Chris Bathgate

Keep it simple, stupid. Pretty good advice for the most part. Sometimes less really is more. An apparent adherent to the KISS rule is Chris Bathgate. Chris isn’t stupid and he writes some relatively simple music. Utilizing repetitive loops and decently short song times, he lets his voice do the talking (…go figure).

A Cork Tale Wake is young Bathgate’s third full-length release and it’s a pretty solid one at that. The album is instantly likeable from the piano driven first track, “Serpentine”, and it doesn’t let go after that. The rest of the songs follow in much of the same suit; stripped down with liberal amounts of acoustic guitar, piano, strings, and even a little horn work here and there. And while the instrumentation is great, its main purpose is to compliment Bathgate’s voice. Songs like “Cold Fusion” and “Restless” are good until the vocals are added to the mix… suddenly they’re amazing.

Due to my attention span being dangerously in the red, I’m a fan of shorter songs and albums. A Cork Tale Wake is right on the money; 40 minutes overall with an average song length of about three and a half. For the most part, this prevents from repetition and the resulting boredom. Although, because of the repetitious nature of a lot of the guitar and drum beats, this is still a minor problem on a few tracks.

With tunes along the same vein of artists such as Iron & Wine, Sufjan Stevens, Denison Witmer, and the like, many listeners will find Chris Bathgate instantly accessible and enjoyable. A Cork Tale Wake is one of the best under-the-radar releases of 2007 thus far. - Absolute Punk

January 15, 2008 - About one second into "Serpentine," it's clear that Chris Bathgate knows his way around pretty, minor-key indie-folk: The mournful piano line which opens the song makes that instantaneously clear. One hauntingly dusky verse later, he goes one step further, unveiling a ghostly series of "oohs," each as infectious as it is portentous. In all, it takes about 40 seconds for Bathgate to introduce himself as a skilled purveyor of lovely gloom — and if that's too much time, a mere glance at the interior album artwork shows an image of cartoon cats in formalwear, carrying a coffin.

After dumping out his toolbox in the time it takes most singer-songwriters to make sure the microphone is on, Bathgate spends the rest of "Serpentine" fiddling with his toys, introducing strings and yet more sad piano sounds as he goes along. All that handsome instrumental window dressing obscures a sad rumination on estrangement — "Does my name sting your tongue? / Now does it, babe?" — but that's no surprise. If Bathgate has mastered one thing in his young and enormously promising career, it's the art of distilling alienation into bruised-sounding beauty.

Listen to yesterday's 'Song of the Day.'
- NPR

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87918061&ft=1&f=1039 - NPR

It seems that troubadour Chris Bathgate (Quite Scientific) will be bringing his breathtaking brand of indie folk-rock to…well, everywhere. Starbucks and iTunes have selected the Chris Bathgate song “Yes, I’m Cold” to be the Starbucks Free Pick of the Week on iTunes… quite a feat for such an indie artist, as previous picks have included such industry heavyweights as Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Adele, My Morning Jacket and Sia. The popular java chain will be giving away the free download cards over the next week at all of it’s 7000+ stores across the planet, bringing Chris Bathgate closer to lifelong goal of world domination. Check out all of Chris Bathgate’s music at http://www.hankmusic.tv. - Sarah Gavigan