Bailter Space
| Company type | Band |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music |
| Founded | 1987 |
| Headquarters | Christchurch , New Zealand |
Key people | Alister Parker, John Halvorsen, Brent McLachlan |
| Products | Studio albums, EPs, singles, compilation albums |
Bailter Space—also referred to as Bailterspace—is a shoegaze and noise rock ensemble originating from Christchurch, New Zealand, established in 1987 under the name Nelsh Bailter Space. This group emerged as a continuation of the earlier act known as the Gordons. The principal lineup consists of Alister Parker (handling guitar and bass duties), John Halvorsen (bass and guitar), and Brent McLachlan (drums and samples). Over their career, they produced seven studio albums, multiple EPs and singles, along with a retrospective collection. After entering a period of inactivity in 2004, the band briefly reunited in 2008 for a show at Manhattan’s Bowery Ballroom.
History
The Gordons, formed by Halvorsen in 1980, initially featured Halvorsen, Parker, and McLachlan. This group released the Future Shock EP along with two full-length albums before disbanding around 1985. Although Flying Nun Records reissued some of their material on CD, the album Volume 2 has yet to be made available again.
In 1987, Parker and Hamish Kilgour—formerly the drummer for The Clean—created Nelsh Bailter Space, originally including Glenda Bills and Ross Humphries. After early lineup changes, Halvorsen joined as bassist. This configuration recorded the Tanker album and the "Grader Spader" single. Following a 1988 tour in the United States, Kilgour remained there to establish The Mad Scene. Subsequently, Parker and Halvorsen brought McLachlan back on drums, effectively reuniting the original Gordons trio for the 1989 release Thermos.
Following several releases through Flying Nun and periods spent living in New Zealand, Germany, and the U.S., Bailter Space signed with New York-based indie label Matador Records around 1990. Their 1992 EP The Aim was their debut official release in the U.S. and garnered positive reviews in the UK. During the recording of Robot World in 1993, the band relocated to New York City. They followed this with EPs such as EIP and albums including Vortura and Wammo. In 1999, they appeared at Toronto’s Neon Palm Festival.
Subsequent U.S. releases were issued via Turnbuckle Records until its closure around 2002; by 2004, Matador Records removed Bailter Space’s titles from its catalog. Outside of New Zealand and Australia, most of their discography remains out of print.
A definitive compilation titled Bailterspace was released in 2004.
After a four-year break, Bailter Space returned to perform live in New York City in August 2008 with new bassist Ian Ljungquist.
Their album Strobosphere was launched in New Zealand on 13 August 2012, followed by a U.S. release on 21 August 2012.
Musical style
Frequently compared to Sonic Youth, Bailter Space has been dubbed "The Sonic Youth of the Southern Hemisphere." Early critiques from Trouser Press described their initial sound as "hard, droning, unforgiving guitar music with occasional lapses into verse/chorus regularity." By the time of Tanker, their music adopted more traditional structures. After moving to New York City, their style transformed into what was described as "an unholy collision between The Beatles harmonies and The Velvet Underground dissonance," with Parker highlighting an emphasis on harmonic experimentation coupled with melodic elements. In 1999, Pitchfork Media characterized their sound as "a huge mess of sound that's simultaneously beautiful, jagged, atonal, and supremely melodic," while another review likened them to a fusion of Superchunk, Pixies, and Dinosaur Jr..
Under the name 'The Gordons'
- Albums
- The Gordons (1981, Gordons label)
- Volume 2 (1984, Gordons label)
- Extended Play (EP)
- Future Shock (1980, Gordons label)
- Compilation albums
- The Gordons (1988, Flying Nun Records)
Studio Albums
| Album Title | Release Information | Highest Chart Positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NZ |
US CMJ | |||
| Tanker |
|
— | — | |
| Thermos |
|
— | — | |
| Robot World |
|
34 | — | |
| Vortura |
|
22 | — | |
| Wammo |
|
23 | 13 | |
| Capsul |
|
34 | — | |
| Solar.3 |
|
— | 57 | |
| Strobosphere |
|
— | — | |
| Trinine |
|
— | — | |
| Concret |
| |||
| "—" indicates that the album did not chart or was not released in that region. | ||||
Extended Plays (EPs)
| EP Title | Release Details | Highest Chart Positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| NZ | |||
| Nelsh Bailter Space |
|
39 | |
| The Aim |
|
— | |
| Photon |
|
— | |
| "—" indicates the EP did not chart or was not issued in that market. | |||
Singles
| Release Year | Single Title | Tracks Included | Record Label | Peak Chart Positions | Associated Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NZ | |||||
| 1987 | "New Man" | "New Man", "In a City Wardrobe" | Flying Nun FN096 | — | Nelsh Bailter Space |
| 1988 | "Grader Spader" | "Grader Spader", "The Escalator Song", "N.B.S." | Flying Nun FN106 | — | Tanker |
| 1992 | "The Aim" | "The Aim", "We Know" | Clawfist HUNKA 16 | 43 | The Aim |
| 1992 | "Shine" | "Shine", "The Unseen" | Clawfist HUNKA 16 | — | The Aim |
| 1993 | "B.E.I.P." | "X", "Projects", "Robot World", "E I P" | Flying Nun FNCD284 | 45 | Robot World |
| 1995 | "Splat" | "Splat", "Retro", "At Five We Drive", "Fascination" | Flying Nun FNCD328 | 48 | Wammo |
| 1995 | "Retro" | "Retro", "Projects (Live)", "Begin (Live)" | "Flying Nun"FNCD345 | — | "Wammo" |
| "1997" | "Capsul" | "The Capsul", "Argonaut" | "Turnbuckle"TR-003 | — | "Capsul" |
| The symbol "—" signifies that the single did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
Compilation
| Title | Album information | Highest chart rankings |
|---|---|---|
| NZ | ||
| Bailterspace |
|
— |
External links
- Articles with short description
- Noise rock groups
- New Zealand shoegaze musical groups
- Flying Nun Records artists
- Matador Records artists
- Musical groups established in 1986
- Musical groups disbanded in 2004
- Musical groups reunited in 2008
- Musical groups disbanded in 2008
- Musical groups reunited in 2012
- New Zealand indie rock groups
- Dunedin Sound musical groups
- 1986 establishments in New Zealand
- Amphetamine Reptile Records artists
- Musical groups disestablished in 2004