Hawkwind, an appreciation.

[DrGoon]

Huw Lloyd Langton I got when he, somewhat improbably, played here, on a bill with Nektar and Brainticket, back 2011. I gather they were all on the same label, that's why the package tour was done, but they couldn't afford to bring Huw's band over from England, so he just came on and did a short solo acoustic set. So I at least got to meet him. He's definitely one of my true blue guitar heroes.

That's great. I wish I'd known about that. I miss Huw, he was a lovely guy. On the few occasions that I got to hang out backstage or at a hotel with the band, I usually chatted with Huw - he was one of the most down-to-earth and kindly people I've met. My sister used to enjoy knitting custom designs and made me a Hawkwind jumper with an eye in pyramid design that I wore to a lot of shows. Huw commented on how cool it was, so I convinced my sister to knit one for him too. Other than when he tried it on when presented with it, I didn't see him wearing it, but it wasn't exactly stage wear.

[polmico]

Choose Your Masques has a pretty decent grip on my attention lately. I got it in the Esoteric clam shell box set that includes Sonic Attack and Church Of. It definitely avoids the mistakes of the latter and seems to build on the good from the former. There's a weird mix of industrial-like sounds on this one, but also enough space-trippiness to keep me grounded.

I'm sure I'll move on from it eventually, but I imagine there's a bunch of spins of this one in the near future (same thing happened with Quark, Strangeness and Charm a few months back--I couldn't stop playing it).

[DrGoon]

Choose Your Masques has a pretty decent grip on my attention lately. I got it in the Esoteric clam shell box set that includes Sonic Attack and Church Of. It definitely avoids the mistakes of the latter and seems to build on the good from the former. There's a weird mix of industrial-like sounds on this one, but also enough space-trippiness to keep me grounded.

It's the best overall album of the three RCA albums, although Sonic Attack has some very strong songs on it also. I think the band were in a good place at this point with Dave writing very strong material and had they managed to extend the RCA contract they probably could have realised the original Earth Ritual plans and put themselves back on an international stage.

Church of Hawkwind is an oddity and is actually the name of the album and the artist. It was recorded during the Sonic Attack sessions and originates in several home demos that Dave Brock brought in. Dave and Harvey Bainbridge used these demos as the starting point for synth based experiments and then brought in Huw Lloyd Langton to augment what they had recorded. I was once told by somebody very close to the band that Dave was planning to release this as his first solo album, but that after bringing in Huw, he was convinced that the band contributions were significant enough to release it as an adjunct Hawkwind album. That seems to be echoed in Ian Abrahams' book.

[MudShark22]

How do peeps feel about Hawklords?

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[moecurlythanu]

How do peeps feel about Hawklords?

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First Hawkwind album I ever owned. "Psi Power" and "25 Years On" got airplay on M105 and WMMS in '78/'79? which made a huge difference to their popularity, and made them. . Loved it and became a fan forever going forward.

[GuitarGeek]

How do peeps feel about Hawklords?

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Do you mean the band that made 25 Years On in 1978, or the band that Nik Turner formed circa 2008? The original Hawklords I think were brilliant. 25 Years On is a great album, with lots of great songs. Not really familiar with the more recent band, though.

[spacefreak]

Church of Hawkwind is an oddity and is actually the name of the album and the artist. It was recorded during the Sonic Attack sessions and originates in several home demos that Dave Brock brought in. Dave and Harvey Bainbridge used these demos as the starting point for synth based experiments and then brought in Huw Lloyd Langton to augment what they had recorded. I was once told by somebody very close to the band that Dave was planning to release this as his first solo album, but that after bringing in Huw, he was convinced that the band contributions were significant enough to release it as an adjunct Hawkwind album. That seems to be echoed in Ian Abrahams' book.

It's an album that could better work had it been issued under Brock's name. As a "band" work, only Star Cannibal and probably Nuclear Drive fit under the Hawkwind stylings of the times.

[spacefreak]

Not really familiar with the more recent band, though.

Not bad and a great live act (Ron Tree was an asset). Their first couple of albums were great.

[NogbadTheBad]

How do peeps feel about Hawklords?

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It's a good album

[MudShark22]

I only recently became aware of the 2000s version. I did mean the OG.

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[Scrotum Scissor]

I sold off all of my 'winds except for the 1970 s/t, In Search of Space and Warrior - but I still absolutely LOVE all three of them.

They were a hard nut but a revelation to (finally) "get into" back in the day of neo-hippy student days, since doing so was regarded as somewhat of a transcendent act of obtuse freakiness in music adherence. Kind of the last barrier of overstepping.

I still consider In Search of Space a masterwork of "deep" psychedelia, in that it's essentially constructed/construed as a (typical) trip-in-progress/process. Side 2 (of the original record) especially offers some of the most delightful hallucinogenic allusions and offcuts imaginable, with "We Took the Wrong Step Years Ago" quite possibly the most ecstatic and euphoric expression of utopian bliss I ever heard translated into (rock) music.

But I've possibly come to cherish the debut even more. The sequencing of mood, acoustics and timbre, stylistic approach and pure fire is simply astounding for a first outing. "Hurry On a Sundown" may appear as just another three-chordd-and-harmonica ditty of an opener, but it sets the tone and flair for the entirety of what's to follow without revealing any of its depth and width. "The Reason Is" was their most sincere stab at sheer musique concrète, while the "Be Yourself/Paranoia" figure presents the classic Hawkwind recipé of repetitive anguish and drone.

However, "Seeing It as You Really Are" remains one of their defining tracks. The constant dynamic of buildup and release, with the orgasmic female yell so obviously culled from (cousin band) Man's "Erotica" (off the latter's own Revelation debut 14 months previously) - this is simply beyond the beyond. And "Mirror of Illusion" brings the salad bacon back home to roste and roost, with a killer atmosphere of closure and awakening to boot.

I need to listen again. Tonight!

[GuitarGeek]

Church Of Hawkwind I never really cared for. I get that Dave Brock wanted to "do something different", but I really think the Hawkwind name shouldn't have been used. Also, there's not enough of Huw Lloyd Langton on it.

BTW, one of the things I love about early Hawkwind is the synth/electronics work of Del Dettmar and DikMik. DikMik used, I believe, a self built audio generator/oscillator, while Del used an EMS Synthi A. The story I heard once was that DikMik actually quit after the first album was recorded (is he even audible on that record?) and in a portents of things to come, Del got promoted from roadie/soundman to band member. Supposedly, Del had to talk the band into getting a synth once he joined, reputedly telling the rest of the band that they needed one so that their sound owuld be "up to date" or whatever.

Of course, Del didn't really play the synth the same way most keyboardists, who basically played it like an extension of the organ. Del, I guess not being a trained musician, sort of it went off in this other direction, which less about "notes" and "flash" (to paraphrase Peter Gabriel's commentary on "most guitarists", when explaining what was special about Steve Hackett) and ignored sort of conventional musical forms in favor of sort of abstract soundscapes.

One of my favorite examples is the long spacey ending to the Space Ritual Vol. 2 version of Time We Left. And of course on the original Space Ritual album there's Electronic No.1. As I recall, on the BBC Radio One In Concert performance from a few months before the Space Ritual tour, Del and DikMik link all the songs together with their electronic auditory mayhem.

[Crawford Glissadevil]

My favorites are- The Xenon Codex, Electric Tepee, It is the Business of the Future to be Dangerous.

[polmico]

Church of Hawkwind is an oddity and is actually the name of the album and the artist. It was recorded during the Sonic Attack sessions and originates in several home demos that Dave Brock brought in. Dave and Harvey Bainbridge used these demos as the starting point for synth based experiments and then brought in Huw Lloyd Langton to augment what they had recorded. I was once told by somebody very close to the band that Dave was planning to release this as his first solo album, but that after bringing in Huw, he was convinced that the band contributions were significant enough to release it as an adjunct Hawkwind album. That seems to be echoed in Ian Abrahams' book.

That explains that. There's some good music going on there under all that narration.

BTW, one of the things I love about early Hawkwind is the synth/electronics work of Del Dettmar and DikMik. DikMik used, I believe, a self built audio generator/oscillator, while Del used an EMS Synthi A. The story I heard once was that DikMik actually quit after the first album was recorded (is he even audible on that record?) and in a portents of things to come, Del got promoted from roadie/soundman to band member. Supposedly, Del had to talk the band into getting a synth once he joined, reputedly telling the rest of the band that they needed one so that their sound owuld be "up to date" or whatever.

Of course, Del didn't really play the synth the same way most keyboardists, who basically played it like an extension of the organ.

A lot of the synth work in Hawkwind reminds of what the various synth players in Pere Ubu have done over the years. Burbling electronic noise adding color and depth.

[GuitarGeek]

A lot of the synth work in Hawkwind reminds of what the various synth players in Pere Ubu have done over the years. Burbling electronic noise adding color and depth.

In the I Dream Of Wires documentary, Allen Ravenstine talks about how he was less interested in "notes" and more in abstract sounds and creating atmospheres. Thus, I reckon at least in his case, it's essentially the same concept.

[polmico]

^That sounds about right. When I saw Pere Ubu a few years ago on the CoEd Jail tour (Cherry Red released a recording of the same set last year), Robert Wheeler fiddled the nobs. He also had a theremin.

My newest exploration of Hawkwind is the The Emergency Broadcast Years set. The Business Trip live album is quite good. Amazed at what the three musicians could do on stage.

I've done a lot of diving through the Hawkwind catalogue in a relatively short amount of time (nice thing about having summers off). I haven't hit a stinker yet (not even Church Of).

[Hour Candle]

Count me in as a big Hawkwind-head! Marvelous band. I confess, I haven't heard much of their later material (after 1992-ish) but I love everything up until that. As much as I love their seventies output, I must say that I'm quite a fanboy of their eighties period as well. Was just listening to Choose Your Masques and there certainly are more than a few fantastic moments on this. I'm quite a sucker for Levitation (great album), Chronicle of the Black Sword (their best eighties album IMHO) and The Xenon Codex (what a gem!). Curious, what are the must-have albums after 1992 and up to the present day? Great to see Captain Brock still going strong!

[Hour Candle]

The last Hawkwind album that I got was Space Bandits. I hear fans speak of the band going Techno and all sorts of stuff later on. What are the albums to get after Space Bandits?

[polmico]

As I’ve noted in this thread, I’m relatively new to Hawkwind. I’ve been enjoying everything I’ve encountered. I think I am complete through Space Bandits, so I’m still exploring the rest of the band’s career.

There are quite a few good live albums. The Business Trip is at the top. 50 Live ably represents the band’s history and their current sound (spoiler: the sound is Hawkwind). Palace Springs brings back Simon House for a great run through of late 80s material.

Distant Horizons is probably the best studio album I’ve encountered from the 90s, but those live albums are better.

[Hour Candle]

Thanks alot! I will absolutely be checking up these albums and I've read great reviews about Distant Horizons. I'm not really new to Hawkwind but for some reason I haven't heard anything after 1992, so I'm most curious. What about the studio albums in the 00's and after? Anything worth getting?

[polmico]

^I have been saving the 00s albums for last. They are readily available at places like Wayside. The earlier albums are starting to go OOP.

But I did add Onward to my last Wayside order, and it’s excellent. Big synths, growly bass, spacey guitars, sci-fi themes—I.e., a Hawkwind album to the core.

The sound is a little claustrophobic (maybe compressed? My hearing is slightly compromised), but not as bad as some modern albums from old school bands.

If Onward represents the 2000s—and it is well-represented on 50 Live—then I feel pretty confident moving forward with the rest of them.

[moecurlythanu]

I have All Aboard The Skylark, and while it's not among their best, it's still worth having.

[Rye-Ergot]

I’m glad to see Distant Horizons getting some positive mentions here. When I talked to Ron Tree about it, he said that pretty much the entire album was unfinished and was closer to being in demo state rather than a finished album. It was rushed out because manager Doug Smith gave it to the label without the band’s approval and knowledge.
Having said that, I thought it was a great if a bit patchy album and just imho “Reptoid Vision” was the last time the band sounded as dangerous, unpredictable and edgy as the Space Ritual days.

I know that this era and Ron Tree’s presence/influence is a divisive topic among many Hawkwind fans, but he brought back a sense of aggression and danger to the band that I missed.

[moecurlythanu]

^ I love the Ron Tree era. Love In Space is a must have.

[spacefreak]

The last Hawkwind album that I got was Space Bandits. I hear fans speak of the band going Techno and all sorts of stuff later on. What are the albums to get after Space Bandits?

Electric Tepee (one of the best Hawkwind albums ever)
It Is The Business Of The Future To Be Dangerous
The Business Trip
Distant Horizons
Love In Space
Blood Of The Earth