Rob's Pages

Friday, January 23

Cliff Hillis – Bordentown, N.J. 2014 + bonus

The Record Collector
Bordentown, N.J.
Dec. 27, 2014
  
audience recording (sound quality VG+; a very solid recording with slightly distant-sounding vocals, but virtually no distracting crowd noise). The live set is #1-9; the rest are bonus tracks from various sources.
  
The Paradox of Cliff: How can such an unassuming guy make such compelling music?
HECK YES THANKS to TheCommish for recording & sharing, and to CH himself for sharing some of the bonus tracks

ROB SEZ: Where has Cliff Hillis been all my life? (OK, not my whole life, but the past 14 years, when he's been making awesome pop-rock music as a solo artist...) AllMusic says Cliff's music is inspired by artists like Matthew Sweet and Velvet Crush, with a "ringing, guitar-driven classicist sound." The LA Times says his music would "fit snugly on a play-list with Squeeze, Teenage Fanclub and Jason Falkner." I recently read a post by a blogger who was raving about Cliff, and I wondered, "What's all the fuss about?" Check the sample, stream some music at his web site, and find out why I'm fussing, too.
   

01 Just One More
02 Dashboard
03 Keep the Blue Skies
04 Turn On a Dime
05 Start Again
06 I Saw the Light
07 Goodnight Sunlight
08 Welcome to You
09 Ways and Means

10 Dream Good
11 I Saw the Light
12 Soul and Fire
13 Like an Island
14 Good and Bad
15 Follow You
16 Better Than Myself
17 Christmas Wish
18 Mother of Pearl (early version)


BONUS TRACKS INFO:
10 = Ticked Off Music Fest, Wilmington, DE 2013-06-15 (thanks to thezenengines)
11 = Todd Rundgren cover, performed by In the Pocket, feat. Cliff Hillis, lead vocals; WXPN live, Philadelphia, PA 2014-05-09 (thanks to A. Hickman)
12 = Sebadoh cover; YouTube-only release posted by CH
13 = TQ Show (somewhere in Delware), 2007-05-02 (thanks to Cliff Reinert)
14 to 16 = (with Roger Hillis), The Jared Morris Show, WGMD-FM Summer 2009 (thanks to JM)
17 = NRBQ cover; YouTube-only release posted by CH
18 = Starbelly with Cliff on lead guitar; YouTube-only release (thanks to mikintyre)

TT: 58:24

MP3@320 (bonus tracks @256 kbps)

The great Pop Fair blog has more Cliff Hillis goodies.
(Tell Haper that Rob sent you...)

Cliff's latest release is Song Machine
Buy the CD for $10 from TallBoy Records 
Learn more about the music of Cliff Hillis at 
his web site, AllMusic &/or Noisetrade  
(where you can also download his current single for free)


2 comments:

  1. thanks much! Cliff is one of the nicest guys I've ever worked with...i've designed a bunch of cd's for him, and he's a great guy, and a tremendous musician and performer......do catch him live if he hits your town sometime.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My pleasure, Jim. Not surprised to hear what a good fella he is, judging from his music....

      Delete

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