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Arch Hill Recordings

Arch Hill Music is an independent record label, management and publishing company.

We have been operating in New Zealand since 2000.
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David Kilgour

David Kilgour has released three albums on Arch Hill, Frozen Orange (2005), The Far Now (2007) and Falling Debris - featuring the poetry of Sam Hunt (2009)

As a teenager in the late 1970's David Kilgour and his brother Hamish, inspired by the independent do-it-yourself spirit of punk rock and the simple yet dissonant songwriting of Lou Reed and Bob Dylan, formed The Clean in their hometown of Dunedin. The Clean went on to become one of New Zealand’s most popular and most respected bands. Their legend as one of the founding fathers of one of the most influential "scenes" in underground music quickly spread to all corners of the globe.

In 1992, Kilgour struck out on his own and recorded his first solo CD (Here Come The Cars), which received much critical acclaim and is a bona-fide New Zealand classic. Two more solo LPs followed, Sugar Mouth in 1994 and David Kilgour and The Heavy Eights in 1997. Kilgour followed that up in 2002 with his fourth solo LP, A Feather In The Engine.

All along the way, over a career that spans the course of two decades, David Kilgour has come to be known as one of the most respected and admired songwriters of his generation. His signature guitar style and languid, carefree melodies are readily identifiable. The canon of work he has amassed is stunning in its grandeur and depth. In January of 2001, David was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit, to recognize and honor his contributions to the arts and cultural heritage.

Frozen Orange was a slight departure for Kilgour - not so much in style as in method. The idea for the record came about as David was touring the States with both the Clean and solo in late 2001 and early 2002. The 2002 tour in support of A Feather In The Engine featured David as the opening act for his American label Merge mates Lambchop. For the tour, Kilgour recruited several members of the eclectic Nashville collective to serve as his backing band. The experiment was a huge success. During rehearsals in Nashville, David also met Lambchop producer/engineer Mark Nevers, who convinced David that perhaps he should come to Nashville to record. It was an intriguing proposition as Kilgour had never dreamed that he would ever get the chance to record in Music City USA.

David had already written several songs that he was planning to use for his next album, but the plan had been to record the album back in New Zealand with his long-time collaborators, The Heavy Eights (Taane Tokona, Alan Haig, Tony De-ard and Thomas Bell). But the lure of a chance to record in Nashville with his new American friends was strong. In June of 2003 Creative New Zealand provided a small grant for the Nashville "experiment". The result is Frozen Orange. The album was recorded almost entirely by Mark Nevers at his Beechhouse Studios in Nashville (2 tracks-"Dogs Barking" and "A Head Full Of Rolling Stones"- were recorded with the Heavy Eights back home in New Zealand), over the course of two visits in the summer and late fall of 2003. Frozen Orange features the contributions of Lamchop members Matt Swanson, Tony Crow, William Tyler and Sam Baker. There is even a surprise appearance by Jason Loewenstein. The album showcases a sublime combination of Kilgour's signature guitar lines and shambolic, quirky melodies with an added twist of country twang and a little bit of R&B/soul courtesy of his friends in Nashville. Frozen Orange also marks the first time that Kilgour has relinquished control in the studio to an outside producer; such was his faith in Nevers and his vision for the project.

05 Dec

David Kilgour Dunedin Gig

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David Kilgour is playing live at the Backstage in Dunedin on Friday

the 22nd of December, with John White from Mestar

19 Sep

Far off Town at Raindance Film Festival

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FOURTEENTH RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVAL

The Documentary film "Far Off Town, From Dunedin to Nashville" about David Kilgour has been selected to play at the Raindance Film Fesival in London. The film was produced and directed by Bridget Sutherland.

The opening Night at Raindance Film Festival is September 27th 2006. The film festival is the largest independent film festival in the world.

The Festival Jury includes the following

Lou Reed - rock & roll singer/songwriter, multi-media artist.
Dame Judi Dench - Actress stage/ screen
Anton Corbijn - Photographer, Music Video Director, Filmmaker
Matthew Libatique - DoP: Pi, Requiem for a Dream, Inside Man
Marky Ramone - of The Ramones, Filmmaker
Parminder Nagra - Bend it Like Beckham, ER
Oli Harbottle - Oliwood, Dogwoof Pictures
Christelle Randall - Metrodome: UK Distribution
Graham Bendell - Doc filmmaker and Poet: Billy Childish is Dead
Kevin Macdonald - Director:Touching the Void, The Last King of Scotland
Sarah Cooke - Doc filmmaker: Small Step Giant Leap



20 Aug

David Kilgour Indigo gig on National Radio

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3.30pm David Kilgour and the Heavy Eights Live At Indigo
New Zealand singer-songwriter David Kilgour of The Clean and the Heavy Eights played with their Nashville buddies Lambchop earlier this year.
National Radio went along to Indigo Bar in Wellington to capture a shimmering, spacious, sixties-inspired set of songs from the album Frozen Orange, as well as other treats. Repeated Monday 9.33pm
13 Aug

Gigs: David Kilgour, Bachelorette, Punches etc

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Two gigs coming up in the next couple of weeks include...
Bachelorette "The End of Things" Ep release Friday 19th August at the Odeon in Auckland, with Punches and White Swan

David Kilgour and the Heavy 8s
Friday 2nd of September at the Media Club in Christchurch

Look out for Ghostplane and Mestar on tour through September
08 May

David Kilgour Supports Nick Cave

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Arch Hill were already pretty excited about the prospect of seeing Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in New Zealand. So, wahey!, as you can imagine it was pretty good news when we heard that David Kilgour was specifically asked to play a unique low key acoustic set to open the show. He will be joined by the talented Sam Scott of the Phoenix Foundation on keys and additional guitar ? and the excellent Tony de Raad of the Heavy Eights (and formerly Lanky) working the strings. Look out for the shows at the Wellington Town Hall on Thursday the 12th of May, and the St James in Auckland on the 13th of May

Bridget Sutherland wins Houston Worldfest for David Kilgour Video Congratulations to Bridget Sutherland for winning the Gold award for the best music video at the Worldfest (http://www.worldfest.org/) awards for "Living in Space". Bridget is currently working on a film documentary on the making of David Kilgour's album "Frozen Orange", featuring the band Lambchop. WorldFest was founded 44 years ago as an International Film Society in August, 1961. WorldFest became the third competitive international film festival in North America, following San Francisco and New York.

 

Pine and Minisnap
Pine and Minisnap will be playing at Creation in Christchurch on Friday the 20th of May

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