Man on The Verge of A Nervous Breakdown - by Roger Shepherd

While I have always had reservations about this release, I can see that I must learn to embrace it. Firstly as a part of the Flying Nun oeuvre that is personally unavoidably connected to me - as an almost forgotten quirky Christmas release in one remote corner of 40 years worth of Flying Nun’s more “conventional” releases. Secondly, whether anyone likes it or not, as a tiny particle of a much bigger and weirder genre - that of the Christmas record.

Weeville is a cornucopia of sound adventures that rewards close listening. The music is restrained compared to earlier outings but there is instrumental variance that constantly bubbles to the surface. It was a significant record for Chris Knox and Alec Bathgate to make - their first album and a milestone of significance to the label.

...Headless Chickens was a band that used a lot of technology and guitars...Conscious of what they were rejecting and knowingly embracing new music-making methods and sound, the band had created a watershed moment. The future had arrived....

...These three Alec Bathgate albums illustrate a distinct progression; from the tentative Gold Lamé to the assured, complex and accessible masterpiece The Indifferent Velvet Void and, finally, the quirky at ease collection of instruments, Phantom Dots....