Lindsay Phillips
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Lindsay Phillips

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | SELF

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | SELF
Band Folk Singer/Songwriter

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This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

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Press


"LEGION/INFINALITY single review"

Lindsay Phillips has a tremulous voice, a warbling sound reminiscent of both Antony Hegarty and Elvis. His song is a gentle patter of folk and a lonely gem; rain on the windscreen and the occasional distant thunder while miles of road pass away beneath your wheels. Lovely.

by Simone - Beat (Melb Press)


"LEGION/INFINALITY single review"

Speaking of distinctive voices, here's another one. According to Lindsay Phillips' press release, he's from "the shadows of Collingwood", but his deep, curiously-accented voice could come from the moon. Mannered vocals like these tend to polarise opinion, but if nothing else, Phillips' songs definately stand out from the legion of other acoustic song-writer-y types.

by Clem Bastow - INPRESS (Melb Press)


"NXNE Festival Coverage"

There was this Australian Night at Rancho Relaxo, so we went there to check out this dude named Lindsay Phillips. He was pretty tall and he wore cowboy boots. He had this dark folk vibe going on with this really rich baritone voice that sounded like Nick Cave and the guy from Crash Test Dummies (but not nearly as annoying as Brad Roberts). It all sounded nice when we could hear it, but it sure is difficult to hear someone performing when the entire freaking bar is talking over it. Phillips would have done way better had people actually been listening to him. - NOW Magazine (Toronto)


"'Aileen' Review"

LINDSAY PHILLIPS – "AILEEN" E.P.
Lindsay Phillips is a strange phenomenon. If you saw him traipsing around Melbourne town you'd swear there was something dark brewing inside. And you'd be right. The title track from his second E.P. is proof enough, "there's a black revolver, a finger on the pulse…you'd better run for cover…you'll have to sleep with open eyes." Delivered over a simple, minor guitar line and deep, haunting backing vocals, Phillips sounds like he's embracing a side of life void of anything remotely positive. Not that this is a bad thing. When you sound like a more emotional Johnny Cash and play guitar like a less cliché Mark Koehler, how can it be?
By the time you get to track two Phillips has you re-thinking his prince of darkness tag. 'You Got Over All Those Barbed Wire Fences', opens with a Calypso like guitar riff, reminiscent of early Beachboys. Continuing the simple guitar/vocal combination Phillips celebrates the success of life's smaller victories and casts aside the shadows of track one. But these crooning emotional types can never stay happy long, can they? 'Soldier of The Night' heads back to the minor chord progression of the title track, delivering nihilistic lines like, "nothing gets nothing." Similar themes continue through the rest of the E.P. 'Tired Eyes' and 'Hellhound On Your Trail' round out the disc with stories of insomnia, red wine and murder." Think Dylan's darker moments meet Cave's lighter.
Although 'Aileen' never builds above two vocal lines and a dual acoustic guitar track the production is excellent. The songs are given the space they need to show the artists craftsmanship.
Lindsay Phillips is testament to the quality of Melbourne's solo performers. 'Aileen' is a shining example of the beauty of great songs. No synthesizers, drum loops or jagged guitars, just good old fashioned songwriting.

-Andrew Worotniuk
- Faster Louder


"LINDSAY PHILLIPS - Aileen"

According to his bio, Lindsay Phillips doesn't give a fuck about you. That's cool. And I wouldn't give two hoots about Lindsay Phillips except he's too damn good. His 5 tracker Aileen is an outstanding collection of dark folk songs from this lone man who preaches his sad tales accompanied only by his acoustic guitar and the occasional harmonica wail. The title track also includes some uncredited strings. Yum.

It's his voice which got me in. This doesn't sound like some guy from Melbourne in his 20s?30s? (it's hard to tell how old Lindsay is from the pictures on the back of the sleeve). If I close my eyes, this affected croon takes me somewhere I have never been and suddenly I'm hovering above the smoky tables in some little folky dive in Greenwich Village in the mid-60s. This can't possibly be Lindsay's natural voice, but it's his chosen singing voice and it's incredible. I've tried to think of who exactly it reminded me of and I couldn't quite place it. Fred Neil was all I could come up with and that's way off.

Lyrically, it's all about the dissatisfaction of life, like his bio says, and its images of dark things, both internally and externally. It's like you've found a heavy wooden door to a basement, slowly pushed it open and found a huge dusty leather-bound book that, once opened, teases you with pictures of Sweet Loneliness.

Being a fan of four track recordings, I am also very impressed with the recording of these songs. Minimalist in the instrumentation but the beautifully picked guitar melodies and the vocals out front in the mix make this collection a perfectly balanced set. I would love to hear more from this disillusioned fucker. -Nic Dalton - Half a Cow Records - Reviews


"Aileen EP Review by Clem Bastow"

Despite my initial reaction (i.e. that is to say "is this voice for real?"), Lindsay Phillips' boozy blend of, lets say, Antony Hegarty and Red Sovine makes for compelling listening; this 5 track EP melds gentle steel string with Phillips' moony voice and creates a moody, lovely - if slightly bonkers - soundtrack to wintry afternoons." . - Inpress (Melbourne)


"Lindsay Phillips - Legion/Infinality"

Local troubadour Lindsay Phillips has been playing for some time now, honing his craft and impressing audiences and critics alike. His hard work is about to pay off, if this recent double A sided single is anything to go by.

Initially his voice is hard to get used to, but upon further listens it does start to grow on you. Phillips has a deep, rich voice that is perfectly backed on Legion by his subtle finger picking and the sweet backing vocals of Melissa O’Rourke. The understated toms accentuate the song at the right moments, and all in all it is a fine song.

Infinality is perhaps even more restrained, focusing on that honeyed voice. Gentle strumming is given depth by yet more beautiful backing vocals. Here they are simple, almost choir like, but they add so much to what is already a melancholy song. The gentle refrain that is the outro quite simply leaves you wanting more. This is an accomplished yet effortless first effort, and one can only await the album with genuine anticipation.

By Tim Burke
16/12/08
- the dwarf.com


Discography

LINDSAY PHILLIPS EP
Released March 2006

AILEEN EP
Released June 2007

LEGION /INFINALITY Single
Released November 2008
Available at iTUNES + Polyester Records (Fitzroy)

Photos

Bio

After fronting bands for well over a decade, Lindsay Phillips changed direction. Armed only with guitar and a handful of arresting songs he stepped back onto the stage as a solo artist. If you are fortunate enough to see him perform, it is his voice, all gravel and melodic charm, that will pin you. His songs are laments - haunted offerings to the lost souls of love.

Whilst committing himself with integrity to this theatre of the romantic-macabre, Phillips still manages worthwhile achievements. He has played countles shows throughout Australia, toured North America and Europe twice, self recorded/released two EP’s, and has been included in showcase performances at Popkomm 2006 in Berlin and NXNE 2007 in Toronto.

His debut album VARNING is scheduled for release mid-year 2009.