Party Gator Purgatory

Product Information

Ahead of the release of their debut album ‘PARTY GATOR PURGATOR’ on 19th May via Bella Union, Temps - the 40-strong international music collective devised, curated and produced by James Acaster - are sharing new single ‘partygatorresurrection’. But then, as a music fan and music geek, it’s just the dream. It’s my fantasy football, but it’s real, and I get to go, “This person with this person” and “Let’s put this puzzle together.” It just became something all on its own, it felt like. The idea of this all foregrounding a credible album might hoist anyone’s eyebrows to levels matching Acaster’s signature ‘punchline face’. Really? The man who gave us the ‘ready-to-eat apricots’ joke? Not only is Party Gator Purgatory a genuinely excellent record though, Acaster’s bizarre approach has produced something genuinely one-of-a-kind: free-wheeling through jazz, glitch-pop and experimental hip-hop. Listeners who can curb their cynicism will be rewarded with a technicolour, maximalist, hugely inventive album.

with this project,” states Acaster as he hand-draws the album’s artwork himself, using a trio of highlighter pens, “it was all I focussed on for two years and we ended up making my favourite thing ever. I hope people enjoy it.” if you are thinking of listening to this album due to your interest of any of the artists involved: go for it. if you're thinking of listening because of james: it's a hit or miss. it wasn't perfect to me but that's the joy of experimentalism, i suppose, it's all over the place, it's hectic. it'll grow on me. Paste: I’m truly fascinated by this project, because it’s not just “Oh, James Acaster the comedian is making music.” No, you’ve assembled this huge team of incredible musicians. Talk to me about how that came to be. I think it really helped that Seb had put his drums down initially. I was asking people if they wanted to contribute, thinking in my head, Are they going to say no because it’s this stand-up comedian asking them? Forgetting that these amazing musicians were already on it who had done such an incredible job.

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Tell me about the party gator that inspired the album, because I know that he is no longer with us. The party gator costume you’ve been sporting is a replica, yes? Were you surprised by the reception you got from other musicians when you first asked them to be on the album? exploding with experimentalism and uniqueness. no two songs sound alike and it gives party gator purgatory by temps and feel like no other album i've listened to. it's like if four different artists from four different genres played in rehearsal rooms right next to each other and it all blended together nicely. Vast in scope and scale, and fizzing with an experimental energy, the trippy PARTY GATOR PURGATORY manages to blend a host of ideas, guests and moods into an album that draws you into its own unique world. A scrapbook of collected styles from spoken word to hip-hop to free jazz, Party Gator Purgatory is the equivalent of a music fan let loose, boundaryless and liberated by creative freedom. Just doing something for the fun of it: all creatives would like to be there just once, I’d imagine.

You can’t talk about James Acaster’s involvement in Temps without talking about the Party Gator. Think of it like the animated members of Gorillaz – muse, artist and inspiration all at once, without which the music just can’t live. The plan had been for the original Party Gator to feature in the music videos but, shortly after the drum sessions, it was donated to a local school who then unceremoniously dumped it in a skip (Acaster’s still not over this). So a replica mascot outfit was made to James’ proportions and a series of low budget videos were filmed (by the iconic Turtle Canyon), consisting of the character running through theme parks, dancing in row boats and trashing hotel rooms, while Acaster gave himself heatstroke and a brief bout of labyrinthitis.Temps’ debut album ‘PARTY GATOR PURGATORY’, out on May 19, features an impressive list of collaborators, but there’s one artist at the heart of it who led by example. “Shamir was the first person I worked with on it who did say to me, ‘Tell me exactly what you want and I’ll do that,’” says Acaster. “Just going, ‘Do what you like’ is not always the most freeing thing for people. It gives people so many options.” Alongside being a co-host for the mega-chart-topping podcast, Off Menu, Acaster, hosts the Perfect Sounds podcast, showcasing music from 2016, and played drums in the bands The Wow! Scenario and the Capri-Sun Quartet before finding fame as a stand-up. Selected items are only available for delivery via the Royal Mail 48® service and other items are available for delivery using this service for a charge. this is the most, and in all honesty, the only, experimental album i've listened to. i've never been too heavily into experimental, unless bjork counts, i suppose. even then i've only ever properly listened to her early work. but it was an eye opener in a way. it's a genre i probably would have never explored if it weren't for james acaster's involvement. and he is the man in my pfp, so who am i to not ensure my first review in two months is his?

the history of the party gator, how the album got its name and mascot, is a little confusing, even to me. the only things that are apparent to me are that the party gator is based off of a giant party gator teddy bear that james won at a fair once. and the cover is hand-drawn by him (not surprising). did he commission a giant party gator outfit? was it something he had planned from the start? is he a furry??? so many questions and so few answers. Of the new challenges posed by his Temps era, he adds: “I’d never made an album from scratch that didn’t exist yet – recording it and writing it at the same time – and I’d never produced anything before, or mixed something as intensely as this one. There’s a lot of new things – if I had been doing it on my own, I don’t know how long I would have lasted.” Before I did comedy, all I wanted to do was be in a band and play drums. And that’s all I did do until I was 22, 23. When I started stand-up comedy, I really fell in love with it, to the degree where I couldn’t imagine doing music again. I just assumed I never would do it, even though it had been a dream of mine since I was seven—specifically, to make an album. That had been the thing I was really engaged with with music, more than seeing it live or anything like that. That’s all I wanted to do from the age of seven and then, because I went into comedy, I think it was easier to just put that out of my head and not think of it. Calling on everyone from NNAMDÏ to Open Mike Eagle to Shamir to Joana Gomilla to Deerhoof’s John Dieterich, Acaster has formed a superteam of inquisitive wordsmiths and cosmic shredders. He’s become the coolest DJ in the world, and no song on the album arrives the same—which elevates the mythology around the project altogether. Many months have passed since Acaster completed PARTY GATOR PURGATORY, and he still doesn’t know how so many musicians he adores, respects and pulls influence from wound up on his own project—one that is set to propel him even further into his return to music, drumming and songwriting. Above all else though, Party Gator Purgatory is a tremendous amount of fun. Acaster’s production and curation contributes to a sprightly, playful character throughout, and it’s full of absurd humour. ‘Partygatorresurrection’ closes with a string of non-sequiturs from rapper and comedian Open Mike Eagle: “I’m rolling up like a Metroid ball! / I like to dance like I’m eight feet tall!… My new OS is installed!”

Track listing

Talking about working with Acaster, Shamir said, “ Working with James Acaster on music was funny because the time signatures he had us singing on… I for one was challenged but it was so fun! An evil genius I fear!”