Untitled 23

Last updated

Untitled #23
Untitled-23.jpg
Studio album by
Released6 March 2009
RecordedSpacejunk III Studios, The Orange Room
Sydney, New South Wales 2008-2009
Genre Alternative rock, neo-psychedelia, psychedelic rock, dream pop
Length50:28
Label Unorthodox, Second Motion
Producer The Church
The Church chronology
Shriek: Excerpts from the Soundtrack
(2008)
Untitled #23
(2009)
Further/Deeper
(2014)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg link
Pitchfork (7.0/10) [1]

Untitled #23 is the 23rd album by the Australian alternative rock band The Church, released in March 2009. It was their 23rd Australian album-length collection of original studio recordings, counting the four outtakes albums (A Quick Smoke at Spot's, Parallel Universe, Beside Yourself & Back with Two Beasts ), the covers album A Box of Birds and the acoustic albums El Momento Descuidado & El Momento Siguiente .

Alternative rock is a style of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1980s. In this instance, the word "alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream rock music. The term's original meaning was broader, referring to a generation of musicians unified by their collective debt to either the musical style or simply the independent, DIY ethos of punk rock, which in the late 1970s laid the groundwork for alternative music. At times, "alternative" has been used as a catch-all description for music from underground rock artists that receives mainstream recognition, or for any music, whether rock or not, that is seen to be descended from punk rock. Although the genre evolved in the late 1970s and 1980s, music anticipating the sound of the genre can be found as early as the 1960s, with bands such as the Velvet Underground and artists such as Syd Barrett.

The Church (band) Australian rock band

The Church, an Australian alternative rock band, formed in Sydney in 1980. Initially associated with new wave, neo-psychedelia and indie rock, their music later came to feature slower tempos and surreal soundscapes reminiscent of dream pop and post-rock. Glenn A. Baker has written that "From the release of the 'She Never Said' single in November 1980, this unique Sydney-originated entity has purveyed a distinctive, ethereal, psychedelic-tinged sound which has alternatively found favour and disfavor in Australia." The Los Angeles Times has described the band's music as "dense, shimmering, exquisite guitar pop".

<i>Beside Yourself</i> 2004 studio album by The Church

Beside Yourself is the seventeenth album by the Australian psychedelic rock band The Church, released in October 2004. It consists of material recorded during the sessions for their 2003 album Forget Yourself and was only released in Australia, with a limited pressing of 500 copies. Some of the tracks had already been made available in the United States on the iTunes Exclusive Tracks EP and on the bonus disc given away with the U.S. release of Forget Yourself.

Contents

The album was released on the band's own label, Unorthodox Records, in Australia and on Second Motion Records in North America. Praised for its moody yet strong songwriting, it has yielded some of The Church's best reviews of their career, including a 5 star review from Australia's Rolling Stone.

MGM Distribution

MGM Distribution is the largest independent distributor of Australian music and music related merchandise and was established in April 1998 by Sebastian Chase.

Second Motion Records is part of Second Motion Entertainment based in Carrboro, North Carolina. The Label was founded in Chapel Hill, NC by Stephen Judge, who is the former manager of the rock band Athenaeum as well as the former General Manager/A&R Director of Redeye Distribution and Yep Roc Records. Judge has also worked with such artists as: Liam Finn, Bell X1, John Doe, Paul Weller, Public Enemy, Daniel Lanois, Martin Sexton, Sloan, Concrete Blonde, The Supersuckers and others.

The album is rare among the band's catalogue in that all of the lead vocals are sung by Kilbey.

Singles

In March, 2009, the band released a teaser EP entitled "Pangaea", featuring the title track and three outtakes: "LLC", "Insanity" and "So Love May Find Us", which featured lead vocal contributions from Koppes and Willson-Piper.

Untitled #23 was released almost simultaneously with the "Pangaea" EP on 6 March 2009.

The "Operetta" EP followed on 27 November and included the title track plus three jams/outtakes from the Untitled #23 recording sessions: "Silhouette in Meltdown", "Moon Hangs in Black" and "Particles Matter".

In April 2010 the band embarked on their 30th Anniversary tour, playing an all-acoustic set chronicling one song from each album played in reverse order. At each show, a full color retrospective program was distributed to each audience member, along with the third EP from Untitled #23, "Deadman's Hand", which contained the title track plus four outtakes: "Stardust", "The Kicker", "Dakota" and "The Garden".

Live performances

In June 2009 the band launched the "So Love May Find Us Tour 2009", a month-long tour of the United States and Canada in support of Untitled #23. The tour's name derived from the 17 minute track of the same name from the "Pangaea" EP.

In 2011 the album, along with Priest=Aura and Starfish , was played in its entirety on the band's 30th Anniversary "Future, Past, Perfect" tour.

<i>Priest=Aura</i> 1992 studio album by The Church

Priest=Aura is the eighth album by the Australian alternative rock band The Church, released in March 1992. It peaked at No. 25 on the ARIA Albums Chart.

<i>Starfish</i> (album) 1988 studio album by The Church

Starfish is the fifth album by the Australian rock band The Church, released in February 1988. The band's breakthrough album, Starfish went gold in America and has remained their most commercially successful release. The album sold 600,000 copies in the United States alone. The first single, "Under the Milky Way", charted well in the American Top 40, peaking at No. 24 and No. 2 on Mainstream Rock Tracks, leading to significant exposure of the then relatively underground Australian act. In Australia "Under the Milky Way" climbed to No. 5, and Starfish reached No. 7 on the album charts, the band's highest positions ever in their home market.

Track listing

All songs written by Kilbey/Koppes/Powles/Willson-Piper

  1. "Cobalt Blue" – 4:16
  2. "Deadman's Hand" –4:28
  3. "Pangaea" – 4:05
  4. "Happenstance" – 4:25
  5. "Space Saviour" – 5:34
  6. "On Angel Street" – 6:19
  7. "Sunken Sun" – 5:48
  8. "Anchorage" – 6:28
  9. "Lunar" – 3:25
  10. "Operetta" – 5:46

Vinyl edition

The vinyl edition of the album contains three bonus tracks, all from the Pangea EP: "So Love May Find Us", "LLC" (sung by Peter Koppes), and "Insanity" (sung by Marty Willson-Piper). The limited edition double vinyl LP was released through Second Motion and the band's own Unorthodox Records.

Personnel

Steve Kilbey Anglo-Australian singer, song writer and bass guitarist

Steven John Kilbey is an English-Australian singer-songwriter and bass guitarist for the rock band, The Church. He is also a music producer, poet and painter. As of October 2014, Kilbey had 750 original songs registered with Australian copyright agency Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA).

Peter Koppes Australian musician

Peter Koppes is a guitarist, best known as a founding and almost-continuous member of Australian independent rock band The Church. He is a multi-instrumentalist, also playing mandolin, drums, piano, and harmonica. He has also released various solo albums and various recordings with his group The Well (1989-1995.) Koppes lives on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland where he also produces albums and conducts seasonal 'song writing' and 'performance for demo recording' short courses at Nambour TAFE, as well as offering private tuition in guitar, drums and song writing. His daughters are Tatiana 'O' Koppes and Neige Koppes who have their own band, Rain Party.

Tim Powles Australian musician

Timothy Guy Gerard Powles is a New Zealand music producer and artist. Also known as "timEbandit" Powles, his main instrument and first love was the drums and percussion in general, though over time he's become a dab hand on a medium-sized pile of instruments and gadgets, not to mention the studio itself- and virtual instruments as they occur.

with:

Cactus World News

Cactus World News is an Irish rock band formed in Dublin in April 1984. Founded by Frank Kearns (guitar) and Eoin McEvoy (vocals), the first full stable lineup also included Wayne Sheehy (drums) and Fergal MacAndris (bass). They reformed in 2011 with a new lineup of Kearns, Sheehy and MacAndris, with Eoin Scott and Eoin Watkins. Their early influences were The Clash, Ramones, Talking Heads, U2, The Waterboys and R.E.M.

Electone is the trademark used for electronic organs produced by Yamaha. With the exception of the top end performance models, most Electones are based on the design on the spinet electronic organ. Current models are completely digital and contain a variety of sounds, effects, and accompaniments, on top of the ability to store programming data onto memory devices.

Related Research Articles

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The Blurred Crusade is the second album by the Australian alternative rock band The Church, released in March 1982 by EMI Parlophone. Moving away from the new wave leanings of their debut, it was stylistically more complex and "a smoother, fuller release". "With its mystical lyrics the second album ... brought the group's own style more into focus". The album peaked at No. 10 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart and "Almost With You" reached No. 21 on the related Singles Chart.

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References

  1. Tangari, Joe. The Church:Untitled 23. Pitchfork. 4 December 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2009.