[{"id":211726106775,"handle":"alec-bathgate","title":"Alec Bathgate","updated_at":"2022-05-09T15:19:05+12:00","body_html":"\u003cspan\u003e\"50,000,000 Elvis fans can't be wrong, I guess they knew it all along\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIf you want to be a star, go today - buy a suit of gold lamé.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eIn 1956, Elvis Presley burst upon the music scene. Within two years he had produced 14 consecutive million-selling records. In the course of doing so he had changed the course of popular music and culture forever. His spectacular success, popularity amongst music fans and notorious sex appeal remain unparalleled in American entertainment history. Elvis's $2,500 gold lame suit was created by Nudie's of Hollywood, tailor to the stars. First worn by Elvis on his 1957 tour performances, the gold suit is one of the most famous costumes in rock'n'roll history.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlec Bathgate's musical career hasn't exactly led him to buy a suit from Nudie's, but 19 years after The Enemy burst onto the unsuspecting Dunedin music scene in 1977 (a spectacular and ground-breaking arrival in its own right, we might add) with young Alec on guitar, it is about bloody time that we had an album full of his songs and voice.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRight from the moment that Alec formed The Enemy with fellow art student Mick Dawson and talented misfit \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/19990225095814\/http:\/\/flyingnun.co.nz\/bands\/knox.html\"\u003eChris Knox\u003c\/a\u003e, he's been involved with Chris in one of this country's most enduring and original songwriting partnerships. Alec and Chris were the Enemy's songwriting core and after the group evolved into Toy Love in 1979, they were hammering out classic tunes for a band who were rapidly becoming the most highly-rated act in the land. Toy Love was over less than two years later, but Chris and Alec were straight into a new project, Tall Dwarfs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter one EP on the Furtive label, the Tall Dwarfs hooked up with Flying Nun and ten records later they remain creative stalwarts of the label. The duo are now legends in the world of four-track home-recording — they were invited to headline the inaugural Fast Forward home-recording festival in Holland where they were joined by the likes of Sebadoh. Of course, since Chris bought an eight-track, they're practically a regular studio band now....\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost Tall Dwarfs recordings occur in Chris Knox's Auckland home, with Alec travelling up from Christchurch to work for a few days on songs which are built up from guitar riffs, vocal melodies or rhythm loops made from whatever is at hand and sounds interesting enough. Alec has brought that same attitude to the solo album that people have been bugging him to make for years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 16 songs that make up \u003cb\u003eGold Lamé \u003c\/b\u003ewere recorded onto a four-track over the space of a year by Alec alone in his garage. Away from Chris Knox, Alec still gives us many of the great stylistic touches at the core of the Tall Dwarfs on his own album, from crunching riffs over rhythm loop rumbles to fairground psychedelia. \u003cb\u003eGold Lamé \u003c\/b\u003eis stacked with good moods and undeniably sweet sixties melodies right from the moment its first track, \"Win Your Love\", descends into something like a Beach Boys' \u003ci\u003eSmile \u003c\/i\u003eout-take. Later we get Alec picking up the voice of Velvets-era Lou Reed on \"Ain't It Strange\" and the Knox-Bathgate Beatles touchstone appears nicely-done on \"Slow Parade\". As with the best of Tall Dwarfs' output, \u003cb\u003eGold Lamé \u003c\/b\u003eso often feels like a gem left out in the forest in 1969....\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlec's experienced recording hand is immediately evident in arrangements like \"Carl's Arrows\", where the four-track recording is not necessarily \"lo-fi\" and encompasses voice, guitars, toy xylophone and piano. There's extensive use of casio keyboard tones and rhythms on many songs including a cover of reggae classic, \"Train To Skaville\". Deft backwards sounds punctuate \"Run\" alongside a nice electric guitar melody. Elsewhere, songs make room for Alec's big guitaring — his fantastic strumming on acoustic at the heart of tunes like the title track and a burr of solid electrics on others like \"Pet Hates\".\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe latter is one of two \u003cb\u003eGold Lamé \u003c\/b\u003esongs released on a seven inch vinyl single late last year by Flying Nun. \"Pet Hates\" and \"Happy Hound\" drew an excellent critical response, no better than in Wellington's \u003ci\u003eSalient\u003c\/i\u003e, who said \u003ci\u003e\"This sweet slab sounds exactly like the Tall Dwarfs without Chris Knox. Surprisingly. And some would like that. His vox put him up as a chipper Bing Crosby to Knox's more croonful Frank Sinatra.\"\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor those of us who've loved the handful of tunes Alec has managed to get his tonsils round in the Tall Dwarfs, \u003cb\u003eGold Lamé \u003c\/b\u003eis an album full of White Christmases. We should add that it also cost less to make than Elvis's suit, which means that in recording craft and creativity value, Alec Bathgate is a home-recorded rock'n'roll king in our book. \u003cb\u003eGold Lamé \u003c\/b\u003eis a long overdue item and all us Tall Dwarfs fans can't be wrong — Alec Bathgate is the star.\u003c\/p\u003e","published_at":"2020-08-09T18:39:24+12:00","sort_order":"best-selling","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"Alec Bathgate"}],"published_scope":"global","image":{"created_at":"2020-08-23T22:27:34+12:00","alt":null,"width":1333,"height":1333,"src":"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/collections\/0012660518_10.jpg?v=1598178454"}},{"id":399393226996,"handle":"all-products-1","title":"All Products","updated_at":"2022-05-19T11:45:42+12:00","body_html":"","published_at":"2022-05-07T21:11:10+12:00","sort_order":"best-selling","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"variant_inventory","relation":"greater_than","condition":"0"}],"published_scope":"global"},{"id":261181112471,"handle":"new-zealand-music-bands","title":"Aotearoa | New Zealand","updated_at":"2022-05-19T10:35:16+12:00","body_html":"\u003cp\u003eFind a curated selection of the best indie, alternative and interesting \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAotearoa New Zealand Music\u003c\/strong\u003e, bands and artists\u003cstrong\u003e, \u003c\/strong\u003eincluding vinyl LPs, CDs, cassettes. 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Many of these albums are out of print or no longer available, while others have been re-pressed and can be bought in our record store. If you find one of these going cheap in your local junk shop - snap it up!","published_at":"2021-12-04T16:32:39+13:00","sort_order":"created","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":true,"rules":[{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"Flying Nun Catalog"},{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"Flying Nun"}],"published_scope":"global"},{"id":211579109527,"handle":"flying-nun","title":"Flying Nun | Related","updated_at":"2022-05-19T10:35:16+12:00","body_html":"This collection of music is for bands and artists that are or were released on \u003cstrong\u003eFlying Nun Records\u003c\/strong\u003e, or are somehow related to \u003cstrong\u003eFlying Nun Records\u003c\/strong\u003e - even if they weren't or aren't actually released on the label. 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Buy online and get free shipping in \u003cstrong\u003eAotearoa New Zealand\u003c\/strong\u003e on your order over $40.","published_at":"2021-07-05T17:13:08+12:00","sort_order":"created-desc","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"Indie"},{"column":"variant_inventory","relation":"greater_than","condition":"0"}],"published_scope":"global","image":{"created_at":"2022-05-15T15:24:50+12:00","alt":null,"width":1200,"height":1200,"src":"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/collections\/DSCF4450.jpg?v=1652674647"}},{"id":268699435159,"handle":"not-flying-nun","title":"Not Flying Nun","updated_at":"2022-05-19T11:45:42+12:00","body_html":"","published_at":"2021-06-09T22:15:03+12:00","sort_order":"created-desc","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"Not Flying Nun"},{"column":"variant_inventory","relation":"greater_than","condition":"0"}],"published_scope":"global"},{"id":228332568727,"handle":"vinyl","title":"Vinyl Records | LPs","updated_at":"2022-05-19T11:45:42+12:00","body_html":"\u003cp\u003eAlthough Flying Nun Records is a music label, we also sell new releases, new music, pre-orders, reissues, classic albums and more from other bands and artists we like. You can buy indie, alternative, electronic, folk, ambient, krautrock, experimental, rock, post-punk, new wave, New Zealand and other music genres on vinyl record and LP from our store. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFree shipping in New Zealand on orders over $40. \u003c\/p\u003e","published_at":"2020-09-27T18:50:00+13:00","sort_order":"created-desc","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"Vinyl"},{"column":"variant_inventory","relation":"greater_than","condition":"0"}],"published_scope":"global"}]
Originally released by Hamburg label Thokei Tapes as a cassette only exclusive last year (2020), Phantom Dots, the instrumental album by the legendary New Zealand artist AlecBathgate, is now available on vinyl LP for the very first time.
Despite his rich and impressive history as a key member of Tall Dwarfs, Toy Love, and The Enemy, Bathgate's solo work has continuously allowed his unique guitar-work and sixth sense for a sweet melody to come to the surface in its own right.
On the writing of Phantom Dots, Alec has said, “I’d been listening to a lot of instrumental music, I wanted every track to be different, quite short, jumping through all these different things. I wanted it to be engaging and not something that people would just play once.”
The album, mixed at SublimeStudio by TomHavard and mastered for vinyl by Mikey Young (AU), was mostly recorded over the years 2019-2020. Tied together by loops and fuzz, Phantoms Dots’ 16 tracks dabble in funk, rock'n'roll, synth, and take a deep dive into chapters of experimentation.
Hamish Kilgour’s drumming features in its finest looped form on the track ‘Imposter Syndrome’. Often using looped rhythms and a perfect smattering of fuzzed out guitar and/or bass, AlecBathgate has the true gift of giving his indie-pop tunes their signature rough edges.
This 2021 Phantom Dots vinyl release is out on 19th November, on white vinyl, via Alec’s own label Long Short Short and is limited to 150 copies — pressed locally at Holiday Records in Auckland, New Zealand.
TRACKLIST
SIDE A
Danger Boy Saves Crookston Sonic Blue Revert To Saved Imposter Syndrome A Stone’s Throw Phantom Dots Edison Hall Inky Spheres
SIDE B
Crushed Velvet Black Gully Hop This Room Unavailable The Science of the Unitar Crick In C Major A Period of Purple Crying Disappearing Act
RIYL: Tall Dwarfs, Toy Love, Chris Knox, The Enemy Originally released on 1 November, 2020 (cassette only) on Thokei Tapes.
