Photo by Joe Blossom
Flinklestein out June 22nd on Ba Da Bing Records via Rhythmethod
The Clean member Hamish Kilgour’s second-ever solo album, Finklestein, flips the singer/guitarist/drummer’s path taken on All Of It And Nothing. Having previously gone for intimate, minimalistic performances, this album displays a chock-full production quality akin to a fairytale. It’s fitting change, seeing as the songs are based around a children’s story Kilgour conceived for his son about a kingdom that invents a way of dealing with their depleting gold resources. The songs include organ, saxophone, pedal steel, piano, vibraphone, harmonica, even footsteps (Kilgour is renowned for his stepping), most of it is performed by him and his producer/collaborator Gary Olsen at Olsen’s studio, Marlborough Farms, in Brooklyn. Originally conceived as being a children’s book as well as album, it rides roughshod through this fairytale world with grace.
Listen to ‘Flip-Top Suitcase‘ and ‘Under the Moon‘ here:
https://badabingrecords.bandcamp.com/album/finklestein
Finklestein took a year to record, as Kilgour’s involvement with a large part of the Brooklyn music scene, as well as dates with recent New Zealand Music Hall of Fame inductees The Clean, split his time. His songs benefit from this elongated recording period, as each track creates its own space within the album’s world, mixing instruments and melodies in a rainbow of ways. Yet it’s Kilgours songwriting sensibilities that hold the album together, his charismatic and loose arrangements within a congenial environment of musical play.
Flinklestein track listing
Lude
Opening (Welcome to Finkels)
Strange Angel
No Money Train
Silver Dollars
Hayride
Dream Sequence
Sidetracked
Mary Sunshine
Whistle Stop
Flip Top suitcase
Brasilia 666
Gold
Under The Moon
Sweet Dreams Reprise
