the chills c/d?

Anyone else like the sound of Brave Words by the Chills?
POO: The Chills

(I thought this might be some kind of gag...)

CLASSIC!!!!

Soft Bomb was actually a pretty big disappointment. Sunburnt is a "Martin Phillips" album; Justin Harwood had already left to join Luna by then. (but it wasn't that good either).

I liked the BOX (glad the HPH B-side turned up on there because the 7" was sold out the first day of release! Well, truth is I saw that beautiful blue slab but I ain't had no $ that day and it was gone the next day) but Sub Bells was IT, all the beauty, the "understated majesty" and no raggedy ass production neitha.

A perfect album. It is quite possibly in my actual top 10 for life. (Those damn Trane albums are hard to get out of there though!)

Hang on.... 33 1/3 on the line?? (OK, I'll do it...)

Submarine Bells is gorgeous (also because of its 'warm' production), at the time it totally blew me away. Apart from thrilling perfect pop/rock songs like Heavenly Pop Hit, The Oncoming Day and Familarity Breeds Contempt it's filled with yearning, melancholy and lost love: I SOAR, Don't Be - Memory, Part Past Part Fiction, Effloresce and Deliquesce, the title track...

Funny, I started the weekend earlier today with The Lost EP. A strong little record with some great tracks

whoever just paid $311 for the secret box on ebay would probably say "classic."

In 1992, I found some discount store in NYC that had a few boxes of "Submarine Bells" cassettes for like 20 cents apiece. Bought 'em all and gave 'em to friends for years.

"Martin Phillips, the man behind NZ indie pop legends the Chills, has been caught shoplifting in Dunedin. "Recently in a stupid and low frame of mind, I pocketed some banana milk and cheese at my local supermarket and, of course, I got caught!" he wrote in a recent message to fans on his website. "No excuses! It was just stupid. I'm fully aware that I'm not the only person who struggles a bit to make ends meet and most people don't resort to petty theft - especially when they're 41! Aaaagh!" Phillips' shoplifting was big news in New Zealand, making the front page of the local paper as well as radio and TV. On the upside, Phillips says a new Chills album, Silver Bullets, is due in 2005, along with a tour of the US, Europe and Australia midyear."

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ep9RdU60GlM

I Love My Leather Jacket

http://youtube.com/watch?v=VKWkK1tJxdw

Satin Doll

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ht4adK_DJvI

Liberty Or Love

http://youtube.com/watch?v=f9YcUgvAqxY

Wet Blanket

http://youtube.com/watch?v=BOvRTcTLvAM

Heavenly Pop Hit

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ite_aYNLZus

Brave Words

http://youtube.com/watch?v=rR14a4ub9TI

Part Past Part Fiction

http://youtube.com/watch?v=70Tf8GkUt_c

Also, they were very, very classic. May still be, though I have my doubts.

It's "MALE MONSTER FROM THE ID" OH MY GOD...

MY VINYL CAN'T BE FAR OFF NOW...AT LEAST I'VE GOT MY VINYL...

Blue Orchids had the reverse hit rate.

No, I understand what is meant by a Chills success rate and I'm glad someone brought that up, actually. But still...man they were head and shoulders above the Blue Orchids.

Kinda surprised by the love for Brave Words here, to me it's a big drop off from Kaleidoscope World.

brave words is so classic. 'night of chill blue' may be their best song ever. then there is 'rain', 'look for the good in others', 'creep', 'brave words', 'wet blanket'(the only good version of this song), 'dark carnival', 'house with one hundered rooms', 'push', etc, it is all just about perfect.

Yeah, Brave Words is pretty U&K, even though I prefer Submarine Bells.

Title track from Submarine Bells still brings me to tears.

Just saw Martin open for the New Pornographers here in Wellington a few weeks back. Acoustic, but still has that great voice. He suggested he'd be back with a proper band.

Kaleidsocope World wasn't produced very well, as I recall. I still have the vinyl. I dunno, The Chills for me are a truly great band that somehow ended up lost to the mists of my teenage years. I still never really feel comfortable returning to them. But I've got over the same kinds of feelings about Chameleons, so maybe Chills is next in line, who knows?

You mean "Brave Words" wasn't produced very well, don't you? 'Cuz it wasn't.

The production on Brave Words (courtesy Mayo Thompson, I believe) is pretty thin-sounding, but in many ways I prefer it to the more lush sound of the later albums. The songs, in and of themselves, shine through.

I've still got the Kaleidoscope World album on vinyl! God loves me!

Pink Frost could melt a good section of under 25 year olds in this day and age, I'd reckon.

Dan Savage will back me up, I think.

I mean Dan Selzer...shit. I used to get those names confused. I'm sorry.

That's ok. I like Dan Savage.

The Chills were great. Brave Words is underrated.

Although I was already an established fan I still regret not seeing them on the Submarine Bells tour. I had to wait until 1996(?) to see them for the first time. It wasn't a great gig, Martin was in a bad way and there were lots of technical issues - I remember him hurling his guitar across the stage in frustration and storming off. However, I've seen them on each of their subsequent trips to the UK and they've been joyous - even when playing to a dozen people in Leeds with Martin commenting "the other day we were playing to thousands at Primavera. I'm not saying it was better, just different".

Oh no, I was devastated when I read about Martin's death on Simon Reynolds blog this morning. What a gifted songwriter. I am glad I saw the Chills in Berlin in 2014. One of the most original and special bands of all-time. Their music was too mellow, too dreamy, too beautiful for this earth. It came from another, nicer planet. And there was so much hope and promise in it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx-upbC2dHs

Stinging Blow, this all is.

"Pink Frost" is always cited as the Chills' emotional peak, but it's "Dream By Dream" that always gets me. I assume that song hits pretty hard with anybody who's ever been kicked out of a band, justifiably or not.

My little bit on Phillipps.

That photo of mine I mentioned, and the words I can find:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C-AyZcavreH/

The recent-ish documentary is free to stream on DocPlay until August 5th, for those that haven't seen it:

https://www.docplay.com/shows/the-chills-triumph--tragedy-of-martin-phillipps

His death was one of the headline stories on last night's 6 o'clock news here, and there's been so many stories shared; still fumbling my way through.

Apparently his funeral will be held Friday 9 August at 2pm at Hope and Sons Dunedin, and live-streamed for those who can't be there in person.

xpost: that was very nice

Thank ya

Chills resurgence over the last ten years among the most incredible and unexpected music happenings of my life, forever grateful to have witnessed it

NZ music archive AudioCulture have put up a two-part article with lots of former Chills and other NZ musicians remembering Martin:

https://www.audioculture.co.nz/articles/martin-phillipps-remembered-brave-words-1
https://audioculture.co.nz/articles/martin-phillipps-remembered-brave-words-2

AudioCulture site is really a treasure

george h's substack tribute

https://open.substack.com/pub/georgedhenderson/p/i-guess-we-are-angels?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=2cavq5

Pretty amazing story from a fan on another message board:

I may have posted this story before. Back in 2000 I visited New Zealand to see and do as much as an absurdly short one-week vacation would allow. Determined to make a pilgrimage to Dunedin (long-time FN and 80s Kiwi rock fan), i took a train, ferry and tourist bus to get down there. I didn’t know who Roi Colbert was, but locals told me he and his record store (Records Records) were the epicenter for all things Dunedin music. Roi turned out to not only be affable, humble and generous with his time, he also knew what and where everyone involved in the scene were doing. “You could drop in on Graeme over at University of Otago if he’s got office hours, Bob is over in Port Chalmers…” it went on and on. I had only mentioned being a Flying Nun fan, but Roi must have felt I’d traveled an awful long way not to meet the bands I loved. He mentioned Martin’s name, looked a little sad and said, “the only person who can help Martin is Martin.” After a moment of thought, “Let me call his sister and see what he’s doing”. “Rachel, there’s an American here who’s a big Chills fan, can you ask if he wants to meet him?” So through Rachel and Roi, I was given Martin’s street address and told to go see him. I seriously contemplated not going over, I knew he had health problems and I didn’t know what I could possibly say to him anyway. I did go and my biggest regret was not bringing something along, beer, wine, etc. Martin appeared at the door, gaunt and head nearly shaved, but he seemed genuinely pleased to have a visitor and immediately invited me in. He showed me his astounding comic book, VHS and action figures collections. His house was a pop culture museum of records, posters, tapes, books. You may have seen that in one of the documentaries. Over beer and pizza we talked music and world politics, family. He clearly cared deeply about a lot of things going on in the world. When I told him that my mother had just died, he asked “Is that what brought you to New Zealand?” He had identified some rationale that I wasn’t myself aware of, the need to get on with doing the things you wish for because life is short. I think Martin was acutely attuned to this at the time, and probably remained that way to the end. I am deeply grateful that, even in his diminished state of health, he welcomed me, a stranger, into his home to share food and conversation. Wherever you are now, Martin (mingling inseparably with the stars, perhaps), you will be missed. A good soul and brilliant artist who’s music will continue to touch peoples’ lives.

Beautiful story. Thanks, bird

I let Martin under similar circumstances, an American in Dunedin. Francisca Griffin was working at Records Records and gave me his mother's phone number. What mother doesn't like hearing great things about their son? So she gave me his number and we met at Arc Cafe and chatted for 2 hours and he signed my copy of Secret Box. Just a wonderful man.

xp you're welcome

And that's a beautiful story too Gerald. All the more sad that he's gone.

The memorial service will stream at this link a little under 24 hours from now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6CEigP2q4Q

And these stories, gosh. They do make me wish I'd made an effort to actually speak with him when I saw him perform there in Dunedin in 2002. I just have the impression that maybe I was told he needed space or the like, but perhaps I just misunderstood something. Well, the past can't be undone.

Reminder this starts in an hour.

Huh, MCed by the former deputy prime minister Grant Robertson.

(who is a long-time fan, cf https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/the-mixtape/audio/2018709162/the-mixtape-grant-robertson)

Extraordinary, funny, and terribly moving. A privilege to have seen it.

Word. I caught most of that thanks to a chance glance at this thread. Cheers.

Suitably primed, I'm now basically re-confirming that Kaleidoscope World is, like, the funnest comp I can think of right now. It's been a while.

and it's still online at that link too (for now?)

The service was really moving, I'm so glad that I got up at 3am to watch the stream. The songs off 'Springboard' sounded great. I hope they don't rush to release it as I think that many of us will need a bit of time before we're ready to listen to it. Also, I loved (and teared up) at that version of 'God Only Knows', it's the first time I've heard it - presumably a demo/rehearsal?

It's this version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpADxXzRaEc

just checked that Secret Box is still up (minus the otherwise available tracks) at the Wilfully Obscure blog, if anyone's so inclined

https://wilfullyobscure.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-chills-secret-box-1980-2000-2001.html

Very cool. Picked up my copy of that during my Dunedin visit at Records Records from Roy himself.

Watched the memorial service last night, it was wonderful. So many hilarious anecdotes. What a life he lived. The two Springboard tracks were great, and it was clear he and all involved had been working hard to complete the project and were very proud of it.
They played in my hometown last year and I was not able to go, wish I'd tried harder to make it happen.

Man, watching that Chills doc now just stops you dead in your tracks. The way it ends, with his doctor telling him he's cured of Hep C and that there's no reason he couldn't live to be 90, and that look of shock and elation on his face.

One final farewell from Martin: https://thechillsmusic.bandcamp.com/album/spring-board-the-early-unrecorded-songs

I will not be able to listen to this without shedding some tears.

Just wish I could have seen him perform them live.

I think a few of these unreleased songs were played during his memorial, iirc.

They did indeed.

https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/museum-commemorates-chills-founder

Oh hey, this is out!

https://thechillsmusic.bandcamp.com/album/spring-board-the-early-unrecorded-songs

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/543580/he-had-an-amazing-lyrical-brain-the-story-behind-the-final-album-from-the-chills

Been streaming Springboard and it's excellent. I'm glad it's doing so well in New Zealand - it's a wonderful, bittersweet ending to a beautiful body of work.

It's pretty great with a few duds - "Bad Eggs" is, er, undercooked. Some of these have appeared elsewhere in different forms but this was Martin's final goal along with "Braver Words".

Martin's House is on the market with all traces of Martin removed by the realtor. In a just world it would be like Graceland, preserved as Martin left it with his collections and artworks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoOvTcmoRa4

The Dunedin Museum of Natural Mystery has a number of Martin’s belongings and art, if I remember correctly. The founder (Bruce Mahalski) was a friend and collaborator of Martin’s. It’s worth a visit, if you happen to be in Dunedin… (a truly amazing collection of odds and ends)

https://goo.gl/maps/zSg6k8t59C4Fn6Q98

Is it tacky or tribute to use his music in an advert for his rehabbed house?

Surely not its intention, but it's actually a striking little meditation on the impermanence of life.

They should have gone with 'House with a Hundred Rooms'

Night of the (mortgage) Bill Due

Reminds me of Olivier Assayas's Summer Hours, Chantal Akerman's No Home Movie and a few other works that deal with death and what we leave behind.

I'm really enjoying 'Spring Board'. I feel bad saying it but I'm enjoying the songs much more than anything on the post 'Silver Bullets' releases - Martin was clearly in a purple patch in those early days.

Yeah, I've been meaning to go back to the last few albums and spin them consecutively, but I agree with your feelings and I'm not sure exactly what changed.

There's plenty of, um, scattered brilliance throughout the last few albums, but they just feel a bit too smoothed over, production-wise. It's like when my favorite 4AD and adjacent artists got into a studio with Hugh Jones, and lost a certain edge in the process. Pale Saints, Ultra Vivid Scene, Kitchens of Distinction, I'm looking at you!

The organ sounds are nice and very early Chills. I wonder if they chose the same model from the oldest line-up

Photos of the Otago Museum's exhibit, featuring some of Martin's personal possessions.