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 Alec Bathgate, 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 Sublime Studio by Tom Havard 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, Alec Bathgate has the true gift of giving his indie-pop tunes their signature rough edges.
Tracklist
1. Danger Boy Saves Crookston
2. Sonic Blue
3. Revert To Saved
4. Imposter Syndrome
5. A Stone's Throw
6. Phantom Dots
7. Edison Hall
8. Inky Spheres
9. Crushed Velvet
10. Black Gully Hop
11. This Room Unavailable
12. The Science of the Unitar
13. Crick
14. In C Major
15. A Period of Purple Crying
16. Disappearing Act