Click here to view the embedded video.

David Malitz of the Washington Post interviewed David Kilgour in advance of his show with Richard Buckner at the IOTA, and explored the legacy of New Zealand’s scene. Read the rest of the article at the Washington Post website.

It was in Dunedin that a bunch of young, like-minded bands began playing music infused with the punk spirit but without the desperate need to be noticed. Less agitated, more laid-back. Less spiky, more droney. Such bands as the Chills, the Bats and the Verlaines all came from there, but the one that continues to cast the longest shadow is the Clean.

“It certainly seemed to come out of nowhere, really, the first burst of energy that came out of Dunedin,” says the Clean’s singer-guitarist, David Kilgour, from his home in South New Zealand. “I think the isolation certainly had something to do with it. Dunedin back then was incredibly sleepy, and there wasn’t much for the young kids to do.”

Order David Kilgour & the Heavy Eights – Left by Soft in the Merge Store now!

David shares some details about the video and his one-of-a-kind guitar:

“We were playing at the Empire in Dunedin, an old bar that only holds abut 140 people and was made famous by the old Dunedin Sound-ers. The guitar I’m playing is a hybrid—the neck is off an oldish Epiphone acoustic, and the body was made by a guitar dude called Rob Scott. One weird thing about it is that the pickups sit on rails, so I can move them to whatever position/sound I want. It has the sound of mountains collapsing, especially at volume.”

Left by Soft is available on CD and digital download in the Merge store.

David Kilgour & Richard Buckner on tour:

Also, David Kilgour & the Heavy Eights have just released a live video for the title track off their latest release, Left by Soft. David shares some details about the video and his one-of-a-kind guitar:

“We were playing at the Empire in Dunedin, an old bar that only holds abut 140 people and was made famous by the old Dunedin Sound-ers. The guitar I’m playing is a hybrid—the neck is off an oldish Epiphone acoustic, and the body was made by a guitar dude called Rob Scott. One weird thing about it is that the pickups sit on rails, so I can move them to whatever position/sound I want. It has the sound of mountains collapsing, especially at volume.”

Watch David Kilgour & the Heavy Eights perform “Left by Soft” live in New Zealand

Richard Buckner’s new album Our Blood is available for pre-order on CD and LP now in the Merge store. While supplies last, Our Blood pre-orders come with a limited-edition “Don’t Blame Me I Voted for Richard Buckner” bumper sticker! Also, David Kilgour’s new album Left by Soft is available on CD and digital download now in the Merge store.

Richard Buckner & David Kilgour on tour:

Speaking of art, check out Kilgour’s paintings at his website. Obviously inspired by nature, both David’s music and artwork will only fuel the wanderlust that comes over us all this time of year!

David Kilgour is a guitar god for guitar atheists. He’s worthy of worship, but his style neither demands nor expects it, all of which only serves to increase his otherworldly cool. Left by Soft, his first album in four years with the Heavy Eights, comes on the heels of the Clean’s excellent 2009 outing, Mister Pop.

Download & share “Diamond Mine” and pre-order Left by Soft now in the Merge store.

“Kilgour has been delivering nothing but first-rate music for almost 30 years with the Clean and on his own”~ All Music Guide

Find “Anything Can Happen” on Anthology as well as The Clean’s most recent album, Mister Pop in the Merge store.

Teenage Fanclub are now on tour with Radar Brothers and will play tonight at the Bowery Ballroom in New York with The Clean, too! Shadows is available on CD and digital download in the Merge store where you can also find a special Radar Brothers / Teenage Fanclub bundle in honor of their tour.

Teenage Fanclub on tour:
9/28 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom* w/ Radar Brothers AND The Clean
9/30 Brooklyn, NY Williamsburg Waterfront w/ Belle & Sebastian
10/01 Philadelphia, PA Trocadero*
10/02 Washington, DC 9:30 Club* w/ Radar Brothers & The Vaselines
10/03 Millvale, PA Mr. Small’s Theater*
10/05 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall*
10/06 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall*
10/07 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue*
10/11 Los Angeles, CA El Rey Theater*
10/12 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore*
10/14 Seattle, WA Showbox at the Market w/ Superchunk & Telekinesis
10/15 Portland, OR Showbox at the Market w/ Superchunk & Telekinesis
10/16 Vancouver, BC Biltmore Cabaret

photo from BBC.co.uk

On September 28^th, 2010 Teenage Fanclub will be performing on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Here is where you come in…

How would you like a chance to be close to Teenage Fanclub’s performance on the show?

Click here and you will be directed to the “Band Bench” Sweepstakes entry form. Enter for a chance to win seats on our band benches and an opportunity to surround the stage during Teenage Fanclub’s performance.

Please make sure you include the following band code: TEE, in your entry form.

Teenage Fanclub kick off their North American tour tonight in Toronto at the Horsehoe Tavern! Don’t miss your chance to see them! Shadows is available on CD and digital download in the Merge store, and you can still purchase the Radar Brothers / Teenage Fanclub bundle, too!

Click here to see how exciting and fun it is to be in the bleachers!

Teenage Fanclub on tour:
* = w/ Radar Brothers
9/22 Toronto, ON Horseshoe Tavern
9/23 Toronto, ON Horseshoe Tavern
9/24 Montreal, QC Le National*
9/25 Boston, MA Royale*
9/27 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom*
9/28 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom* w/ Radar Brothers AND The Clean
9/30 Brooklyn, NY Williamsburg Waterfront w/ Belle & Sebastian
10/01 Philadelphia, PA Trocadero*
10/02 Washington, DC 9:30 Club* w/ Radar Brothers & The Vaselines
10/03 Millvale, PA Mr. Small’s Theater*
10/05 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall*
10/06 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall*
10/07 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue*
10/11 Los Angeles, CA El Rey Theater*
10/12 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore*
10/14 Seattle, WA Showbox at the Market w/ Superchunk & Telekinesis
10/15 Portland, OR Showbox at the Market w/ Superchunk & Telekinesis
10/16 Vancouver, BC Biltmore Cabaret

The Clean’s latest release Mister Pop is available along with other great selections from their catalog in the Merge store.

The Clean on tour:
Sep 29 Hoboken, NJ Maxwell’s
Sep 30 Chicago, IL Bottom Lounge
Oct 04 San Francisco, CA The Independent
Oct 05 Portland, OR Holocene

As always, you can find new albums from all of these artists and more in our handy Merge store.

Free Merge 2010 digital sampler track listing:
1. Radar Brothers – Horses Warriors (from The Illustrated Garden)
2. Let’s Wrestle – I Won’t Lie to You (from In the Court of the Wrestling Let’s)
3. Destroyer – The Very Modern Dance (from Streethawk: A Seduction)
4. Shout Out Louds – Fall Hard (from Work)
5. Spoon – Written in Reverse (from Transference)
6. Lou Barlow – Don’t Apologize (from Goodnight Unknown)
7. She & Him – Thieves (from Volume Two)
8. Superchunk – Learned to Surf (from Leaves in the Gutter)
9. Alec Bathgate – Glide (from Stroke: Songs for Chris Knox)
10. The Clientele – I Wonder Who We Are (from Bonfires on the Heath)
11. Caribou – Odessa (from Swim)
12. The Clean – In the Dreamlife U Need a Rubber Soul (from Mister Pop)
13. Wye Oak – I Hope You Die (from My Neighbor / My Creator)
14. Lambchop – Give It (from Live at XX Merge)

Tickets are on sale now for The Bell House and you can get The Clean’s most recent album, Mister Pop, as well as any of their catalog releases in the Merge store.

Hosted by Le Poisson Rouge, Wordless Music and WFMU, this show comes on the heels of the recent release of Stroke, a double album compilation of artists covering Knox songs with the proceeds going to benefit him and his family. All money raised for this event, save for circa $2,500 base costs to cover direct club expenses, is going straight to the Knox family.

This event is now sold out! Thank you very much!

Stroke is available now as a limited-edition 2-CD set and digital download in the Merge store.

The Clean released their first new record since 2001, Mister Pop, this year! Order yours now in the Merge store.

Enter to win a prize pack featuring Mister Pop, Getaway, and Anthology at MBV.com!

Enter to win a prize pack featuring Mister Pop, Getaway, and Anthology at MBV.com!

Watch all five and share them with your friends at The Clean’s Vimeo page. Mister Pop is available on CD and digital download in the Merge store.

“These guys invented guitar-organ grooves back in the 1980′s – lean, propulsive, intense, intoning the mantra.”
~ Rolling Stone

Get your copy of The Clean’s new record, Mister Pop, on CD and digital download in the Merge store!

The Clean on AMC

Mister Pop is available today in your favorite record store, online music provider and the Merge store, of course!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Happy Release Day to The Clean! Order Mister Pop in the Merge store or visit your favorite independent record store!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Find these songs on The Clean’s Anthology, and pre-order their new album, Mister Pop all in the Merge store! The Clean is Blurt! Magazine’s first ever band of the week, too!

“Tensile,” a track that sounds perfect for a windows-down autumn highway drive with its rolling bassline, chugging, distorted chords and, occasionally, gentle robot voices and squiggly synths.”~Pitchfork

“Tensile” is keyboard crescents darting around three and four-note guitar and bass figures, all green-lighted by their particular sort of Krautpop beat—the one where the robotic severity is replaced by ultra-human grooviness.” ~RCRD LBL

Also, visit the Merge blog to watch classic music videos from The Clean including Heavenly Pop, a documentary about legendary New Zealand label, Flying Nun. Robert, Hamish & David make an appearance as well as Chris Knox and other New Zealand music luminaries.

Part 1 of the Flying Nun documentary, Heavenly Pop. David, Robert & Hamish make an appearance to talk about the early days in The Clean and the New Zealand scene.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Tally Ho” video

The Clean’s new album, Mister Pop, will be in stores on September 8th. Pre-order Mister Pop now in the Merge store for a chance to win a free SCORE! box set.

The Clean released a new MP3 from Mister Pop today exclusively at RCRD LBL. Also, Pop Tarts Suck Toasted chatted with Hamish about the challenges and rewards of being a band on two continents. Pre-order The Clean’s Mister Pop on CD in the Merge store for a chance to win a SCORE! box set.

Pre-order Polvo, The Clean AND Our Noise by September 8 for THREE chances to win the SCORE! box set!

Visit the Merge store to pre-order new albums from Polvo and The Clean as well as Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records for your chance to win!

If you have already pre-ordered any of our September releases, you will automatically be entered. And, yes, if you pre-order more than one September release (Polvo, The Clean, Our Noise), you get more than one chance to win!

EM: In addition to some personnel crossover between a lot of the Flying Nun bands, was there a unifying working methodology that everyone shared?  Did the label ever have a political bent?

DK: Oh yeah, it was the post-punk, indie answer to the corporate rock industry monster.  The Clean carried many a punk ideal, and well before Roger came along with Flying Nun. We cared, maaaaan!  Still do!  I think it’s fair to say that in the early days we did want to stick the finger at the MAN.

Pre-order The Clean’s new album Mister Pop in the Merge store for a chance to win a SCORE! box set!

MGMT at All Points West in NYC, August 2, 2009

The Clean’s new album, Mister Pop, is available for pre-order and full album stream in the Merge store. Get a copy of the original version of “Anything Can Happen” on The Clean’s Anthology while you are there!

The Clean – Mister Pop
Mister Pop sees The Clean continue the great pop pastiche they began in 1978. Circus ragas (“Moonjumper”), gorgeously hazy sunset anthems (“In the Dreamlife You Need a Rubber Soul”), and the sometimes-loose Dada approach to wordsmithery continue right alongside “proper” lyrical forays, and a few Autobahn-referential instrumental moments to boot (“Tensile”). Robert Scott’s love of pastoral UK folk has brought some added weight into the overall Clean equation, as does David Kilgour’s Eastern and African guitar jones, though all this has always fit in with—and still constitutes—the total basis of the Clean sound journey.

Polvo – In Prism
Polvo formed in 1990 in Chapel Hill, NC. Their lineup consisted of vocalists/guitarists Ash Bowie and Dave Brylawski, bassist Steve Popson, and drummer Eddie Watkins.  The band released 2 full-length albums and 2 EPs on Merge Records, and 2 full-length albums for Touch and Go before disbanding in 1997. Polvo, joined by drummer Brian Quast (Cherry Valence), reformed in 2008 when asked to perform at ATP by Explosions in the Sky. Several festival shows followed, and new songs emerged. The Philadelphia Weekly said in a recent preview, “In the 1990s, no one used more hard angles, sharp turns and squirrelly tunings than the dos guitarra barrage of Ash Bowie and Dave Brylawski.”

“the noise-rockers are still in fine, angular, all-over-the-map form.” ~Stereogum.com

The New York Times described The Clean:  “This New Zealand band, which has been going off and on since 1978, plays a jangly, damaged kind of guitar pop and was a primary influence on Pavement and Yo La Tengo, and therefore virtually all of current indie rock.” In 2003, we released Anthology, the 2-disc compilation of tracks and song cycles from across The Clean’s musical career.  Anthology was chosen by Blender Magazine as one of the 100 Greatest Indie-Rock Albums Ever.

Mister Pop sees The Clean continue the great pop pastiche. Circus ragas (“Moonjumper”), gorgeously hazy sunset anthems (“In the Dreamlife You Need a Rubber Soul”), and the sometimes-loose Dada approach to wordsmithery continue right alongside “proper” lyrical forays, and a few Autobahn-referential instrumental moments to boot (“Tensile”). Bob’s love of pastoral UK folk has brought some added weight into the overall Clean equation, as does David’s Eastern and African guitar jones, though all this has always fit in with—and still constitutes—the total basis of the Clean sound journey.

Download “In the Dreamlife You Need a Rubber Soul” from Mister Pop.

Our friend, Ryan Catbird, alerted us to an extremely limited release of The Clean‘s Compilation on vinyl!

Here’s a helpful google link to search for stores, also courtesy of Catbirdseat and MBV.

(Photo via Andrew Gardner)

WFMU‘s wonderful music and program director, Brian Turner, attended the four recent shows by The Clean in New York.

+++

Bottom line: only a band as great as the Clean could get me in an airless, hot, basement room for three nights straight (and over to Hoboken for another). For years, this band on record has embodied everything that is good in music and live their power is a whole other amazing deal. For every wave of musical/stylistic fetishism that has swamped popular and underground culture: krauty this and that, 60′s evocations, loose 80s Rough Tradeisms, all have been natural/inherent throughout with Mssrs. Kilgour, Kilgour and Scott. They absorb and filter it all, and it comes out as organic/natural as possible yet distinctively stamped. In fact, call me nutty but the night before the Cake Shop shows I ran into David and Robert at the Tinariwen in-store at Other Music, and listening to the Clean the next night I’ll be damned if I didn’t hear the whole psychedelic electrified Tuareg sounds happening in David’s axewielding as well, but you know it’s *always* been in there all along.

CONTINUED: Click permalink below for more!

The Clean can seamlessly drift from gentle pop song into obtuse musical sketchery into titanic jam without so much as a blink of forcedness. Where “Point That Thing” was a bulldozer the 1st night, it didn’t quite levitate as much on night 2 (in fact, David was cracking Robert up by throwing the song’s intro figure into the middle several times). But when the moment hits, it’s not always in the place it’s “supposed” to be. They can swell up in songs that they may have played straightforward the night before; Hamish takes his motorik drumming up to another gear, Robert locks in, David takes off and totally utilizes his twin ampage to literally make a wall of guitar. The next night some songs were completely 180 opposite, but the openness to allow songs to flow as the moment dictates and that’s another reason I love the Clean and all it stands for.

The three nights at Cake Shop brought varied set lists, certainly including the classics. While tunes like “Tally Ho” and “Beatnik” got the audience especially happy (not to mention the nearly-in-tears openers Times New Viking alongside the stage Saturday jubilant upon hearing their organ employed when the Clean’s crapped out) there was lots of Vehicle stuff (“Big Cat” night 1!), “Oddity”, a great assortment of Hamish-sung tunes (closing with “Safe in the Rain” often) and relatively newer tunes that sounded awesome. Night 2 even saw a wiry version of the VU’s “I Can’t Stand It” and you can’t help but realize what a rich, solid, body of music this band has created since the early days. They certainly ain’t as prolific as, say, the Fall, but like them, they delivered throughout the timeline and they are equally worthy of the endurance-times-quality medal without fail. Though, we were a bit worried about David on night 3 who looked ready to drop from the lack of oxygen down in the cave that is the Cake Shop. But there was some backup as a feisty-looking, middle finger extending Richard Davies (Cardinal/Moles) came out and slung axe and guested on vox for “Getting Older”.

Great venue to see them though, totally gave the vibe of watching your fave band in an inclusive party room atmosphere; a few nights later at Maxwell’s they fronted another packed but more manageable room of Yo La Tengo Hannukah show fans. I walked in late, only to see three people on stage who looked like Primal Scream thus cursing myself thinking I bought a ticket for the wrong night. On closer inspection, it was the Clean, in wigs. David in an Emo Phillips style, Hamish looking like Brian May behind the drums, and Robert somewhat sporting the Joyce DeWitt look. David also was in some kind of character, and one with Tourettes at that; grumbling between-song obscenities left and right to Hamish (“stop fucking playing fucking jazz drums”), Robert (“play the fucking organ better”), his guitar (“I’m not fucking tuning this fucking thing”) and the audience (“fucking New Jersey”) who may have been somewhat puzzled. Missed the finale of the Yo La set to get a bus back to the city, but understand encore was Clean-inclusive and offered up the Dovers-via-Pop Art Toasters cover of “What Am I Gonna Do.” Hope we see a US return soon.

Listen to the session here! Buy your copy of The Far Now here! David Kilgour & the Heavy 8′s on tour here!

Bonus! Vintage video of “Anything Can Happen” by The Clean!