Always The Quiet One

Peter Koppes - Misty Heights & Cloudy Memories

Peter Koppes is kind of the George Harrison of The Church. While Steve Kilbey gets most of the accolades, and Marty Willson-Piper most of the attention, Koppes has always been the member least likely to leap about on stage, but in many ways has been the musical glue that has held the group together (more or less) for 27 years. He started as the bands unquestioned lead guitarist, with a style that was often compared to David Gilmour. But in the late eighties, as the band's sound evolved from neo-psychedelic pop to atmospheric space rock, he began ceding more and more of the lead parts to Willson-Piper, and became resonsible for much of the sonic texure that has been the band's trademark over the second half of their existence.

Misty Heights & Cloudy Memories is a two disc compilation culled from two EPs and five albums Koppes recorded over the course of fifteen years. Tracking the evolution of his solo material that in many parallels that of his band, it begins with the "adult love songs" of 2002's Simple Intent and runs in reverse chronological order through the ethereal alt-pop of 1987's Manchild And Myth. The highlights of the collection are the songs he recorded with The Well, and Austrailian super group of sorts that also featured former Church drummer Richard Ploog. All three songs from the excellent (and long out of print) 1991 Iridescense EP are included, as well as six songs from their 1995 album Water Rites (recorded during the brief period in the early nineties that Koppes had left The Church). This new set also includes two previously unreleased tracks, plus "Grasshrooms," a bonus track on some copies of 1997's Love Era/Irony that was hidden at the beginning of the CD rather than the end.

Peter Koppes - "Peak To Peak" (mp3)
Peter Koppes - "Make A Move" (mp3)

The album will be available through Amazon on February 12, but you can get it sooner and cheaper directly from the source at Church Merch. The complete tracklist can be found here.