5 Albums I Can’t Live Without: Steven Kilbey of The Church

The Church. (Credit: Adam Nicholas)

Name  Steven John Fucking Kilbey

Best known for  Idiot savant (perhaps more of the former) behind Australian band The Church. A prolific renaissance bloke, knocking out records, paintings, poems, books, and now even comics. Still haven’t choreographed a ballet, but who knows?

Current city  Coogee Beach, Sydney, Australia 2034.

Really want to be in  Bali. Sitting on a deck chair, sipping pineapple juice and trying to forget about being on my phone answering questions like this! (wink emoji)

Excited about  The Church have a new album coming out soonish and I think it’s bloody amazing. Recorded in Austin, TX and it’s a double. Thinking that people are gonna love it and it’ll go to number one and all of that!

My current music collection has a lot of  Prog and glam and a bit of uncategorizable stuff.

And a little bit of  No country or western.

Preferred format  Sadly, I prefer streaming, not because it sounds good but because it’s just easy (damn!).

5 Albums I Can’t Live Without:

1

Diamond Dogs, David Bowie

I love it inexorably even though it’s now 51 years old. It still sounds futuristic. I love the cover. I love “Sweet Thing.” It’s the ultimate Bowie song wherein he delivers on everything he ever implied before. I love his singing and guitar playing and his Mellotron and I love Mike Garson’s theatrical piano flourishes. I love the lyrics. All the songs on this album are right up my alley (except maybe “Rebel Rebel,” which I probably skip now due to overexposure). The last track is brilliant too, showing Bowie always ahead of the pack.

2

Any Album By, Sigur Ros

I love all Sigur Ros. I love the idea of the singing in a non-language. I love the way they’ve tossed all the usual rock clichés out the window and just ebb and flow with the spirit. The most original rock band ever. Real teenage symphonies to God!

3

T. Rex, T. Rex

This album came out in 1970 and it slayed me. It’s rock. It’s pastoral. It’s folk. It’s English whimsy. It’s Tolkien and Lewis. It’s cosmic. It’s fey. It’s studly. It’s still unbelievably new after all these years! 

4

Systems of Romance, Ultravox

Underrated and misunderstood in its day. It still is the sound of the future. Produced by Conny Plank in Germany, it has krautrock wallop. The lyrics are brilliant and John Foxx is a lesson in detachment and modernity. The bass sounds are huge and fat! It’s still a record I listen to a real lot!

5

Together Alone, Crowded House

It has so many beautiful songs on it that are all the last word in lyrical and musical prowess in songwriting terms. A true masterpiece that stands up well after all this time.