Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Track Listings
| Disc: 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Tally Ho | |||
| 2. Platypus | |||
| 3. Billy Two | |||
| 4. Thumbs Off | |||
| 5. Anything Could Happen | |||
| 6. Sad Eyed Lady | |||
| 7. Point That Thing Somewhere Else | |||
| 8. Fish | |||
| 9. Flowers | |||
| 10. Side On | |||
See all 22 tracks on this disc
| |||
| Disc: 2 | |||
| 1. Drawing To A Hole | |||
| 2. I Wait Around | |||
| 3. The Blue | |||
| 4. Someone | |||
| 5. Big Soft Punch | |||
| 6. Diamond Shine | |||
| 7. Big Cat | |||
| 8. Outside The Cage | |||
| 9. Safe In The Rain | |||
| 10. Secret Place | |||
|
See all 24 tracks on this disc
| |||
Product Description
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Customer Reviews
The simply-named two-disc "Anthology" gives a suitably good retrospective of the Clean's career, in pretty much chronological order. One disc is devoted to their early work: the fun organ-laced garage-rock "Tally Ho," which was the song that propelled them to New Zealand's musical top, as well as the rough "Billy Two."
The rough, lo-fi pop continues changing in the second, which has the later music and some rarities. Starting with the Clean's reunion, it has such excellent (and eclectic) styles as jangly guitar rock, keyboard pop, and the Britpoppish flavors of "Secret Place" and "Diamond Shine." Surprisingly, the smoother production doesn't at all take away from the enjoyment of the music.
It's a pity that bands from New Zealand don't get the recognition that British or American bands do. If they did, the Clean would probably adored with Pavement and Radiohead. Sadly, they have not gotten that recognition, but that in no way reflects on their music -- this edgy, quirky rock is similar to the best of today's top indierock bands, but conceived years before those bands existed.
"Anthology" serves more than one function. It's two hours of fun, gloriously inventive rock'n'roll, but it also serves to illustrate how their sound expanded over time. The Clean started off with very little, which gave their music a fun, rough sound, but with new production and more money, they polished their sound up. Their music lost the innocent edge, in favor of musical maturity.
The songwriting is more than a little insane -- not that that's a bad thing. The Clean's music has a lovably unhinged edge, lovably jagged instrumentation and edgy sensibilities. There isn't a musical dull moment, with leader David Kilgour and his brother Hamish playing, respectively, guitar and drums. Bassist Robert Scott (later of the Bats) rounded off the group.
The Clean is practically guaranteed to capture an indie-rock-lover's heart, since it was an influence on bands like Yo La Tengo, Pavement and Sonic Youth. As a good overview of the band's two-decade-plus career, "Anthology" is good Clean fun.
The simply-named two-disc "Anthology" gives a suitably good retrospective of the Clean's career, in pretty much chronological order. One disc is devoted to their early work: the fun organ-laced garage-rock "Tally Ho," which was the song that propelled them to New Zealand's musical top, as well as the rough "Billy Two."
The rough, lo-fi pop continues changing in the second, which has the later music and some rarities. Starting with the Clean's reunion, it has such excellent (and eclectic) styles as jangly guitar rock, keyboard pop, and the Britpoppish flavors of "Secret Place" and "Diamond Shine." Surprisingly, the smoother production doesn't at all take away from the enjoyment of the music.
It's a pity that bands from New Zealand don't get the recognition that British or American bands do. If they did, the Clean would probably adored with Pavement and Radiohead. Sadly, they have not gotten that recognition, but that in no way reflects on their music -- this edgy, quirky rock is similar to the best of today's top indierock bands, but conceived years before those bands existed.
"Anthology" serves more than one function. It's two hours of fun, gloriously inventive rock'n'roll, but it also serves to illustrate how their sound expanded over time. The Clean started off with very little, which gave their music a fun, rough sound, but with new production and more money, they polished their sound up. Their music lost the innocent edge, in favor of musical maturity.
The songwriting is more than a little insane -- not that that's a bad thing. The Clean's music has a lovably unhinged edge, lovably jagged instrumentation and edgy sensibilities. There isn't a musical dull moment, with leader David Kilgour and his brother Hamish playing, respectively, guitar and drums. Bassist Robert Scott (later of the Bats) rounded off the group.
The Clean is practically guaranteed to capture an indie-rock-lover's heart, since it was an influence on bands like Yo La Tengo, Pavement and Sonic Youth. As a good overview of the band's two-decade-plus career, "Anthology" is good Clean fun.
The difficulty in reviewing something like Anthology lies in the fact that the article can look at multiple qualities of the package. Does The Clean even deserve to have a lavish two-CD, 46-song set devoted to it? (yes, definitely) If so, did the record label(s) involved do a good job with it, making sure the tracklist gives a thorough look into the world of The Clean? (absolutely) Are the songs any good? (yes, they're tremendous)
So with the quick answers behind us, let's move forward. I truly fell in love with this band all over again upon many listens to Anthology. In a way, that's a sure sign of this compilation's success, as die-hard fans won't need any more convincing. This set seeks to convince newcomers that there's value in knowing who this band is, and it makes its case with a two-hour-plus set. But enough talking around the music.
The Clean were and are unlikely masters of scrappy, simple and energetic pop music. Songs like "Tally Ho" and "Billy Two" set the pace for much of their early work. Simple, three-chord songs with wonderfully child-like melodies that seem incapable of aging or dating themselves predominate disc one of Anthology. But thrown in among all the beat-up sugar, transcendent tracks like "Point That Thing Somewhere Else" and "Fish" elevate the songs around it, bringing out the details even in the simplest pop numbers like "Beatnik." Other tracks, like "Side On" and a live rendition of "Quickstep," showcase the band's apparent fascination with edgy drones reminiscent of early tracks by The Fall. All this adds up to a completely unique sound that, despite the disparities in styles, bring the whole disc together.
Disc two compiles, for the first time, all of their material from 1988 onward (save for their latest LP, Getaway), after they had reformed from their hiatus. The only palpable difference is a more mature sonic vocabulary, better recording quality and a hair less innocent energy, but clearly The Clean will always be The Clean. Songs like "Big Soft Punch" call to mind an updated "Billy Two," but without any sort of nostalgia for the past. "Outside The Cage" mixes a keyboard-driven drone with gorgeously upbeat vocals in a way that shows The Clean have not stopped growing. New sounds and themes show a constant evolution on disc two, making it a far more diverse document than the first.
The people at Flying Nun and Merge were right in keeping the liner notes almost entirely nostalgia-free, allowing the music to speak for itself. While it can (sometimes) be great to read gushing prose about a newly reissued album or thoughtful essays on the history of a band to accompany an anthology, the preciousness that adds can give too much of a museum-like quality to the music. Here, the liner notes include wonderful drawings and a tracklist with pointers as to where the tracks came from, with no scholarly reverence. And really, that's all you need.
Martin Pavlinic
Junkmedia Review
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
