Alastair Galbraith- Intro Version

Roof Bolt Recordings

1994

Picked this up on a high school trip to Chicago back in '94. I had been intrigued by the track(s) on the (still great) Hey Drag City comp. This was probably the first New Zealand record I ever owned and the first inkling I had of something crazy going on on that faraway island. The two secret fantasies I harbored throughout an entire trip I made to NZ back in early '99 were 1) that I'd somehow get a chance to catch Alastair playing somewhere and 2) that I'd find more records by Thela. Neither happened, but in the end I was more than willing to settle for having seen Roy Montgomery, Bruce Russell/Kim Pieters/Peter Stapleton, The Clean, Peter Jefferies, Bailter Space, and a whole slew of lesser known though still amazing bands. Wow. If I could revisit any single month from my past...... With money for records though this time, of course. But that's neither here nor there. My point being that this record serves as a great "intro version" to both Galbraith's solo output and the wider '90's New Zealand singles scene. It's all here- bedroom production, guitar scuzz/violin scree, and fragmented suggestions of pop brilliance. Fans of Stefan Neville's Pumice records in particular should take notice. Last track also features Chris Heazlewood on guitar.

Intro Version

Various- I Hear The Devil Calling Me

Drag City

1991

This excellent early Drag City release is among the best of a handful of great Xpressway Records comps that popped up in the early/mid 90's.  Despite the limitations of format, this release manages to squeeze in 12 bands in roughly as many minutes.  A concise, but surprisingly accurate overview of the label.  Featuring:

 1. Alastair Galbraith

 2. A Handful of Dust

 3. Peter Jefferies

 4. OLLA

 5. The Renderers

 6. The Dead C

 7. Gate

 8. Cyclops

 9. Dadamah

10. David Mitchell

11. Queen Meanie Puss

12. Stephen Kilroy

I Hear The Devil Calling Me

Pip Proud & Alastair Galbraith- Me & Gus

Emperor Jones

1998

Alastair Galbraith adds some violin ache and backwards guitar to these already fragile tunes from Australian beat hippy hermit Pip Proud.  The late '90s saw a brief return to music for Proud, who had been living in a hut without electricity out in the middle of who knows where Australia, after a 25-30 year hiatus.  That "comeback" however was cut short by a stroke that left Pip blind and/or dumb (or both maybe) and unable to perform.  The music is itself fittingly beat down and tragic.

Me & Gus