Those who've bought titles from CD Services will be familiar with the newsletters accompanying the exciting little packages that arrive in the post from Dundee...but not everyone is in the know about the excellent service thus provided, nor the detailed reviews penned by Andy Garibaldi, space rock supremo (it says here), who has been serving the community of Hawkwind fans for years on end.
Recently Andy has written a number of Hawkwind-related reviews that deserve wide exposure, and he has given his permission for me to regurgitate those reviews here...thank you Andy!
So, here we are - the first all-new studio album since 'Distant Horizons'. This time it's a core trio of Brock-Davey-Chadwick with guests including Simon House & Arthur Brown on a couple of tracks apiece. Any good? Have they gone all electronic? Have they embraced dance? Is there any guitar on it - questions, questions. The answer is quite simple - it's a rather good, solid, consistent and cohesive Hawkwind album. The surprising thing is that, apart from the last track, there's not a howler on the entire set - Even 'Distant Horizons' had more waste-of-space tracks on it than this.
So, what have we got? Well, it opens with a new remake of their classic "Spirit Of The Age” and the first thing you notice is the incredibly sharp and crystal-clear production, so good that even the trademark thunder and
After that we move into a Davey-composed instrumental that features predominantly keyboards in a gorgeously expansive and, it has to be said, typical Hawkwind space music setting, with slow thunderous drums and deep resonant bass down the bottom of the mix. Layers of synth melodies float away on top, and, of all things (I had to check the credits), the sudden appearance of a lead trumpet which, as the main rhythm begins, sounds absolutely right in the context of the track as a whole, and the piece ends with one of THE most beautiful space synth endings you'll hear on any electronic music album.
From there we dive headlong into the undoubtedly Bedouin-influenced 'Greenback Massacre' which positively roars into life as the trademark Davey vocals do their bit over a rampaging, rhythmic backing and surrounding space synths and swoops, the guitar staying more muted but still in evidence, and here the production is set to be deliberately more 'lo-fi’ in keeping with the whole spirit of the track. Next is the Brock-penned ‘To Love A Machine' - this had me in mind of the track 'Dogs' from Pink Floyd's 'Animals' - it's got that hollering approach to the vocals, and you could even juxtapose the two at a couple of points, but here the backing ranges from the initial ballad-esque acoustic guitars, through roaring, on-fire ensemble electricity to expansive arenas of synths, clattering electronic drums and delicate guitar set to angst-ridden vocal. The whole thing then erupts once more and just takes off - stunning and possibly the best track on the album!
The title track is a trademark 'Electric Teepee'-esque semi-instrumental; “semi-" in that it uses an intoned, treated, echoed vocal above the surrounding keyboards, rumbling bass, clattering and cyclical electronic drums and horizon- stretching space synths, but the effect is spot on, working a treat as it drives to its destination with purpose & atmosphere. 'Digital Nation' is a Chadwick composition on which he sings lead vocal for the first time on a Hawkwind album, revealing a voice that's not a million miles away from that of Stone Premonitions label owner Tim Jones (so people, expect to get into Census Of Hallucinations now if you like this!) while the track itself features the vocal right upfront and, in its own chunkily rhythmic, almost jerky foundations, together with swirling electronics, distant searing guitar, brief bursts of sax, a flying flute that leaps around the mix and all-encompassing synth surrounds that sparkle and shine - This track that would not have sounded at all out of place on the better Census Of Hallucinations albums, but is of course, better than even that description implies, thanks to the still-amazing production.
'Sunray' is simply a driving space-rocker with Arthur Brown on lead vocals, and it does exactly what it says on the tin – “Rocks." For only one minute long, 'Sighs' is remarkably full sounding and busy, almost too good for a "link" track, but it segues right into the head-bending thunder that is 'Angela Android' with solid, chunky almost techno-esque electronic drum rhythms. With this awesome swirling backdrop of nuclear guitar and space synths & swoops, plus with Davey's bass on fire down below and sax adding the "olde" element, the track becomes the closest thing to the seventies you'll hear on the album. That's not to deny the dynamics and inventive arrangements that the track possesses, even daring to add old new waver Lene Lovich's uniquely high-register vocal towards the end, something I seriously thought fitted like a glove, but which I imagine some will hate with a passion. All in all, it's five minutes of huge-sounding fun!
Finally, the seven minute 'Letter To Robert’, where a spoken word vocal is set to a chunky, tumbling, driving electronic drum beat, swooping, soaring space synths, more keyboard textures, deep bass and a veritable sea of electronics. Personally, I dislike spoken word tracks immensely and this is no exception -not the band's fault, they may be doing it superbly- but not my thing in any way, shape or form. So, apart from that, you simply can't argue with an album of this quality - there will be those who hearken back to the "old days' but, after all the words, all the arguments, all the anticipation and years of wasted silence, you can honestly say that this really has been worth the wait - bar one track, that is!!
Track List: Spirit Of The Age (6:43) / Out Here We Are (5:56) / Greenback Massacre (4:14) / To Love A Machine (6:01) / Take Me To Your Leader (5:50) / Digital Nation (5:25) / Sunray (3:56) / Sighs (1:23) / Angela Android (5:08) / Letter To Robert (6:08)
Something for Hawkwind collectors... Now this is where you have to be sneaky or know someone who wants what you have - let me explain...
This is the fold-out card sleeve edition of the remastered 'Space Ritual V.2' album that came out last year in the States, and it has now become the one listed here. Now, what the label have done is to put the CD package in a solid CD-sized black & silver box -yeah, a BOX- and they have also included in that box an exclusive fold-out colour poster of the 1973-era band on stage. The main body of the box is black and on the front is the
So, what you need to do is find someone who wants to buy your old copy from you, so that you can then upgrade to this really neat looking (and I say that coz it's true) box. But, I think, there have only been a few hundred of these boxes manufactured, and once these are gone, they'll call it a day.
Last few copies of this album on the American Griffin label, and it’s one of the most mixed bag studio albums of the band’s career to date, as a no less than 8-piece line-up delivers a wide range of tracks, starting with chugging drums and percussion above which Nik Turner’s sax work roars, drones, squeals and soars. Then it’s a song from guitarist Lloyd-Langton that’s what you’d call a “slow chugger” with lead work predominantly from organ and space synths, the guitars riffing away mainly at the bottom of the mix. What follows is a seriously eclectic bunch of tracks, ranging from
In addition to the main event here that is the remastered live ‘85 CD, you also get a 66 minute bonus CD that represents the only way you can currently hear tracks from the, now-deleted, Castle label albums. As a result, you effectively get a free bonus disc of great and clear-sounding tracks from albums such as ‘Approved History”, ‘Live ‘79’, ‘Levitation’, ‘Xenon Codex’, It’s The Business Of the Future…, Space Bandits & Palace Springs. Featuring tracks such as ‘Magnu’,, ‘Q, S & C’, ‘Spirit Of The Age’ and more, this is a fantastic bonus disc. As to the main disc, across a 76 minute
Updated and expanded 3rd edition, now featuring hundreds of new facts, but what makes this both special and a complete pain to Hawkwind collectors is the fact that the CD by Hawkwind that accompanies this book has been expanded as well, and now lasts over fifteen minutes. The track list now contains: Hawkwind doing Pink Floyd's 'Interstellar Overdrive', 'Saucerful Of Secrets' & 'Hyperdrive-Reprise' - exclusive to this release and unavailable elsewhere!
The CD starts with the '98 quartet of Chadwick-Tree-Richards-Brock tearing through a rendition of Floyd's 'Interstellar Overdrive' that takes off in a blaze of glory with searing guitars swirling all around the mix, space synths swooping all over the place and the rhythm section driving it all forward - as good a six minute version that the Floyd would be pleased to see. There follows a kind of jam that echoes the rhythmic structure and improvised mid-section of 'Interstellar', converting it into a piece that sounds like a cross between [Hawkwind’s] own 'Opa-Loka' and Floyd's 'On The Run', with some solid ethnic drumming from Chadwick driving a swirling mass of synths, Mellotron and sizzling guitars for over five magical minutes.
The final, and previously unavailable track is bedded on a train-like rhythm with spacey synths flying on top, and
The book's fascinating - the CD's essential. Instrumental 1998 era Hawkwind that's quite stunning!
"The idea behind Psytrax is that the featured tracks are representative of the albums from which they are taken, so that if you hear a piece of music on Psytrax, then you can buy the album with confidence. It’s all about helping the musicians to sell more albums as well as being a repeat-playable CD in its own right. It’s also a non-profit making venture on behalf of the people who put it together. It’s an ultra-low priced way of getting into some seriously excellent music. But not only that, Psytrax will be a quarterly release and contain interviews as well as tracks exclusive to the issue concerned."
Andy also has a day job, providing hard-to-find psychedelia, space rock, krautrock, and a host of other musical forms worldwide via mail order from Dundee, Scotland: the home of CD Services. They have long been recommended to all Hawkwind fans as a great source of the best music...
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