Unravelled: 1981 - 2002

The prized New Zealand duo of Chris Knox and Alec Bathgate - announce Unravelled: 1981-2002. The 4-LP or 2-CD set compiles 55 songs from Tall Dwarfs' two decades of recordings, shining a loving light on the lo-fi pioneers. The LP edition is pressed on 180g vinyl housed in two gatefold jackets and includes a 20-page collector's booklet of photos, comics, posters, and other ephemera, all packaged in a slipcase.

After a failed flirtation with success in their previous band Toy Love, Knox and Bathgate formed Tall Dwarfs in 1981, opting to record themselves on a 4-track reel-to-reel. New Zealand's AudioCulture wrote of the duo's project: "Early live performances were a ramshackle work in progress. Knox described them in an interview with American magazine Forced Exposure as 'two minutes of song followed by five minutes of fucking around,'" and they dismayed many Toy Love fans - but the pair had no interest in a career spent in pubs cranking out 'Pull Down the Shades'.

The songs on Unravelled: 1981-2002 were curated by Bathgate, who also designed the box set packaging; Chris Knox suffered a debilitating stroke in 2009 just as they had started work on a new album. The collection captures the different sides of Tall Dwarfs in 55 songs. Though the band was an excuse for two good friends who lived in different cities to get together, drink beer, watch shitty old movies, and do some recording and drawing, Tall Dwarfs created music unlike anyone else. Capturing the initial excitement of creation and taking pride in what they did, Knox and Bathgate showed a whole generation of musicians what could be done at home on a 4-track and what magic could be made if you mixed pop melodies and hooks galore with homemade sounds.