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One of New Zealand's most consistent groups, and certainly one of the most innovative, Bailterspace were born out of legendary NZ bands The Clean, The Great Unwashed and The Gordons, and after a few line up changes settled into a trio consisting of Alister Parker on Guitar, John Halvorsen handling Bass and rhythm, and finally Brent McLachlan on drums. Their first EP, entitled 'Nelsh Bailter Space', began a long relationship with New Zealand label Flying Nun, which forms the basis of this compilation. The music was experimental rock of the highest order and the group quickly gained a loyal following before dropping their debut LP, the glorious 'Tanker', an album that annouced the bands intentions - to push sound to its extremes in a rock format. The follow up, 'Thermos', was even better, a focused and completely listenable record, while 'The Aim' EP and 'Robot World' LP further developed the songwriting and production side of things. After relocating to Germany then New York, where the band had already enjoyed acclaim, they would release several further albums, including 1995's 'Wammo', and their final outing on Flying Nun, 'Capsul', a masterpiece of bleak and detached rock music and the perfect closing statement. This compilation, compiled by the band themselves, is obviously a labour for all involved and as a result the tracklisting is near perfect containing 18 songs from six LP's and several EP's, including a previously unheard version of "At 5 We Drive" and a rare track in "GlimmerDot". This compilation allows the listener to hear the group's development and constant experimentation slowly evolve from session to session, year to year, and ultimately presents itself as an essential insight into one NZ's very best, and loudest, bands. Recommended. |
