STREAM: The Church - Live on KEXP 2/8/11

There was a guy on my hall in college who ran out to buy R.E.M.’s Fables of the Reconstruction right when it came out and the only song he would play was “Driver 8” over and over (and over) again. This is the sort of person that I think singles compilations are designed for.

When Pink Floyd won their court case blocking iTunes from selling single song downloads, David Stubbs lamented in The Independent that the rise of iTunes has led to “fewer groups hav[ing] license or encouragement to express themselves across the album format, à la Radiohead. It's all about those 79p downloads. This is a shame and a loss, since the album listening experience is cumulative and greater than the sum of its single-track components…if it has taken a rock dinosaur to help stave off this idea from extinction, then so be it.”

The Church have some glorious singles but I don’t consider them a “singles” band. There is a context, mood and overall aesthetic to each of The Church’s discs and, to apply Dave Stubbs’ comment from above, the overall album listening experience is greater than the sum of the singles. (…or, to put it more crudely, this isn’t like recent output from a band like The Rolling Stones where there are two or three good songs per disc and the rest is filler).

On the positive note, this compilation contains some 7” versions and tracks from the “Too Fast For You”, “Sing Sing” and “Persia” EPs that aren’t available on any of the current reissues.

CD 1:
1. She Never Said (from the 7” “She Never Said”, 1981)
2. The Unguarded Moment (from Of Skins And Heart, 1981)
3. Too Fast For You (from “Too Fast For You” EP, 1981)
4. Tear It All Away (from “Too Fast For You” EP, 1981)
5. Almost With You (from The Blurred Crusade, 1982)
6. When You Were Mine (from the 7” “When You Were Mine”, 1982)
7. A Different Man (from “Sing-Songs” EP, 1982)
8. It's No Reason (from Seance, 1983)
9. Electric Lash (from Seance, 1983)
10. Constant In Opal (from “Persia” EP, 1984)
11. Already Yesterday (from Heyday, 1986)
12. Tantalized (from Heyday, 1986)
13. Columbus (from Heyday, 1986)
14. Disenchanted (from Heyday, 1986)
15. Antenna (from Starfish, 1988)
16. Reptile (from the 7" “Reptile”, 1988)
17. Destination (from Starfish, 1988)
18. Under The Milky Way (from Starfish, 1988)

CD 2:
1. Metropolis (from Gold Afternoon Fix, 1990)
2. You're Still Beautiful (from Gold Afternoon Fix, 1990)
3. Russian Autumn Heart (from Gold Afternoon Fix, 1990)
4. Ripple (from “Ripple” CD Single, 1992)
5. Feel (from Priest = Aura, 1992)
6. Two Places At Once (from Sometime Anywhere, 1994)
7. Welcome (from Magician Among The Spirits, 1996)
8. Comedown (from Magician Among The Spirits, 1996)
9. Louisiana (from “Louisiana” CD Single, 1998)
10. Numbers (from After Everything Now This, 2002)
11. Song In Space [Short Trip] (from “Song In Space” CD Single, 2003)
12. 0408 (from El Momento Descuidado, 2004)
13. Block (from Uninvited, Like The Clouds, 2006)
14. Unified Field [Short Circuit Mix] (from “Unified Field” CD Single, 2006)
15. Easy [Sliced Mix] (from “Easy” CD Single, 2006)
16. “Pangaea” (from Untitled #23, 2009)
17. “Operetta” (from Untitled #23, 2009)

Links:
The Church