The Chills..."Kaleidoscope World" (Original Lp Version)

the chills were one of the most exciting bands to come out of the "dunedin" scene in new zealand in the 80s. along with the tall dwarfs, the clean, toy love, sneaky feelings, the stones, the verlaines, the scrotum poles, the great unwashed and a seemingly illimitable line of other fantastic groups, the defining sound of these new zealand bands came to surreptitiously influence the successive generations of american acts like pavement and guided by voices, despite the fact that these early progenitors remained in relative obscurity. the spectral traces of bands like the chills still has a resounding influence on a lot of current bands, though the sound has been somewhat desalinated by obnoxiously self-aware and "quirky" indie groups who simply can't write a song as hauntingly honest and affecting as "pink frost" or "we bleed love" (the tall dwarfs). even though these bands are seen, retrospectively, as representing a codified, ubiquitous sound, each group was alarmingly disparate, performing and writing "pop" music with their own singular perspective. the chills bear as little resemblance to the tall dwarfs as the verlaines do to to the clean.


"kaleidoscope world" was the first record i heard by the chills, finding an unscarred vinyl copy for 3 dollars. it isn't really an album proper, but it displays a coherence and progression that lends itself to the idea that it is meant to be one; in actuality, it's a compilation of early e.p.s the band recorded in its infancy, before recording its actual debut "brave words." the cd version of "kaleidoscope world" adds roughly 10 songs, which - though augmenting the length - disrupt the small little world of the original lp version, making the added tracks feel like swollen appendices. most other blogs i've been able to find that feature this album are proliferating the cd version, so i thought it'd be nice to publicize its original form (especially since i favor it over the other permutation). though this stuff isn't exactly technically innovative, it has a wonderful warmth and resonance, achieving its own form of marvelous perfection.

download the chills "kaleidoscope world" (lp version)

http://www.mediafire.com/?ezytngnntwh