humankindness

REVIEWS

REAL GROOVE MAGAZINE: January 2008: Hidden behind hideous cover artwork (and stamped with the ugliest label logo of recent times, the Powertool Records insignia), is yet another great collection of music by national treasure Bill Direen, this time in a lower-key vein than usual. Bill Direen's venerable musical career has been pretty much unfuckwithable. From his primordial Velvets-infused recordings in the '70's with the Vacuum (where he arguably invented the 'Dunedin sound') to his countless should-a-been hits with his various Builders projects, the quality of Direen's music has been second to none and curiously overlooked in recent times compared to others in his peer group (eg. The Chills, the Clean, etc), in similar parallel to the Fall's Mark E Smith, Direen has continuosly served up fantastic and thoughtful recordings for as long as you'd choose to remember; unfamiliar listeners should seek out his CD reissues from the early '90s (on Flying Nun) and prepare to be amazed. This time around is a relatively sedate affair, catchy down tempo tunes mixed in with experimental sound pieces, all made gripping by Direen's velvet tones and casual flair. Not as essential as previous works but still more than worthwhile. Chris Cudby

SUNDAY STAR TIMES: 18th November 2007: Human Kindness – Powertool. My favourite release in the latest Powertools pile is Human Kindness by poet, novelist, playwright, itchy-footed traveller and oft-underrated musician, Bill Direen. Written while he was living in East Berlin and previously released as a vinyl-only European release, most of Human Kindness was recorded in Switzerland, in the attic studio of ambient producer Christian Aebi, and a characteristically bold and open-minded approach to sonic design prevails throughout. Some songs rear up out of deliberately amplified tape hiss, as if struggling to escape a field if cicadas, or are delivered over clinking wine glasses and crowd murmur, as if Direen and his guitar were plonked in the corner at an art gallery opening. Other songs deliver a clutch of memorably poetic images and then dissolve into agreeably bewildering musique concrete compositions. The Way That I Feel sounds like Tom Waits jamming with Sonic Youth, which of course is a very good thing. But as anyone who has heard Direen's work wit Vacuum, The Hat, The Builders/Bilders or Souluble Fish will tell you, underneath all the surprising arrangements, Direen has always had a firm grasp on traditional melodic songwriting. At their core, tracks such as Out On The Town, It Was Good While It Lasted, It's 1910 and the instrumental Oiseau are simple, potent things, hitting you hard in the heart and evoking the depression-era folk and blues recordsthat were Direen's first love before he discovered '50s avant garde composers, '60s garage bands and '70s punk. Direen has given us a rare gift here. This is a recordshorn of smugness and easy comforts. It credits you with having a brain and it banks on you enjoying surprises. Direen once said he was "trying to build a better world through making good songs" and certainly, the world is a perceptibly better place for the existance of records like Human Kindness. Direen recently moved back from Europe to Dunedin, and any day now he'll be packing his toothbrush for a national tour alongside fellow Powertool Records artist Otis Mace (Guitar Ace), writer of the little-heard New Zealand classic, Wipe Your Bum With a Kitten. Special guests appear in some centres and Direen promises a "retro set" of early Builders classics accompanied by a full band. Why be anywhere else ? ***** His best album yet. Grant Smithies

ELSEWHERE.CO.NZ: “Human Kindness” – Powertool – CD Bill Direen is an auteur whose work covers pop and experimental music, poetry, European literature and much else. As a graduate of the DIY punk years he has seldom resorted to anything approaching hi-fi -- and these recordings (some mere fragments) from an attic in Switzerland and other such places have a ragged edge as you might expect. Just when things are going along nicely it is in Direen's nature to duff it up a bit. Much like he has done with his "career". So don't come here expecting sheen. But those who followed his work with the Builders or have the early 90s compilations on Flying Nun will know what to expect: wayward but oddly appealing fragments of pop structures, stuttering guitar work, passages which suggest great beauty, emotionally distant vocals . . . Direen has proved many times he could write a straight pop radio hit -- but it is to his great credit he simply never bothers to. An acquired taste, but once acquired . . . Bill Direen tours New Zealand with Otis Mace in late November (see www.powertoolrecords.co.nz/ for further details). He'll also be playing Builders songs with a band.Graham Reid

BILL DIREEN “Human Kindness” – Powertool – CD Verbicide Magazine USA. Ever heard of this guy? New Zealand poet/writer/musician William Direen has been writing and recording music since the mid-‘70s. Possessing a name recognizable in his homeland, as well as in Europe (where most of Human Kindness, his latest, was recorded and engineered), Direen remains unjustifiably unknown in the States. Completist collectors and bohemians rejoice at this discovery: moody, minimalist, and possessing a spontaneous beatnik attitude, Direen’s music shifts seamlessly from quiet, measured pop songs, to disjointed jam sessions. Should find a home in the heart of fans of everyone from Sonic Youth to Pere Ubu to Beck circa One Foot In The Grave. Direen is at his best when performing his quiet, bluesy jams recorded with just him and a guitar; even the occasional recording hiss is welcome in a world of overproduction. Direen’s baritone voice fits well with his style of playing — he never tries too hard to be too quirky or overbearing, and intersperses several meditative instrumentals as well. All in all, quite a find. Eighteen tracks guarantee you’ll find something to like, but I’d start with “Same Situation,” “Romeo’s Song,” “In The Beauty House,” and the haunting “It Was Good While It Lasted.” (Jackson Ellis)