolver. I might possibly go back to those mixes. But then again, I might not. 

For a slightly mellower listen, I then grabbed The Flying Burrito Brothers excellent The Gilded Palace of Sin album, going back to the CD player. I only got into this one after reviewing it for the AFYCCIM blog I was a part of for a coupla years. Not expecting to like it much at all, I actually became quite enamoured with it. One of the big moments for me was hearing their version of Aretha's Do Right Man Do Right Woman. It was nice way to remember Gram Parsons' birthday. His impact on alt-country rock cannot be overstated. 

As it was Jonny's birthday, it seemed fitting to spin a Radiohead album next, and bizarrely, I chose Kid A. This was the album where it seemed Jonny had put down his guitar, he he he. Anyway, it was a nice revisit. I also played some random tracks on the way home from my gig, namely There There, Airbag and No Surprises.

So, yeah, nothing earth-shattering, but I felt like documenting.