The last three songs were recorded live at the (short-lived) Comix stand-up comedy venue in New York. Second track, ‘If You’re Into It’, is quirky, quick word play followed by the disguised heartbreak of ‘I’m Not Crying’, reversing songs such as Godley and Creme’s ‘Cry’: “I’m not crying / I’m just cutting onions / I’m making lasagne.” Can you imagine Isaac Hayes or Barry White ever saying, “I remove my clothes very, very clumsily”? (There are even hints of the spoken verses in New Order’s ‘Fine Time’ from their 1989 album Technique.) Signed to Sub Pop thanks to the scouting efforts of the record label’s “International Talent-Hound Department”, the opening track of The Distant Future EP is the brilliant ‘Business Time’ which turns suggestive soul into the boring domestic reality of recycling, after work sports teams and teeth-brushing (“a-sheeka-sheeka”). The American programmes lost some of that spontaneity due to the producers “getting” or “not getting” the laconic New Zealand humour.
FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS IF YOUR INTO IT SERIES
Touted as “A new comedy series that makes love to your ears”, it premiered in June 2007.Īround the time the American shows were in post-production, Darby told me that the radio series had been great fun to make as they improvised their way around London landmarks recording onto mini-disc. That show was transplanted to American television with the backing of cable and satellite channel HBO, which had first featured the duo in a One Night Stand showcase.
FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS IF YOUR INTO IT HOW TO
Their manager, Brian (played by Rhys Darby), made regular calls to Neil Finn, who played a perpetually patient mentor giving advice on how to succeed in the music industry. First aired in September 2005, it followed the Conchords, billed as “New Zealand’s fourth-best folk guitar-based jazz, techno, hip-hop duo”, trying to break into the music scene in England. The first to come to fruition was from BBC Light Entertainment who commissioned a six-part radio show. On opening night we got ‘Checking Out the Hotties on Cuba’ and the lost Lord of the Rings theme song, ‘Frodo Don’t Wear the Ring’.”Īlthough a proposed Conchords television series was turned down by TVNZ, it was obvious that the act was about to go global, and it was only a matter of time before mass media projects appeared. “Their hometown following is such that old favourites are enthusiastically demanded. They are not, nor have they ever been, wearers of natural wool vests, crocheted berets or macramé guitar straps. Need I add the Conchords are very ‘now’ in a retro-fashion kind of way. Reviewing High on Folk, John Smythe of the NBR wrote that “their superb musicality, vocal agility, sound-fx skills and comic timing generate a subterranean shimmer, sparkles of wit and flashes of brilliance. In 2003, the Conchords were nominated for the auspicious Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the following year were voted Best Newcomer(s) at the Melbourne Comedy Festival.īriefly home in October 2003 – between seasons in Edinburgh and London – the duo fulfilled a promise to “folk it up” with their High on Folk show at Wellington’s Downstage theatre. One comedian was heard to enviously utter, “Those f****** songs!” Catching the wave of Lord of the Rings fever, with its insider Wellington jokes, was the dramatic ‘Frodo, Don’t Wear the Ring’. Other songs to appear on later recordings were ‘Petrov, Yeylena and Me’, ‘K.I.S.S.I.N.G’ (later known as ‘A Kiss is Not a Contract’) and ‘Something Special for the Ladies’ (retitled ‘Ladies of the World’). Folk the World Tour was recorded at Wellington’s Bats Theatre and Auckland’s The Classic comedy venue, and contained an early versions of ‘Bowie’, a fan homage humorously confusing the singer with the song as Bret ponders how “you freaky old bastard Bowie” enjoyed space travel. The Conchords self-released their 14-song debut album in 2002. (On their return to the capital from an overseas trip, when a comedy night line-up at the San Francisco Bath House was hastily rearranged to accommodate McKenzie and Clement, one bumped comedian was heard to enviously utter, “Those f****** songs!”) The duo built their song catalogue and honed their stage lethargy to perfection over a couple of years in front of Wellington audiences and at international fringe and arts festivals. McKenzie, the musician, would spend time away from the Conchords with The Black Seeds, release an album as The Video Kid, and play with the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra.
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