Bill Direen & The Bilders "Cut" 1994

Bill Direen has been described as “kind of a kiwi Alex Chilton” (Mike Ric), a “barbed intellect” (Chris Knox), “a student of quirky pop topography” and an “insightful muso of words, tones, texture and attitude” (Fred Mills, The BOB)…...In 1994, he had been working up new material at clubs and theatres with drummer Derek Champion. Peter Jefferies (talent scout for the label imd) brought them to Dunedin and set up recording with Brendan Hoffman. Alastair Galbraith, Stephen Kilroy, Kiri Winders (My Deviant Daughter) and Rob Thorne dropped by to add their genre of Dunedin brilliance to the Direen/Champion grooves, while Peter Gutteridge gave advice on how to drive items from his collection of keyboards. Hoffman also integrated five home recordings plus a high tension live recording serendipitously recorded by kiwi soundman Terry King (R.I.P. 2017), when saxophonist Steve Wolf and reed emulator Victoria Singh guested. When CMJ called it “perhaps Direen’s finest work yet”, Bill and Derek took off for a whistle stop tour of the USA.
CRITICAL RESPONSE TO CUT
“Electric celeste, garage fuzz, carousel organ, zonked-out flute, surf riffs or Thinking Fellas guitar, cutting through a tune like a butcher's cleaver.” (Jud Cost, MAGNET)trax:

01 One Body 02 Snake (Drive, Drive) 03 Nil, Nil 04 Fashion 05 Sheets of Ice (Song of the Snow) 06 Repossessed (Guitar Version) 07 Worry 08 Swing (In your Tree) 09 Prag 10 Say 11 Lookin' up 12 Famous Smile 13 C.R.A.Z.Y. 14 Let it go (Cut) 15 Poke 16 Paint Fume 17 Glory 18 Close-up 19 Seaweed (South Island) 20 Do you 21 Repossessed (Live Reprise)

…served by Gaius...