THE CLIENTELE are a 4-piece London-based band who were formed in 1997 when the main songwriters found they had a mutual affection for the music of Felt and Galaxy 500; they began to write songs with impressionistic lyrics and floating melodies that have garnered the praise of critics and won over worldwide fans.  There is a rather silver melancholy to their tunes, and often they lack a chorus.  This only makes them more intriguing and, after a few listens, quite teasingly engaging.  Their glistening vocals and the mixture of hazy and petulant guitars results in a gorgeous brand of classic pop.  The Clientele's third LP God Save The Clientele, available now, is the bands most acclaimed album to date.  Pitchfork wrote,

God Save the Clientele sounds like the work of the same band, but it shows them in a new, brighter light, broadened in both sound and outlook. In terms of sonics and tunes, these changes are welcome and logical, expanding upon the sound with which they made their name without sacrificing intimacy or risking coming across overcooked.

 "Orpheus Beach" appeared on The Go-Betweens "comeback" album of 2000, The Friends of Rachel Worth.  Grant's original is filled with a mixture of lament and longing, knowing that taking the initiative usually results in a pitched battle between the head and heart.  The Clientele's crystalline guitars match the "eerie sound of blade on lake" and the imagery is painstakingly built as the narrator concludes the only solution to a untenable romance is to cast a resigned shrug... and 'run from your reach' - and in the end all he is left with a souvenir of shared memories.

In short…."Orpheus Beach" is the perfect song for The Clientele to choose to record in tribute to Grant.  Please stop by to hear it....and allow it to transport you to...well, only you can know where it'll take you. 

We'll have a new song on the player every week, so keep coming back to preview the songs prior to the album's release in October.  We continue to be bolstered and propelled by the loving support of fellow fans and friends of Grant's, and thank you all for your friendship.  We're confident that you'll all be as moved by the final album as we are; Grant deserves nothing less.

LOVE GOES ON!

Hello, friends and fellow fans of Grant McLennan and The Go-Betweens! 

As we've been saying, we're going to keep updating the Rare Victory player in order to allow you to preview the songs from our soon-to-be-released album in tribute to Grant McLennan, "Love Goes On!"  

We've just added two songs:

THE BATS, covering "Right Here."  The Bats have come to be "....nearly synonymous with both New Zealand's pop underground and Flying Nun's rich roster," recording and releasing jangly pop, that can just as easily be categorized as folk or rock, since 1984.  They are genre-bending stalwarts, and we couldn't say enough to describe them further and express our excitement that this unique and legendary band agreed to participate, so please visit their page and have a listen for yourself!  Their expert musical blend of influences and genres can be heard and in fact FELT on their tight cover of "Right Here," which was released first as a single and then on The Go-Between's 1987 album, Tallulah.  "Right Here" is one of Grant's most-beloved poppy tunes, the greatest example of his role in contrasting and balancing Robert Forster's more intense material from one of their most celebrated collaborative albums as "The Go-Betweens."

KELMAN is a three-piece London-based pop band whose 2006 debut left us quite in awe. We wanted to  introduce Kelman to you by uploading their soft, incredibly provocative cover of "Apology Accepted" on our page today to celebrate the release of their newest double A-sided single, "Is This How it End/Postcards."  Described as "the best thing the Velvet Underground never recorded," we'd like to encourage you all to buy these singles, self-recorded, produced, and released on their own Liner Records label and debuting today on iTunes; visit Kelman's page to preview them! If you're in London, be sure to catch their next show at the Buffalo Bar on August 24th; and be sure to visit their page for other dates this Fall. As for the song they chose to cover in tribute to Grant, "Apology Accepted," what can we say about this gem off of 1986's Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express to do it justice? We think this BBC review of the album sums it up in the best words possible: "It ends with the joyous stumble of ''Apology Accepted'', a three-chord classic that turns the embarrassment of love and sex into glorious pop. And glorious pretty much sums them up."

Keep coming back (or, for that matter, keep an eye out on your bulletins) to make sure you don't miss out on tracks being previewed in the weeks to come!

And, while you're at it, be sure to visit out the page of our new friend, Stumblin' Harris, to hear "Perfect Sunlit Song," which he wrote in tribute to Grant.  We at Rare Victory were quite touched.   

LOVE GOES ON!

With the planned release date of "Love Goes On! A Tribute to Grant McLennan" rapidly approaching (is it really almost October?!), we've been "encouraged" to give you all a taste of the various artists participating in the tribute.  And we do aim to please....

Therefore, we'll be switching up the player again in the next few days, taking down the two songs which have been on our player the longest:  "Magic in Here" covered by The Orchids and "Black Mule" covered by Phil Wilson.  If you've not heard them, yet, be sure to come by the page in the next 3 days, or so!  These covers are FANTASTIC....but, then again, part of the reason we've had a hard time changing up the player is that we're so struck by the beauty of all the tracks!  It's too hard to choose!

That said, we've gotten requests for a few specific bands/tracks and would love to know which track you're just dying to hear....drop by and leave us a comment with your wish!

In case you didn't see it, here's the final line-up!!

The Bats:  Right Here
Brookville:  Haunted House
The Clientele:  Orpheus Beach
Future Pilot A.K.A.:  Dusty in Here
GB3 (with Angie Hart):  Devil's Eye
Luke Haines:  You Won't Find it Again
Paul Handyside:  Bachelor Kisses
Ivy:  Streets of Your Town
Kelman:  Apology Accepted
Ed Kuepper:  Finding You
Mellow Drunk:  Boundary Rider
The Orchids:  Magic in Here
Portastatic:  Bye Bye Pride
Private Eleanor:  Love Goes On
Stars:  Cattle and Cane
Trembling Blue Stars:  Coming Up for Air
Phil Wilson:  Black Mule

Once again....thanks to all our friends for the kind words and support throughout this endeavor.  We truly believe that the contributing artists have done a stupendous job of paying tribute to the art and spirit of Grant McLennan. 

Cheers,
Dave and Sherri
Rare Victory!

At the request of contributor Glenn Bennie of GB3, we've added another song to the player in GB3's place.  Now playing is "Bachelor Kisses," covered by Paul Handyside.

Paul released kinetic Brit guitar indie-rock with his band Hurrah!, of the late great Kitchenware Records, in the late eighties.  He went on to form the critically acclaimed "indie power pop meets jangling Americana" trio Bronze in 2002.  Treat yourself with a visit to Paul's MySpace page to hear Paul's earthy guitar-driven solo work.  A solo album is due out in Fall 2007.

"Bachelor Kisses" was released on the Go-Betweens album "Spring Hill Fair."  At the time of Grant's passing in May 2006, Pitchfork listed "Bachelor Kisses" among those of the Go-Between songs that showed how

"McLennan also excelled at marrying breezy melodies to world-weary evocative words, crafting cerebral tracks that exuded a delicate warmth and depth of humanity rare in three-minute pop songs." 

We couldn't agree more.  Many thanks to Paul Handyside for capturing that warmth and humanity.  It is a fine tribute to a great man.

Please visit the Rare Victory page to give a listen to this and the other songs; Ed Kuepper's sublime cover just got added a couple of weeks ago, and you're missing out if you've not yet heard it.  As always, we'd love to get your feedback.

Rare Victory! Records is very proud to announce that the contest winner for the title track for "Love Goes On! - A Tribute to Grant McLennan" is the band from Baltimore - Private Eleanor. 

We received over 20 submissions.  Picking the winner was not easy, as there were several impressive and stunning versions of this song....you can hear for yourselves below with the Top Five we'd narrowed it down to and been torn over!  Thank You! To all the bands that took the time to record their version of "Love Goes On" - this whole project/contest was inspiring and vindicating.

The final line-up is shaping up to be specatacular!

news from Australian journalist and chief music editor for the Courier Mail,

Noel Mengel :

AS ALL regular readers know, I've been an unabashed fan of the music of The Go-Betweens, so I'm delighted at the introduction of the Grant McLennan Fellowship, an annual $20,000 award for Queensland-based songwriters.

Of course, Grant's great legacy is in his songs, but he was always a passionate advocate of the arts in general and songwriters in particular and I'm sure he would have been delighted that a government would come to the party in supporting music in this way.

Premier Peter Beattie said: "While Grant loved Australia, he found inspiration in travelling and performing overseas and absorbing the music and cultures of the world's great cities. The fellowship reflects Grant's belief that exposure to other cultures can be an invaluable creative influence and that's why the recipient will be able to choose to stay in London, New York or Berlin as part of the award."

On return home, the songwriter will be required to give something which symbolises their experience abroad to a new Grant McLennan Archive to be housed at the State Library of Queensland. Hopefully, that will include new songs to be enjoyed by the people of Queensland.

Applications close on March 30. For more information on how to apply, go to Arts Queensland.

source: http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21340788-5003423,00.html

Clientele, Portastatic on Go-Betweens/McLennan Tribute
Exclusive: Contest held to determine final compilation contributor!

.. When Go-Betweens co-leader Grant McLennan unexpectedly passed away last May, the music world mourned the loss of a dear family member, a friend, and a brilliant, intuitive songwriter. For anyone who had been touched by Grant's music over the last 30 years, it was like losing someone very close.

While never quite a commercial smash, Australia's Go-Betweens nonetheless etched an enduring legacy, charming critics and fans alike with warm, thoughtful pop songwriting. Seeking to pay tribute to Grant and his extraordinary music, Go-Betweens superfans David James Buckner and wife Sherri decided to compile a fitting tribute album.

Love Goes On collects exclusive covers of Go-Betweens favorites and Grant McLennan solo tunes from artists who count Grant and his oeuvre as a profound influence. It should hit shops in early September via David and Sherri's own Rare Victory label and will feature liner notes penned by The Big Takeover's Jack Rabid.

Confirmed contributors include the Clientele, Portastatic, Brookville (aka Ivy's Andy Chase), kiwi rock stalwarts the Bats, Sarah Records graduates the Orchids, Bobby Wratten's post-Field Mice project Trembling Blue Stars, Belle & Sebastian collaborator Future Pilot AKA, and ex-Auteurs/Black Box Recorder gent Luke Haines. Other likely participants include Ivy (re-working their cover of "Streets of Your Town", originally from the Guestroom LP) and Church frontman and McLennan's Jack Frost partner Steve Kilbey (tackling "The Wrong Road").

Hear comp selections from Portastatic, the Orchids, and more at the label's MySpace.

As David told Pitchfork via e-mail, "We have been incredibly pleased and heartened to see the enthusiasm with which this project has been embraced by artists of various cultures and epochs."

But wait-- there's room for one more! Due to a last-minute cancellation, Rare Victory is seeking one final contributor for Love Goes On, to cover title track "Love Goes On!" (originally released on the Go-Betweens' 1988 LP 16 Lovers Lane). Interested parties should shoot an mp3 of their entry to rarevictory@gmail.com no later than March 29, 2007. The label will choose a winner on the basis of "originality, melodicism, and sound quality."

Bear in mind that all entrants, while retaining ownership of their songs, agree to keep them exclusive to Love Goes On for at least 12 months from the release date. Fair enough, why not give it a whirl?

For David, the Love Goes On project is a very personal one. "[Grant's] music had been an integral part of the soundtrack of my youth, and I'd been fortunate enough to meet Grant and Robert, as well as the other members of the band," he told Pitchfork. "They were all very special to me, both as artists and as human beings.

"Grant's death," he continued, "hit me quite hard; it also came on the heels of another personal loss-- the death of my father. In considering how these men touched my life, it occurred to me that others must be feeling the same and would want to celebrate the beauty bequeathed to us by those who leave us."

Love Goes On confirmed contributors:

The Bats - "Right Here"
Brookville - "Haunted House"
The Clientele - "Orpheus Beach"
Future Pilot AKA - "Dusty in Here"
Glenn Bennie/GB3 [ft. Angie Hart] - "Devil's Eye"
Luke Haines (of The Auteurs/Black Box Recorder) - "You Won't Find It Again"
Paul Handyside (of Hurrah!) - "Bachelor Kisses"
Kelman - "Apology Accepted"
Mellow Drunk - "Boundary Rider"
The Orchids - "Magic in Here"
Portastatic - "Bye Bye Pride"
Trembling Blue Stars - "Coming Up for Air"
Phil Wilson (of the June Brides) - "Black Mule"

Article by Matthew Solarski, Pitchfork Media
click here for original source!

First of all....A warm and sincere "thank you" to all our MySpace friends for your support and kind words; Grant McLennan and The Go-Betweens are certainly worthy of the positive responses we've gotten to this tribute, thus far.  The final product is looking to be superb, and, thus, in keeping with all that was left to us by Grant McLennan. 

Besides those tracks now playing on our page, we wanted to alert you to two additional cover songs that will be on the album, Love Goes On! A Tribute to Grant McLennan and the Go-Betweens.  These beautiful covers are currently playing on the MySpace pages of the contributing bands; Please visit their pages to give a listen, and come back and let us know what you think.....

"Haunted House" has been covered by BROOKVILLE, and is quite a sublime and, well, haunting version.

"Apology Accepted" is a soft whisper in song, just a tender and gorgeous rendition by KELMAN.