July 1998 - present | January 1998 - June 1998 | December 1997 and back

19 June 1998

There is not too much to report these days. Lilys are still plugging away in the studio, recording their new album. No release date had been set, or even guessed at, but the guys in the band have been working long hard hours on this...always a good sign. I'll venture to say that we will see a new Lilys release this year.

The band being shacked up in Studio .45 obviously means that no tour dates are likely for some time.

11 May 1998

Lilys are still in the studio, plugging away at the new LP. They still hope to have it done by June, which means a mid-summer release if all goes perfect, but more likely a fall release. Rumor has it that it may be of interest to keep your eyes open for the vinyl release of the new record. But you know how rumors are.

SpinArt's re-release of In The Presence Of Nothing is due out on May 18th, just a short bit away. Fans who missed out on it the first time around are encouraged to look into it.

That is all for now. Please be sure to check the What's New section to see the full rundown of additions to this webpage. There have been quite a few of note lately. Till next time, ta-ta!

4 May 1998

The re-release of 'Better Can't Make Your Life Better' is now available in the US at Parasol Records. It's still an import, so it's running you about $25, but if you've been looking and have not been able to find it, here is your chance to pick it up. For fans in the US (or UK fans who have the first release) who don't know if they should spend the cash to get it, I have written up a little rundown of the changes to it here. Read it, enjoy it, and see if you want to get the LP again. I personally do not regret it at all.

The New York City show came and went with a minor bang. Quite a few online folks were there, and I got in a fist-fight with most of them. Next time don't mess with me. Jerk.

Oh my, where are my manners? In the bottom of my gin n' tonic, I'll wager. Well then, here is a little review that I wrote of the show. A full setlist will be coming quite soon. It also may be of interest to know that at least two people taped this show. full info on those is also forthcoming. The LA shows also came and went...send in your reviews and I'll place them on the page. Also, if you know of anybody who taped either of these shows, please let me know about it.

Page updates are still pending...I have lots of stuff sitting on my hard drive, ready to go, but I've been quite busy with my own band of late, not leaving me too much time to update the page.

19 April 1998

So what is happening in the world of Lilys? Well, they are playing a few select US shows at the moment, listed below. See them if you can, as they are a fab band onstage. If anybody will be going to the New York show and wishes to say hello, drop me an e-mail and let me know...you can buy me a beer. No, really. Also, try and make an effort to tape these shows that you go to, even if only on a walkman. If and when you do, contact me and I'll be sure to make sure you get something nice in return. In the (hopefully) not too distant future I hope to have a full sound archive on here with a load of live clips, all in mp3 format. I already have many encoded, but uploading has been a problem. Anyway, tape away and contact me.

The re-release of 'Better Can't Make Your Life Better' is out in UK stores. For fans in the US (or UK fans who have the first release) who don't know if they should spend the cash to get it, I have written up a little rundown of the changes to it here. Read it, enjoy it, and see if you want to get the LP again. I personally do not regret it at all.

Please note that the show at 'Smell' in LA has been cancelled. This has nothing to do with El Nino.

UPCOMING SHOW DATES

New York City, April 29th -- Acme Underground
Los Angeles, CA, May 2nd -- at Spaceland
Los Angeles, CA, May 3rd -- Viper Room
Silver Lake, CA, May 4th -- Smell CANCELLED

Also in the news, SpinArt's re-release of In The Presence Of Nothing is due out on May 18th. On the Apples In Stereo mailing list I made the following comments about this:

"And as far as I am concerned, Lilys fans who have only just gotten into them should be wary before picking up that LP. It's the hardest to digest for the casual music fan, and bears *ZERO* resemblance to Lilys of today. Even 'Eccsame' and 'A Brief History...' can be contrasted to today's Lilys output...that 1st LP cannot. Tread lightly. Unless you know that you like the genre that it was a part of, steer clear or prepare for disappointment or confusion."

Mind you, I love that record (it was the album that got me into Lilys back in 93/94), but if you are not familiar with the genre or Lilys roots, it may come as a shocker.

13 March 1998

It seems that a 15 second clip from 'Pookah' has been popping up in a recent Nike ad! Yessir, I've been informed by several people of this, and though I have yet to see it, it has been said by several folks. Keep your eyes peeled!

The dates for the Kula Shaker tour are CANCELLED. That's right folks, it appears that Kurt is suffereing from a bit of a throat infection (I'll wager too much tequila did him in, eh DA? ;-) and has been instructed to rest his throat for a month. Too bad folks! I'm just as sorry to hear it as you.

Lilys have put up the finishing touches on their new single, due out April 20th. It seems that the next one from 'Better's' re-release will be 'Touch The Water,' the fab tune they cover from The Apples In Stereo. Kurt's long time friend Robert Andreano, who played french horn on Eccsame the Photon Band, has come to help record with them.

15 February 1998

Okay, here it 'tis...(sorry, forgot to tell you guys this)...SpinArt is FINALLY getting around to repressing 'In The Presence Of Nothing.' Yeah, great, now that used copies are selling for around $50! (ha ha, ha ha, I have two of them, ha ha, ha ha) Keep your eyes peeled for the 12" version too, because, like the original, it'll have some spiffy custom artwork.

Did I hint about the Kula Shaker thing before? I think I did...well, some stuff happened at Lilys Blue Note gig last week, and they met Kula Shaker, and this and that, blah blah blah, and........they are touring together! Hooray! Check out Lilys opening for Kula Shaker on their UK/European tour. As always, tape these shows kids, and I'll do all I can to take care of you when you send a tape my way. ;-)

15 February 1998

Lilys on Top Of The Pops!

Okay kids, in about 24 hours or so Lilys will be appearing on Top Of The Pops, so those lucky enough to see it, errrrr...see it! That will be all. Oh yeah, and this link will bring you to a page about Bill Hicks. You figure it out.

A few words about the recent London show, courtesy of Mr. Daniel Abbott:

"Tuesday night at the Blue Note was .........(insert the most positive adjective you can muster)! Too much, really. Lilys played TWO sets; I was told by someone that the first set was mainly intended for veiwing by all the corporate Levis curiositeers and associated be-suited hangers-on, and I think they were right. I've never seen Lilys play so hilariously sloppy and abstract! Most of the songs were pretty loose interpretations, with Kurt's vocal lines swooping and bending in all the wrong places, improvised yodelling, the lot. Plenty of added-on guitar lines and little 15 second jams in the middle of songs. Kurt's between-song banter was even more obscure and mocking than usual... something which seemed to divide the audience in to those who laughed and love it and those who became confused and irritable. The whole thing was like some kinda live performance art exhibit!

Much later though, the second set rocked SO HARD! With almost no talking inbetween numbers, the band rocketed through loads of songs and played 'em all tight and right, it all still sounded like regular crazy Lilys, but really SHARP. The second set began with Kurt noticing me standing in the audience and several of the band screaming "Dan Abbott!" in unison! Kurt then took up the mike and loudly declared "Daniel Abbott has made the God damn scene!" before immediately launching into a killer version of "The first Half Second!". Bizarre indeed..."

also from Mr. Abbott The mid-week national chart position for "A Nanny in Manhattan" is around No.10! (Number 16, actually) The band appear on the stupidly huge "Top of the Pops" show tonight! Crazy! They've already been on TV twice in the last week! Madness!

other interesting tidbits

Word is, Lilys played The Jack Docherty show in the UK, trashing the stage to no end during the lip synch fest that they were made to do. Lip sunching! How ould they make them do that? Argh! (anybody who has videotaped this, please contact me)

Also, if you want to check out some info on the Levi's advert, and even download it for viewing, go here

10 February 1998

"For info: The boys taped a segment on MTV-UK Friday that is supposed to be shown this coming week. David Shuman, proprietor of Studio .45 in Hartford, CT (where Lilys did their last album and the fancy remix with strings) is filling in on bass. Master recordist Mike Demming is doing the chores on the mixing console. They're skedded for a live cyberchat Tuesday before the Blue Note gigs on NME.com's chat page." thanks to A.B. Shuman

21 January 1998

Thanks to Nick at Che' records for filling me in on this info

The levi's ad continues to run in the uk until jan 23rd. it runs longer in some other european territories. Keep your eyes open for it kids!

'A Nanny In Manhattan' is re-released on feb 9th in the uk. (Yes kids, that means NO US release...look around at your local import carrying shop and/or indie shop and I'm sure you'll find it) It's a remixed version. The record is a-listed on radio 1 from monday, plus a bunch of other stations...this means lots of airtime for Kurt and the boys. The formats for the "new" Nanny single are cd (with the entire 'tayt overture' as the b-side, accept that it's been split into three tracks as opposed to the six on the original cd), 7" and cassette (b-side is 'the first half second').

The band line up is basically kurt and aaron. In the studio mike deming is doing keyboards and percussion with a whole bunch of other people doing strings etc on a session basis. Dave shuman is recording some bass stuff. For the live band, at the moment it's Kurt, Torben is back doing second guitar, Aaron on drums, Mike deming keyboards and percussion, Dave Shuman on bass. Thom Monahan and tim wiedman are no longer in the band, recording or live. They've not started on new recordings.

'Better Can't Make Your Life Better' has been completely remixed and remastered (at Kurt's insistence). 'The Sammael Sea' has been dropped and replaced by 'Touch The Water', and 'More Than That Is Deserved' has been added after 'Returns Every Morning'. (good news, in my opinion...I like both of those songs more than The Sammael Sea) The new version with sort of new artwork is released on march 2nd.

Sire at present has no plans to release the new version in america.

Nearly every european territory is releasing both the nanny single and the new version of 'better...'.

Concert News!

Lilys come over to the uk on feb 2nd. They'll (hopefully) be doing a bunch of high profile TV stuff (none of which is confirmed yet apart from the Jack Docherty show on channel five, which is hardly 'high profile', to be honest), plus they'll be doing one London show at the Blue Note on feb 10th. (goddamn you London fans...lucky bastards!) For this show they will play one set at 9.30, then Kurt and Vinita from Che will be spinning records for the kids, then lilys will play another set about 1.00am. Yowza!!

other stuff that's as yet unconfirmed

During march Lilys will do a three week-ish european tour taking in all the major 'media' cities (ie Stockholm, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Paris etc), and will probably play just one London show in the uk.

In late april another single will be taken from the album, and the band will do a short-ish but high profile uk show, playing dates outside London for the first time.

The unfortunate repercussion of all this is that the new album will not get done for a while, we may even be looking at a spring '99 release.

7 January 1998

Thanks to my friend Dan Abbott (the nicest chap you'll ever know) for this information...his interview with the band appears elsewhere on this site

The Lily's advert is being shown all the time on TV here. I first saw it on Boxing day, sitting watching TV at my parents' house. Shocked me out of my skin! It's a very nice advert actually, hmmm, I suddenly feel like buying some jeans...
CHE records will be re-issuing "Nanny..." as a single (on CD too, this time) in february. They've got LEVIS' permission to use photo's of the car (as seen in the advert) on the sleeve... so it'll be a huge campaign.
Apparently there are plenty of reports that kids have been wandering into record stores and asking if they had "that song on the LEVIS advert". Crazy.
"Services for the Soon to be Departed" (or sections of) may appear on the "Nanny..." CD single.
Kurt is presently in the studio REMASTERING/ REMIXING Better Can't Make Your Life Better... the whole LP! My friend at CHE tells me that they're planning to re-release this in March or so, and that it's gonna sound markedly different to the original! What's happening?!
The band, at the moment, consists merely of Kurt, Thom and Aaron. That's it. May be augmented once again for future live stuff...

6 January 1998

Here is some interesting news, that if proves to be true, will be costing us Lilys fans some money: (courtesy of Sean Davidson)

"I have some more lilys info. I just got off the phone with Hilarie from the Apples and she told me that Kurt is adding strings to "Better Can't..." and will be re-releasing it on Sire.

Okay this is an update from yesterdays news. This is straight from Kurt himself, They have finished re-recording and remixing Nanny.. and will be releaseing it in the UK on Feb. 10th for the Levis ad. They will still be re-releasing Better Can't Make..., but in the UK only. Guess we will have to buy import. Well that is it for now. I will get more in fo in a week or so.

They are also shooting a video for Nanny..., the label said they need to be done in 20 days from today (for the UK)."

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