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

Mantis- Drüler

Drag City

1993

Early 90's Chicago band that only did three singles and a couple comps.  Great records though.  The A side here is really one of the great tracks of the era.  Features Drag City's ubiquitous Rian Murphy.

Drüler

Trumans Water- Hey Fish

Drunken Fish

1994

Nice early single from this very  prolific band.  It's a name you don't hear that much these days, which is a shame.  Their output, which includes, christ, I think like a dozen singles or something in addition to a bunch of EPs, full lengths, and compilation contributions,  is all over the place.  When it works though it can be quite a nice bit of racket.  A couple of particularly great tracks here make this one of their stronger records for sure.  This is on Drunken Fish out of L.A.which for awhile put out some great records. Most notably was probably the Harmony of the Spheres triple LP set, but the whole roster was pretty solid.  lots of gems from the noisier fringes of the indi world of the time.  One of these guys was born again and left the group to start the christian-themed Soul Junk.  Now that's something you don't hear about everyday.

Hey Fish