Hello Cruel World

by Tall Dwarfs

Hello Cruel World cover art
  • Type: Compilation
  • Released: December 1987
  • Label: Flying Nun
  • Country: New Zealand
  • Length: 1:03:16
  • Community rating: 3.96/5 from 5 ratings

Album Notes & Community Reviews

Compiling the first four highly inventive EPs released by the pioneering New Zealand duo, 'Hello Cruel World' is a foundational document of lo-fi indie pop. Chris Knox and Alec Bathgate recorded primarily on rudimentary four-track tape machines, utilizing household objects for percussion alongside strummed acoustic guitars and tape loops. Their unapologetically DIY approach deeply influenced the Flying Nun roster and the broader international slacker-rock movement.

Genres

Descriptors: lo-fi, noisy, DIY, experimental

Tracklist

  1. Nothing's Going To Happen (3:52)
  2. Luck Or Loveliness (2:20)
  3. All My Hollowness To You (2:16)
  4. Louis The First (1:48)
  5. Maybe (3:02)
  6. Pictures On The Floor (2:25)
  7. Paul's Place (2:50)
  8. Clover (2:03)
  9. Song Of The Silents (3:54)
  10. Louis The Second (3:02)
  11. Canopener (3:27)
  12. Beauty (2:12)
  13. This Room Is Wrong (3:20)
  14. Walking Home (2:17)
  15. Turning Brown + Torn In Two (4:38)
  16. Woman (3:05)
  17. Shade For Today (1:48)
  18. The Brain That Wouldn't Die (3:18)
  19. I've Left Memories Behind (2:49)
  20. Phil's Disease (Day 1) (1:35)
  21. Phil's Disease (Day 4) (1:17)
  22. Crush! (5:58)

Credits

  • Tall Dwarfs - primary artist, artwork [incidental doodles by]
  • Chris Knox - artwork ['canned music' & 'slugbuckethairybreathmonster' cover by, 'hello cruel world' back by], music by [songs]
  • Barbara Ward - artwork ['louis' front cover by]
  • Alec Bathgate - artwork ['three songs' cover by, 'louis' back cover by, 'hello cruel world' front by], music by [songs]

More from Tall Dwarfs: full discography