LILYS - Classic / Dud + Search / Destroy

More later when I'm more awake... sorry.

That is all.

(that's probably the wrong word, but you know what I mean, anyway)

The album came out in the US with the original mix, but after Nanny In Manhattan appeared in a UK commercial there was enough of a buzz that Kurt was able to remix and beef up some of the tracks. The two versions also have slightly different tracklistings.

Precollection sounds utterly forgettable (and almost like mixing was never finished) on first listen, but it's a real (albeit slow) grower.

"February 14th"
"Claire Hates Me"
"Periscope"
"Touch the Water"
"Elizabeth Color Wheel"
"Threw a Day"
all of Brief History of Amazing Letdowns
all of Eccsame the Photon Band

"Ginger" and "Claire Hates Me" are two of my favorite songs ever. Several others of theirs aren't far behind.

But, much to my guilt, I simply don't much like Lilys' second half. The Kinks thing just really doesn't do it for me--I liked them so much better even when they were just ripping off MBV. So I guess destroy everything post-Eccsame, except:

"You Win"
"A Nanny in Manhattan"
"The Perception Room"
"Precollection"

maybe one or two others. This band breaks my heart.

Sorta my take on them, really. Yeah, the MBV knockoff is bemusing and all but otherwise, no. I forget the exact nature of the withering comment I delivered after their yawnsome set at Terrastock V, but whatever it was was sufficiently cold and dismissive enough (and involved a negative comparison to Richard Ashcroft's solo work...which I hate) to surprise even Elvis Telecom. Kurt Wossname is a fine and excellent fan of many good records and sounds who should never be allowed near a recording studio.

If only it ended better!

http://www.diamond.ssl.physics.ncsu.edu/lilys/

they are a thousand times better than the shins. but pas/cal is making the songs i wish the lilys would make now.

the manual blissout is better than the lilys blissout.

http://www.rainbowquartz.com/albtnails/rqtz102.jpg

I hadn't heard the original album in a while, so I can't tell the difference w/the remixes...whatever the changes are, they don't smack you in the face. The sequencing is better than on Precollection.

Glad I stuck with Lenola, then!

if you've got a moment, folks should check out this philly band called THE A-SIDES [http://www.a-sides.net/]. they started off as this rudimentary garage / 60's throwback on their first single but their recently released full length is as close as you're going to get to the second coming of classic lilys. and the thing is, when i listen to the record, there's no blatant ripping off of heasley's style -- its just got a similar vibe to the classic records. best local release of the year, hands down.

he certainly does. actually a lot of people do. he's the twee nigel godrich.

"ginger" from A Brief History of Amazing Letdowns" is catchy as hell. I can see Ned's complaints about their more-MBV sounding stuff. They aren't all that great at it (which, given the setting, is what you saw at that Terrastock set you mention upthread?). As dlp9001 sorta points out above, trying to do too much in some songs, not enough in others. When their songs are pop-y, they're quite fun.

i would listen to 'in the presence of nothing' before either mbv album any day of the week

Eccsame The Photon Band is an excellent album.
That split with a Aspera Ad Astra is smart too.

Moving away from the MBVisms to the Kinks - I thought that 'Better Can't Make....' was wholly listenable for want of a less boring description.

I love me some Lilys. Talented geezer.

They aren't all that great at it (which, given the setting, is what you saw at that Terrastock set you mention upthread?).

I honestly can't remember. We're talking six years ago now!

Def. The Three Way, which is the most Zombie-like. "Socs Hip." I don't have that record anymore and can't find it anywhere.

I still listen to Zero Population Growth on occasion, but now I honestly can't remember much of their other albums.

Some of the through-composition on The 3-Way is ridiculously impressive; I think it let itself get written off as a pastiche record, but it had that great pastiche-record quality where having heavy inspiration lets you make something a million times more complex and ornate and ambitious than a lot of the stuff you're drawing on.

There's a song on Eccsame called "The Hermit Crab," which I listened to once on a listening station in 1996 or so. I didn't buy the record, but the song stuck with me enough that I spent years afterward trying to re-write it myself, a bit, from bad memory: I'd try and write a song something like this great song whose details I couldn't begin to remember. I dug the song up, recently, and it was a bit weird to listen to: every other hook, riff, or melody has some distorted misremembered cousin in songs I've written since then. (Even one three-word snippet of lyrics!) I suppose a decent amount of the original wound up embedded deep in my head, and kept coming out without my realizing it.

There's an unreleased song that can be downloaded from the lilys' myspace page called "The right thing to do." It's odd, and not a greatest hit or anything. After downloading it, I notice that it's already labeled as track #10, and now I wonder just how many other unreleased tracks there are. Hmmmm.

I can see Ned's complaints about their more-MBV sounding stuff. They aren't all that great at it

they were about as good at it as anyone else; consider the sliver of money they recorded that first album on and, sonically, how close it is to Loveless (and consider when it was recorded as well), that's impressive. Songwriting wise it doesn't match up but everything else is close enough in my book.

I still think Eccsame the Photon Band is better though

i am hoping the mythical pas/cal album will end up in the place where i wish the lilys had ended up after 'the 3-way'. the first song from the pas/cal album is very lilys, well from that time period.

what up bitches i still dig this can anybody recommend other 60s type ish with real memorable hooks that i can go live inside whenever i get tired of how fuckin b.s. rap in 09 is

lol this song always reminds me how i eff w/ these dudes

i heartily recommend outrageous cherry

I guess I never paid enough attention to their "indie rock" album Brief History of Amazing Letdowns. Suddenly it sounds awfully good.

Someone was playing "Ginger" at a bakery that I went to the other day, and jesus it's great! I saw a movie not long ago (Keeping Up With The Steins) that has "Any Place I've Lived" over the closing credits. Took me a while to realize who it was. Their stealth album?

Whoa I didn't realize somebody was talking about them so recently (relatively) on here. I found that album used in April or May and I love it. Its their most consistent of their early period (which I guess is easier since its their briefest) but yeah it hasn't aged one bit as far as I'm concerned.

i am otm all over this thread

Loves them Lilys.

'Better..' is a desert island record.

Why they never made it on that stupid Neu tribute disc is beyond me.

People who like really big sounding songs should do themselves a favor and listen to "Eskimo" off of the Tone Bender EP.

been listening to the 3-way a lot recently and loving it.

I tried that one, but I can't get behind it. Its not bad, but I just feel cheated by them cause its so opposite of the sound they had that I love. This problem would have been 90% solved if they just decided to go by a different band name when they went all Kinks-y.

Eccsame the Photon Band is pure nostalgia for me.
It may not be their most unique or consistent record, but it always pleases me.

Is Day Of The Monkey on that one? I love that song.

Its so great, but whenever I try to play it for (most) people I know, they seem bored. As an album, not for pop fans.

Day of the Monkey is on that one and it was the song I was listening to when I wrote the post.

To my ears it's inconsistent in sound and almost a little too low-key in places but I really love that album. It gets better with repeated listening.

Oh it also totally soundtracked my first sexual experience so that probably has something to do with my fondness for it.

Also I disagree with you Trip on the uniqueness. Definitely their most unique.

Yeah, I guess that makes sense, too.
Such a schizo band.

so weird that the 3-Way gets so much hate. sure its pastiche, but that is some of the best-written pastiche ever. the arrangements are just INSANE, packed with so much detail, tons of bizarre changes and chords all held together by a seemingly endless supply of memorable hooks. I don't think its their best and I like all their incarnations, just felt this album needed defending.

yeah I completely agree

also I saw this dude live a few months ago and it was quite possibly the worst show I've seen in a while

i think the 3 way is my favorite. haven't been able to get into eccsame, but i just heard it for the first time in the last year or so, and i was into better and 3 way when they came out.

I don't hate the 3-Way, but I love the early stuff sooo much that 3-Way is a betrayal, regardless of its quality on its own.

band doesn't owe you anything FYI

Haha I know, I didn't mean it that way. I really just can't get enough of their earlier sound. Again I don't dislike the later stuff.

funnily enough the only songs that worked live for me were one off of amazing letdowns

ones

anyone have mp3s of the Which Studies The Past? 7" they'd like to share?

also interested in the better-era b-sides, touch the water and more than that is deserved

the 2nd of 'better' with the blue cover has those 2 b-sides on it, i'm sure that's probably hanging round the blogs somewhere

i did have the 'studies' mp3s but they were such a poor rip i deleted them, sorry... i need to rip my own copy but that will probably happen shortly after the loveless reissue comes out

2nd issue of 'better'

might be able to help you out, mizzy. let me take a peak when i get home. you have both versions of "better" too?

I've been listening to 'Better' for years and it vexes me that I still don't know exactly why there are two versions, I even asked Kurt once.

isn't it plus orchestration or something? i don't think i've ever heard the second version of better. is it worth it iyo?

There's different tracks, additional instruments and production. You should check out both.

It's more the why than the what that has piqued me all these years.

oh ok, thanks

well there's that second version of precollection w/different production and extra songs...confusing

also what was his response when you asked him about it?

Ah well, it was in a very noisy club, I was DJ'ing/trying to concentrate and I was kinda drunk and he's so frigging tall and I was a bit overwhelmed really, so I can't really remember.

Okay, I have located my 4 CD copies of Lilys' Better Can't Make Your Life Better:
1) US edition #1 on Primary/Elektra (tracks #10-11 = The Sammael Sea/Returns Every Morning)
2) JP edition #1 on east/west Japan with bonus: Welfare Murder Plot/Baby's A Dealer (aka Who Studies The Past? subpop single of the month)
3) UK edition #2 on Che (remixed with strings, bassoon, bass harmonica, etc.), tracks #10-12 = Touch The Water*/Returns Every Morning/More Than That Is Deserved
*Apples In Stereo cover
4) JP edition #2 again on east/west Japan with bonus tracks which look like it is the Services For The Soon To Be Departed EP tacked on.

2) JP edition #1 on east/west Japan with bonus: Welfare Murder Plot/Baby's A Dealer (aka Who Studies The Past? subpop single of the month)

welp there's one for the wishlist

cover arts:
1-2 have the pink/blue hand diamonds on peachy/yellow background
3-4 have the red/yellow hands on ocean blue back ground

Would love to hear those tracks on the first two.

y'all want #2 then? I can U/L the full CD and then just the last 2 songs.

pls pls

yes would like to hear those! had no idea this record was so complicated.

me too, thanks!

*uploading now*

:D
i spent a good part of last night trying to find video of the time i saw these dudes play at no life records in 96 or 97? no luck, though i could swear that someone was filming.

JP edition #1 on east/west Japan with bonus: Welfare Murder Plot/Baby's A Dealer (aka Who Studies The Past? subpop single of the month)
http://www.mediafire.com/file/odb00f90qag4nd9/Better%20Can%27t%20Make%20Your%20Life%20Better.zip

If you just want Which Studies The Past?
http://www.mediafire.com/file/bslxwe8b8rpg29t/Which%20Studies%20The%20Past.zip

I think in 97 his backing band was The Beachwood Sparks en totale so that would make sense. Aaron from KXLU/Aron's/NoLife was his drummer for a while there.

oh yeah --- i think that was before i knew who beachwood sparks were...

Listening to this for the first time in a long time "Who Is Moving?" is really ace.

love this band

steve, can you put the uk version up too? thanks for this!

at your request.

*U/Ling now*

fuck i love the way 'welfare...' is mixed

Wow, never thought I'd hear a CD sourced Which Studies The Past. Very cool, thank you!

1998 remixed/alternate BCMYLB:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/su2e7jb8ly546ah/1998%20-%20Better%20Can%27t%20Make%20Your%20Life%20Better.zip

So I guess the way Kurt wanted them labeled is 1996 version vs. 1998 version.

A-B "Returns Every Morning" just the drums... pretty nuts.

what i can pick up: oboe, bass sax, bass harmonica, cello (quartet?), drums to the FRONT, tambourine, a little more crunch out of the rhythm guitar.

"welfare"'s opening organ/bass riff sounds like an homage to "it's so hard to fall in love" eh?

"Paz En El Hogar" sounds radically different as well... the 98 version cut by a minute or so.

So, are there any weird-ass japanese versions of Precollection/The Lilys?

Doubtful, seems like only major label stuff or certifiable indie hits got Japanese bonus track treatment.

thx steve, you da man

Yep, thank you Steve!

Awesome. I wish there was more rarities from their early to mid nineties days, too.

There was a whole instrumental demos bootleg called "Send In The Subs" that was post-Eccsame I want to say?

thx shasta!

Is that bootleg in the same vein as Eccsame?

I think it was bridging from Eccsame to A Brief History... I had it once (digitally) and now can't find it at all... it's on ebay japan though funnily enough.

err it was on ebay japan, last year.

It has to be on the filesharing networks, it's 14 tracks over 62min, "released" around 1998 iirc?

Never heard this Welfare/Baby single before, awesome!

1994:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGBX75Z3Ubo

1996:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pjY271yvCw

1998:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y4CTUcfBEk

Thanks so much for these!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3tHAGrhmls&feature=related

^^I can't ask for much more than an acoustic version of Claire Hates Me ^^

i dug it, but would have liked him to sing out more

I know styles have changed but there is something so refreshing about seeing such average looking joes playing shoegaze in that 1994 show. I grew up in a rural suburban town so I relate to guys that look like they could be in any old cover band on the outside, but are into messy music like stuff identified as lo-fi or american brand shoegaze.

Yeah he sounds a bit shy, I agree.

Shoegaze is my favorite genre to strip down in that way, since the melody is already so buried normally, but the progressions tend to be really wistful and bittersweet so it just sounds gorgeous.

So just saw the full band Lilys set at Chickfactor last night.

Very magical for me. Set list:

Claire Hates Me
Ginger
Any Place I've Lived
Dandy
Can't Make Your Life Better
Baby's a Dealer
Black Carpet Magic
High Writer At Home
February Fourteenth

Oh jeez, High Writer, I love that song

Yeah, it was an interesting choice! But I love it as well. I'd have melted if they played Radioitricity but I can't complain.

I would have too!

I was listening to Eccsame the Photon Band again (I've never stopped) this time really loud. It really hasn't aged at all. It could have come out yesterday. I was thinking of giving it a C or D thread just to see if anyone also felt that it was really special or at least very unique. Thoughts?

Oh, I meant to comment that it really sucks you into its world when played loud. Otherwise it's easier to take the quiet and/or slower parts as a lull in the record.

Haven't listened to it in years but I liked it a lot. Has all that old stuff been reissued yet? I've only got three of their albums.

I'm still with ya Evan
Great album from more often than not, excellent band

Nothing has been reissued. According to Kurt there's problems with rights regarding the defunct Spin Art label. That album in particular I'm certain if reissued would bring upon all sorts of forgotten-classic-praise in write ups given again how unique it is and how well it's aged.

That's a shame. I have pirate mp3 versions of Eccsame The Photon Band and In The Presence Of Nothing because the second hand discs were crazily expensive at the time and are probably worse now.
A good lot of that classic shoegazing stuff has been reissued so I assumed they would be too.

Actually the two albums are 30pounds on amazon, Brief History Of Amazing Letdowns is a bit less expensive and most others are very affordable.

No single/ep collections it seems? I always heard that Tone Bender was amazing but it's getting rare.

What about the related bands like Photon Band or Black Tambourine? Which are the most relevant to Lilys fans?

Love eccsame the photon band

Photon Band (the band) had some great material! Only really relevant due to the shared members.

And I agree they're a much more exciting reissue than most of the 90s bands that've been getting it lately.

Vinyl reissue please!!!

Should have said "reissue prospect". Don't want to confuse anyone looking at the bottom of the thread first. Hoping it'll finally happen someday.

I have a spare CD copy of In the Presence of Nothing (Slumberland).
Any interest or guidance of best places where to sell?
*Places tin hat on

Heh- well you can sell it for $30+ on amazon or ebay most likely. Otherwise a record store will buy it from you for $4-$8 so they can then go and do the same (from experience as a former buyer at a record store- we had an amazon store).

Thanks for your advice Evan. May try Amazon. I have a load of stuff to shift. Hopefully...

You're welcome! Another point on Amazon- try to price competitively with other entries of the same condition. What I mean is if you feel your copy qualifies as "very good" vs "like new" price it below the lowest very good listing but not higher than any like new listing (in case this isn't already obvious to you). Helps move your items quick but for the most money you should expect per disc!

Oh, I forgot to mention discogs.com as well. That could be a good route too I just don't have experience selling there (only buying).

Much appreciated Evan
apols to you and all for clogging this one up a touch

Paul

Nooooooooo! A guy started making a documentary about Kurt back in 2007 but he sadly took his own life and the footage is lost. Man, I'd love to see the rest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KkfWuPIe3U

Yeah, I talked to Kurt about this- he said he wanted it to get finished but personally I don't have a ton of faith that he will make it happen.

JP edition #1 on east/west Japan with bonus: Welfare Murder Plot/Baby's A Dealer (aka Who Studies The Past? subpop single of the month)
http://www.mediafire.com/file/odb00f90qag4nd9/Better%20Can%27t%20Make%20Your%20Life%20Better.zip

If you just want Which Studies The Past?
http://www.mediafire.com/file/bslxwe8b8rpg29t/Which%20Studies%20The%20Past.zip

― A Scanner Snarkly (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, March 2, 2011 3:33 PM (5 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Any chance for a re-up? I lost these files...

I still have about half of Send In The Subs as 128kb Mp3s, can't bear to listen to them, *sigh*

Why's that?

I found it on S**lseek then the guy quite halfway through and I've never been able to find it again in decent quality.

Evan/Mares I put some of these on dropbox.

Send in the Subs I've only even seen as 128 but this has all 14 tracks: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6s4mrktqeh74t4e/AAB48eIvDfrPFi3ajDCc1rRta?dl=0
1998 remix of Better: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/kqjoo87rs6fo9m1/AABBUmCGicf6gxxbz5W50Y8ka?dl=0
and the Which Studies single (i think this may be shasta's?): https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6ocsrtwhfg3s85m/AAAjNmAHWgc5mKTbkmjH-85Ea?dl=0

Hey! That's very kind, thanks so much city worker!

Yes, thank you! Sitting at the DMV right now so you've made my morning better.

I hope I'm doing this right. Here's the other hard-to-find Lilys thing (at least in the US): their self-titled album, which is a remix of Precollection with the addition of several new songs. It's actually my favorite thing they've done.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/71f20et5zbsh438/AADBps42CpyVxJ6yOkRryRTUa?dl=0

It's great! Hung out with a guy who did some drumming on that version, so I got a copy from him naturally!

OK the 1998 remix sounds like "George Lucas presents Lilys - Better Can't Make Your Life Better SPECIAL EDITION" given the way new sounds and flourishes are jammed into every corner of most of these songs.

Still like it a lot though, just kind of funny after having known the other version so well for so long without ever having gotten around to this one.

I've always been a bit confused, just to get this straight, the original version of Better has a false start on 'Nanny..' right?

thanks for the uploads!
"here i go out the door of my apartment before I miss my train and there's no way that is happening"

Well, there's a little guitar intro in the beginning on the original version if that's what you mean.

xp

Just realized I've never heard "Glosseder" (I don't think I have, at least) which appears to only be on the vinyl version of A Brief History Of Amazing Letdowns... can anyone provide some info or an upload of that track even? If it exists digitally at all.

"Welfare Murder Plot" reminds me of Lansing-Dreiden

bump. dying to hear "Glosseder". Still can't remember if I've ever investigated this track before.

Prob shouldn't share dropbox links publicly so PM-ed you Evan re: Glosseder.

Thanks so much!

I thought this may appeal to some of you...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCX-xhFlSl4

Why's that?

Man I haven't listened to Bob Drake in like 8 years.

I thought it had a flavour of Lilys in there

Oh, I agree! Ok, just making sure there wasn't more to it. I mean, there is a guy named Kurt involved.

BD could make an absolutely killer '66 era pop psyche album with one hand tied behind his back, his voice alone is custom built for those summery harmonies.

Was this oral history of post-shoegaze Lilys ever posted here?

http://magnetmagazine.com/2017/07/03/magnet-classics-the-making-of-the-lilys-the-3-way/

New to me! Thanks for sharing

I suppose my holy grail would be the Lilys 'Send in the Subs' CD-R, I can barely get a decent quality rip of it never mind an actual hard copy.

― MaresNest, Wednesday, February 13, 2019 3:39 AM (two weeks ago)

I lost my copy! Wish I could help you out...

city worker hooked us up in 2016 but not sure if the quality was good enough for Mares

Thank you both! I would love a higher quality rip than 128kbps, the search goes on! Maybe I should try and ask Kurt :)

He's pretty active on twitter...

Thank you both! I would love a higher quality rip than 128kbps, the search goes on! Maybe I should try and ask Kurt :)

320kbps rip on slsk right now.

YSI?

I did a search on slsk yesterday and have just done one now with no results, whoever they are we don't keep the same hours I guess :)

there's a user now ("f**d*ngb*ck") who has most of it in 192

Not seeing it... :-( Hopefully MaresNest can find it.

https://i.imgur.com/ubQgRrF.jpg

Grunge album coming soon?

I did eventually track down Send in The Subs in 192kbps, still hoping for a copy of it, I also grabbed a great VPRO session from that same person.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuqlLpXJyag

verse melody was knicked for "leo ryan"? and maybe another track?

trying to figure out how involved KH is with Lodge 49... seems kinda deep but maybe some contractual shit is keeping him incognito.

xpost

noooooooooooo...

the only time I saw them live was in '99? when Delta 72, Olivia Tremor Control and Elf Power were also on the bill (macrock).

That was a good era... maybe the peak.

I dunno, that recently unbraided hair seems peak.

I appreciate his two sizes of tamis (tamises?) on the wall.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/l84s3v4wzsy5eb5/Lilys%20-%20Miscellaneous%20Rarities%20HQ%20MP3.zip?dl=0

Lilys - Send In The Subs vol. 2

Right Thing to Do (prev. unrel.)
Dreams Never End (New Order cover)
Coby (backing track, no vocal)
Excelsior Plainside (prev. unrel.)
Any Several Sundays (early unrel. version)
Hark, The Open Energy Channel Is Icy Water, Water Everywhere (B-side)
Baby's a Dealer (radio session version)
Touch the Water (prev. unrel. 45 version)
Any Several Sundays (Station Tapes version)
Baby's a Dealer (B-side version)
Welfare Murder Plot (B-side)
Overlit Canyon - Live 2016-07-03 - performed by Kurt Heasley (Lilys frontman) in celebration of the life of Thomas Fekete

(Mares, can you reup vol 1 pls?)

Holy crap gotta get on the computer and download that!

XP - Thanks so much Albert R!

Here is a link to Vol.1, I threw the Dutch VPRO Radio Session in also.

VPRO Session, 08/11/96

Touch The Water
Who Is Moving
Paz En El Hogar
A Nanny In Manhattan (take one)
A Nanny In Manhattan (take two)
A Nanny In Manhattan (take three)
Better Can't Make Your Life Better
Ginger
Shovel Into Spade Kit
Cambridge California (take one)
Cambridge California (take two)
Elevator Is Temporary
Baby's A Dealer

https://fromsmash.com/fZcmEnYnYk-c0

<3

Hey Albert looks like

Hark, The Open Energy Channel Is Icy Water, Water Everywhere (B-side)

wasn't in the link

Damn... I'll see if I can rescrape it.

That track and the others from the Services For The Soon To Be Departed EP are so damn great.

Yeah, I verified run-times it's the same track as the lead track on Services. Which I have... somewhere lol

iirc they just bunged the whole EP, or most of it, on the CD Single for Nanny (in the UK at least)

Well, I was wrong, it was just the first three tracks

Really want the mystery tracks in this performance identified (don't have the time to comb through again at the moment to identify any timestamps):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGBX75Z3Ubo

In The Presence Of Nothing promo photos, DC 1992

https://i.imgur.com/qCoGZhL.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/MsOXC0k.jpg

Mike Hammel (The Ropers), Archie Moore (Velocity Girl), KH

Overlit Canyon - Live 2016-07-03

It's funny to hear him sing the songs of this era with that weird british/stoner surfer accent he sort of fell into since then.

Radiotricity 2016: "Oiyce Cahps Male-ting!"

Thanks again for the uploads, these early tracks are making me really nostaglic for Eccsame era stuff: "The Turtle Which..." etc.

Man, Eccsame is such an amazing record, it's just so low key that it's almost designed to be passed over, but if you spend a bit of time with it, it'll bury itself deep into you.

Maybe I've been losing my shit over no one, for some time.

It's weird how markedly different those first...idk five? albums are, like five different bands.

YES!

good citizens will receive https://t.co/kkNIKMCyLi

— LILYS THE LILYS (@theLILYS) November 11, 2019

Maresnest can you please re-up the VPRO link? Looks like I forgot to click...

Also wondering if Albert was ever able to track down the missing file for Hark, The Open Energy Channel Is Icy Water, Water Everywhere (B-side)?

It is not a rarity per se, it's just the first track of Services For The Soon To Be Departed tacked on as a b-side to an import single.

That said, I do "own" it. Where it is, or my impending access to such is a big question.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J68mSrE9CmE

No worries Evan, do you have the 'Services...' EP? I can include that also.

It is amazing actually, every bit as great as BCMYLB

When I say "the first track" it's like the first 3 tracks of the EP which are seamless. It's a little more free/frenetic than BCMYLB imho.

Thanks! And I do have Services so no worries there! I figured the "b-side" version would have been a little different.

It was tacked on as a b-side to the "Nanny" 1998 re-release as that EP didn't get UK distro.

Here 'tis - https://fromsmash.com/yM4a4N.Yyg-c0

thanks you're the best!

wait that is not the Services EP

guess I should've read up a few posts lol, n/m

Lol, I can upload that too if you like?

ooh yes plz

Here y'go - https://fromsmash.com/NXGJsUgsK5-c0

thx yr the best

That 1992 "Station Tapes" version of TASS is incredible via headphones, amazing that he felt that version was not up to snuff!

Though I do love the 1998 version as well.

There's a new Lilys song on the Lodge 49 soundtrack that just came out, "Unheard of Curiosities"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTsdtOMunzc

From his 2006 bio:

Not so long ago Kurt’s wife went out and didn’t come back. She might one day. For now Kurt is a single father of 3 children. He was himself expelled from high school after 42 absences. Turns out he was at home sequencing software and fiddling with editing software. There are worse things 15 year olds can do. It’s been tough bringing up the kids alone so he was glad of the helping hands of producer Mike Musammo when it came to making the new record.

BCMYLB was released 10 years previous, and listening back to the lyrics with this relationship in mind, certain lines/phrases seem rather personal in a way that 1996 lyrics of his peers were not.

https://i.imgur.com/72iZH3l.jpg

oof at that last revive.

Just noticed that the vinyl and CD of Brief History... have different track listings. Is "Glosseder" the same song as "Evel Knievel" or a different one?

Yeah Glosseder is a different song.

YSI

It's a vinyl rip - https://we.tl/t-7D27lbyB3y

<3 2 U Maresn3st

We're releasing #Lilys' 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝟯 𝗪𝗮𝘆 for the first time on LP! Preorder Standard Black Vinyl or @RoughTrade Indie Exclusive Blue Vinyl: https://t.co/oJhFi7pEjw pic.twitter.com/8jFTSoqImm

— Sundazed Music (@SundazedMusic) January 5, 2021

Thanks Al -- I also saw that Frontier is rereleasing A Brief History Of Amazing Letdowns as a full-length with extra tracks on Feb 12.

i remember HATING this record when it came out ... but I think I'd probably like it now.

It is incredibly dense for a 36 min LP.

yeah, i think i just thought he was massively overreaching — I'll have to revisit it, I probably have more tolerance for that kinda thing these days.

I resented it because it went even further away from Eccsame which is my absolute favorite.

There's an amazing oral history of this record linked upthread.

http://magnetmagazine.com/2017/07/03/magnet-classics-the-making-of-the-lilys-the-3-way

Thanks Al -- I also saw that Frontier is rereleasing A Brief History Of Amazing Letdowns as a full-length with extra tracks on Feb 12.

― city worker, Tuesday, January 5, 2021 4:40 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Wow now this I would love to get... finally found this info in a facebook post. Feel like I won't have a better way of getting an update then just manually checking facebook? I don't like facebook.

ESPO did an ad for the reissue and it mentions a song named "Elsa".

which is a song off of the Aspera Ad Astra split:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFViY4K7zQ8

So who knows what is in store...

....and relistening I'm realizing this was one of the instrumental tracks on Send In The Subs.

Wait are you more familiar with send in the subs than the split? Yeah instrumentals of all 4 tracks are on subs as well.

Yes! (thx 2 u and Mar3sn3st)

Typically, I have nothing but love for 'The 3 Way', but it is a lot to chew on, the lyrics are kinda amazing on a few songs too.

This morning, I was listening to this odd promo version of Mutations by Beck and there is a kinda rare track on it called 'Electric Music & The Summer People', it's a re-recorded version from the Odelay sessions, it reminded me a lot of Lilys.

I was only familiar with the Odelay version (b-side on some 12" iirc?) but I'm not quite hearing what you are haha.

I do know that they are (or were) neighbors and may have some friends in common in the neighborhood music scene.

Yeah, it's this one as opposed to the Odelay era one, funny that he saw fit to re-record it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6oSI8JXUYQ

But you're right, perhaps it's not very much like Lilys, must have been my mood :)

Just like Sun Kil Moon the stylistic shift is so gigantic within the discography it's a bit annoying that there wasn't a moniker change to go along with it. Unlike SKM I am a big fan of BOTH of the bands called Lilys that happen to share a frontman.

Got to add to the above that the Lilys songs on the Aspera Ad Astra split are sometimes my favorite in the entire discography. Not sure why but they really pair nicely with a beautiful spring day outside. Always wondered if there were lyrics that were supposed to pair up with the instrumental tracks from subs that were not associated with that split.

^ Well now I get my answer! One of the instrumentals from send in the subs now has vocals (barely) and is titled "G. Cobalt Franklin".

The reissue just went up:

https://frontierrecords-lilys.bandcamp.com/album/a-brief-history-of-amazing-letdowns

Wow!

https://www.brooklynvegan.com/lilys-kurt-heasley-talks-brief-history-of-amazing-letdowns-reissue-lots-more-in-bv-interview/

[This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.]

I love Kurt!

2021 is the year of the homepage!

http://l-i-l-y-s.com/

A Brief History Of Amazing Letdowns is so good! Sounds even better now than it did back then.

https://frontierrecords-lilys.bandcamp.com/album/a-brief-history-of-amazing-letdowns

Evil Knievel no longer canon!!!

See upthread a little ;)

I might have been the first one to order the vinyl when it went up honestly! Been excited about this.

lol, sorry, shows where's my mind's at.

"I was listening to Eccsame the Photon Band again (I've never stopped) this time really loud. It really hasn't aged at all. It could have come out yesterday. I was thinking of giving it a C or D thread just to see if anyone also felt that it was really special or at least very unique. Thoughts?"

Hi evan,I remember commenting under an YouTube video of Radiotricity,saying that turn up the volume to the highest you can take and be overwhelmed with it...I don't remember exactly how I said it and the video is now gone...I now feel that my phrases are really cliche and sentimental..

https://www.tablyricfm.com/artist-Lilys-tab-Lyric-fm

Does anybody have the resources for these unreleased songs:give a little distance,lire,imagination... etc?This site names many,but the songs are all unavailable.(or is it just my phone's problem?)
I see upthread but I don't have access to any of them😔

Hey Nancy,

You might like this, 'Send In The Subs' an unofficial CDR of unreleased tunes, much-discussed upthread.

https://www.discogs.com/Lilys-Send-In-The-Subs/release/12907117

D/L - https://www.fromsmash.com/bzqYTVCAan-bt

Thanks,Maresn3st,but send in the sub doesn't have the songs I talked about. I also wanna get the information on some untitled tracks from the only 1994 live show on YouTube,like what their names are.. :)

Hi Nancy! I forgot I made that post. I still feel that way! In a perfect world it would be looked back on as something way ahead of its time. It has since been reissued and despite my 2014 wishes it did not generate the mass revaluation I was hoping for. Maybe if it got a "Best New Reissue" treatment on Pitchfork or something. The existing cult remains. Oh, I did somehow get some friends to indulge it. That was a win, as our tastes are mostly growing further apart.

Thanks for bringing it up. Love talking about one of my favorite records of all time.

Eccsame might be the most underrated Lilys record, at times it's my favorite as well.

It's the only one that's really hard to describe and sounds the least of its time. All the others can be mostly boiled down to a short description because they are straightforward exercises regardless of how you rate them. The shoegaze one, the indie rock circa 94 one, Eccsame The Photon Band, the Kinks-y rebirth, the REALLY Kinks-y one, the indie rock circa 03 one, the poor man's Spoon one. Guess you could say "the space rock one" or something but it'll be the hardest to prepare a new listener for with that kind of simple label.

Funny, I've been listening to Eccsame (again) and Better Can't Make Your Life Better (for the first time) recently, both incredible. Can hardly believe the same person made them both, so close together. I was definitely having those "ahead of their time" feelings, too. Would they be considered a major band if they'd arrived 5-10 years later? Well, they were major.

A Brief History... and The 3-Way were both reissued last month, the former with some extra '94 era tracks, plus one never released called "G. Cobalt Franklin." Maybe that's one of the unnamed songs? I'll check it out later.

That song was previously one of the instrumentals on Send In The Subs along with the others that were instrumentals of the 4 songs from the Aspera Ad Astra split. With that, I think there is still one instrumental left on Subs that doesn't have vocals tied to it elsewhere.

All the others can be mostly boiled down to a short description because they are straightforward exercises regardless of how you rate them.

Haha, to me it's the "Talk Talk/David Sylvian/Japan" album.

That one instrumental left on send in the subs,I fight my urges to listen to it cause I wanna experience the otherworldly feel that I fail to describe when it was paired with vocals.

Do you guys know lilys fansite has an YouTube account?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCBizgeb6e7

it's "returns everymorning". no space between every morning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_MpvIGlcOc
one of its videos

^^^That was a good tour. It was The Beachwood Sparks full band backing Kurt (which at that point in time shared a couple common members).

omg,I did not know that. I'd love to see live videos at this point in time. I find myself liking these band members' projects as well,beachwood sparks,the photon band...I remember once I was listening to a compilation and the only two songs I liked belonged to Beachwood Sparks which I only find out later was in connection with lilys.

Photon Band is very underrated! I like them

I need to revisit Beachwood Sparks... I have always been a HUGE Further fan, massive- but mostly for the California sun warped Dinosaur Jr tape vibes unique to that stuff in particular.

I love the photon band very much!It's my favorite side band.

I like peas

I don't know if this is common but it popped up on D1me@d0zen today, so I thought I'd share:

Lilys - 1991 xx xx Washington DC

Show note:
Very early Lilys show, featuring many unknown tracks. Any ideas?

1 Tra-La La-la
2 Elizabeth Colour Wheel (early)
3 Any Several Sundays
4 Unknown Track 1
5 Unknown Track 2
6 Salad Bar
7 Unknown Track 2
8 Unknown Track 3

https://www.fromsmash.com/aRZlCy5Wqf-bt

im kinda gobsmacked, this band ticks every little tickbox on my chart, even with all the variations, even the kraut techno, and i know beachwood sparks, and apples quite well and i thought i knew all the shoegaze erwhere, and like...all that shit. but i've never listened to lilys once. or was even aware of how obviously perfectly i am made for their stuff. i will say my first listen, thanks to ilm threads was bcmylb, and my initial reaction was 'this good,' and my second was 'this is kevin barnes singing the kinks. it's kevin barnes, right'? since then i'm just mainlining every rabbit hole. huh.

That’s great! What’s your thought on the period just before the kinks transformation? Namely Eccsame The Photon Band

i really like eccsame, but i've listened only like 2 times. i will update once i've listened more. i DLed like some rarities collection from thread, and that any several sundays track is awesome. there's so much to hear. it's great. my buddy who's a huge bjm fan hit me with https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epwvysOIk9U and now i'm just convinced i like whatever this guy does pretty much.

Eccsame still hasn’t soaked in next-level enough for me to comment, but the bcmylb and 3 way stuff is so in my head all the time for now…i’m like obsessed with trying to know all the things in a fanboy way.

first time i’ve ever seen heasley interviewed, and i at least get his charisma.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCm94bDG_FU

(Getting obsessed with great great talented almost-stars is def my style, prev jason falkner, where I end buying japan only releases and shit, or bid and monochrome set, in which i’m like, “i’m gonna have to go to UK to see this legend, but how? 🤷🏻‍♂️)

I DLed the import Precollection from above. this is fucking great. Bits of eatb (esp guitar attack) and teardrop explodes and VU, all with his usual shit and great memorable melodies. the songs, the songs.

idg the dislike on it i’ve read at all. I dont think its ever pastiche, it’s just…everything, while it sounds fantastic. To me. This guy blows my mind on merit, and also by having escaped my notice.

BCMYLB at its best (e.g. Tennis System) is like the song-form equivalent of babbling. Verbose lyrics that never come up for air, chord changes on every other beat that sometimes aren't repeated, and no dynamic range, with only vertical leaps in the melody to break up the monotony. I admire the audacity of disguising this super weird songwriting style as a British Invasion throwback record.

“never come up for air” 🤷🏻‍♂️

Heya Hunt3r, so good to read about your enthusiasm for Lilys, have you heard this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8ITut57JiA

Timely thread revive

all aboard pic.twitter.com/oUFNpdYHf6

— l i l y s (@theLILYS) January 7, 2022

I thought that's why the thread was revived!

Anyway, count me among the people that missed out on the band more or less entirely. In my case I think I was always confused by comparisons to both the Kinks *and* shoegaze. At the time my brain could just not make that compute.

They have covered a lot of ground, even the differences between BCMYLB and The 3 Way (arguably in the same stylistic genre) are noticeable.

It definitely started off very beholden to MBV, before that 1966 feel crept in.

But even ETPB, which came before, is the most wonderfully unusual, soporific gaze record, slowly edging toward those 1960s elements.

I think I always got them mixed up with the Swirlies, too.

maresn3st, thanks. i had not heard that, i like it a lot-- edgy retropsych, sounds like from bcmylb era

I like peas

"I think I was always confused by comparisons to both the Kinks *and* shoegaze. At the time my brain could just not make that compute."

after listening to two alt takes of Any Several Sundays, then just now hearing the version off the Selected ep for the first time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOKeNxAxzfM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxuJUDCykGk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R4NdGAIE0U

Lilys
2022-01-20
Starlet Lounge at Harlow's
Sacramento CA

Setlist

00 intro [7:48]
01 The Hermit Crab [4:01]
02 Threw A Day [4:10]
03 There's No Such Thing as Black Horchids [5:40]
04 Coby [6:04]
05 High Writer at Home [6:57]
06 Ginger [6:01]
07 Overlit Canyon (The Obscured Wingtip Memoir) [4:53]
08 Claire Hates Me [4:43]
09 Tone Bender [3:28]
10 Day of the Monkey [4:49]
11 Elizabeth Colour Wheel [7:34]
12 Radiotricity [3:33]
13 Your Guest and Host [4:58]
14 Dandy [7:40]

15 Will My Lord Be Gardening [3:48]
16 Elevator Is Temporary [2:48]

https://www.fromsmash.com/6x42yu76ZN-bt

Hunt3r sorry I’ve not been engaging more with your Lilys dive I think it’s awesome though and glad you’re enjoying all of the phases!

Wow that’s a very overwhelmingly 1995 era setlist. Cool!

No worry at all— also, this thread has enough volume and depth that the education available is pretty nice.

Nice, the Harlow's recording was done by me. Used Zoom H1n with built-in mics.

Here's a more permanent link to the lossless version:
https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=kZuhJrXZu2sel87QYNJcd9moKYsap7QYUiay

TY!

Nice Precollection era soundboard recently uploaded to Archive.org

https://archive.org/details/lilys03-05-30

I immediately guessed that had to be one of the Aadam Jacobs tapes.

Yeah, spotted one from the Swirlies too (more Evan-centric content) hoping for some Sweep The Leg Johnny to pop up.

There was not a day when they weren't on to us~

the main riff of "Ginger" played at ~.8 speed sounds suspiciously like "Save It For Later"

🤔