Sunday, February 20, 2011


The Church- Of Skins and Heart (1981) Enhanced Edition (Bonus Disc) MP3 & FLAC -For Scurfie-


"Tell those girls with rifles for minds that their jokes don't make me laugh, they only make me feel like dying."

Of Skins and Heart, The Church's debut, is something of an anomaly in their vast and sadly underrated discography due to its edgy Post-Punk core that reduces the jangle and psych-rock aspects of their sound (which would later become their trademarks) to a supporting role. This more focused approach serves the songs well, and nowhere is this more evident than on their first breakthrough single, "The Unguarded Moment." Marrying a jangly lead guitar riff to a spare, straightforward rock arrangement, Steven Kilbey's nascent croon dripping with New Wave affect, the song is a classic through and through. As with later Church albums, the guitar interplay between Marty Willson-Piper and Peter Koppes is mesmerizing, with individual guitar parts melting into each other, achieving a level of musical expression that transcends the sum of its parts. While Of Skins and Heart isn't entirely indicative of the increasingly expansive sound the band would develop during the course of the Eighties, it is, nevertheless, a fine debut that deserves to be heard.

Of Skins and Heart (2002 Remastered Edition)
1. For a Moment We're Strangers  (3:55)
2. Chrome Injury  (4:03)
3. The Unguarded Moment  (4:14)
4. Memories in Future Tense  (4:46)
5. Bel-Air  (3:59)
6. Is This Where You Live  (7:40)
7. She Never Said  (3:17)
8. Fighter Pilot...Korean War  (4:30)
9. Don't Open the Door to Strangers  (3:30)



Of Skins and Heart (Bonus Disc)
1. Too Fast for You  (3:35)
2. Sisters  (3:41)
3. Tear It All Away  (4:21)
4. You've Got to Go  (2:44)
5. Fraulein  (3:07)



19 comments:

  1. Again and again just when I think I have a handle on all the music that has been recorded and which music is good and worth listening to and then this is posted. Another band that was putting down some really incredible music and I totally missed it. Thank you for opening my eyes and ears once more.

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  2. excellent down under stuff!!! thanks

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  3. scurfie & ranxerox, this is just the tip of the iceberg. The strange thing is how little Church there is available in lossless. We are certainly going to change that!

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  4. I can remember these guys first time round, it's true they never got the recognition they deserved in comparison to some of their (less talented) peers.

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  5. Anon. I honestly can't figure out why these guys aren't considered at the top of the list for bands of the "Alt" era, I guess 1993-2003 really threw them into obscurity. Glad they're back though. We will be doing a great Church-related series coming up in April. Lots of treats in FLAC including remastered albums, Jack Frost, MWP, and some solo Kilbey stuff. Stay tuned!

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  6. imho these guys made one of the all-time great albums in "priest=aura" that was totally neglected...from the beginning till now they still release great music but financially struggle
    a very very special band to me ...great memories of my youth...(im an aussie)...long live the church.

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  7. I'm a huge fan of "Priest=Aura" as well. Incredibly underrated. We'll be doing a Church series with a lot of rarities/solo stuff coming up in April. Thanks for visiting the blog!

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  8. pardon my manners i meant to add a big thanx to you and your great blog voixautre

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  9. gazbosue, much appreciated, and let me know if you have any requests or ideas for the Church series. Also, would you, by chance, have any of the 2-disc Go-Betweens remasters?

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  10. sorry voixautre..cant help you out..much of my collection was sold off a number of years ago(i am a massive fan of many genres of music but like a lot of us that live for the music i am also financially iresponsible LOL!!)just a little anecdote i used to hang with richard ploog around the time that heyday was being finished and i remember him saying what a great album it was..he wasnt wrong..what a gentleman was ploogie..check out steve kilbeys acceptance
    speech at the churches induction into the australian arias hall of fame..hilarious..its hard to find much of martys stuff on the net but anything by these guys is fit to post..cheers

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  11. Hi, no problem, just thought I'd ask. I know what you mean about financial irresponsibility :) "Heyday" is pretty close to a masterpiece, but like you, I feel "Priest=Aura" is pretty hard to beat. I have all of Marty's studio stuff, and will post a few during the series, cheers

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  12. Anyone got "Sing Songs" in FLAC?
    That'd be marvellous!
    Levin

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  13. Levin, I'm about to start a 20 post Church series in the next few weeks and "Sing Songs/Remote Luxury" will be one of the first posts, but if you send me an email, I can give you the link early:

    killingmoonmusic@gmail.com

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  14. looking forward to this series. huge fan. first saw them during Priest=Aura era. seen 'em several times since, along with a couple solo Marty shows. i almost went to the Seattle show of The Church doing the three album show at the beginning of this year. i'm still gutted that i missed that. i never re-bought any of the reissues, so i am hopeful that you have those. i might be able to help on some of the albums like re-formation, seeing stars, kilbey, jack frost, etc. i'm sure you have them all. i'll check back in the next week or three. and thanks by the way for the talk talk related stuff. had all the talk talk, but hadn't heard the o-rang stuff or av1.

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  15. Hi Kevin, thanks for commenting. I have a huge amount of Church and Church-related material to post. I'm planning on getting the series up and going in about a week or so

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  16. p.s. I do have all the re-issues. I might need your help on a few of the side projects. When you get the chance, send me a list of what you have to:

    killingmoonmusic@gmail.com

    good to hear from you!

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  17. Muchas gracias por tu aporte.

    Thank you very much for your work.

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  18. God bless you for this!Unguarded Moment can tear down walls.Crank it up.Make you think of women in the past.Ahrgh.

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  19. The best church´s album by far:
    She never said,For a moment we´re strangers,Too fast to you,Bel-Air,Memories in future tense,Tell it all away,Sisters
    are gems.
    This is a MASTERPIECE.
    I like You took,A fire burns,When you were mine, Constant in opal,No explanation,Roman ,Columbus too.


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