I was really thrilled recently to be asked to be part of Shindig! magazine’s Spacerock special, Interstellar Overdrive, which is out mid-January and available for pre-order now from the magazine’s website (or from Amazon if you prefer – but do please buy direct where possible) and should be on sale in all good newsagents as they say! I’ve contributed an overview to what spacerock means and a feature on the eponymous first Hawkwind album containing interviews with Dave Brock, Marion Lloyd-Langton and producer Dick Taylor discussing the album , its recording and the characters who came together to make this wonderful record. Plenty of other stuff going on as well of course, but I was absolutely chuffed to be able to take a fresh look at this classic album in such good company!
Here’s the detail from the magazine itself about this special edition:
Shindig! explores spacerock’s peculiar mix of heavy riffs and electronics through the age of the space race, the resulting sci-fi explosion and the mind-expanding influences of the acid-fried 1960s and beyond. We trace spacerock back to its roots with the soundtracks of the '50s, including Louis and Bebe Barron's FORBIDDEN PLANET, through to the incredible work of JOE MEEK on Telstar. In addition, we will cover the social and cultural context of the moon landings, sci-fi literature and the spaced-out cinema that shaped the end of the '60s. In this environment came early spacerock efforts from THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE, PINK FLOYD and THE BYRDS. One band arrived at the close of the decade to define the genre HAWKWIND. Just as influential in their own idiosyncratic way were GONG with their Radio Gnome trilogy. Several artists pursued the electronic side of spacerock, such as SILVER APPLES and FIFTY FOOT HOSE, whilst the BBC RADIOPHONIC WORKSHOP added a distinct Britishness to proceedings. The Germans also produced their own unique contributions to the idiom with AMON DUUL II, NEU and ASH RA TEMPEL. At the close of the '70s several artists such as CHROME utilised the punk spirit to reinvigorate spacerock. The magazine will take the genre through the '80s and '90s with HERE AND NOW and OZRIC TENTACLES and the cross-pollination of the indie scene with SPACEMEN 3 and LOOP. Taking things up to the present day and proving the genre is still in rude health are the likes of ASTRA, THE HEADS and WHITE HILLS. There will also be numerous diversions through key spacerock obscurities as well as articles from the likes of Johnny Truck, Patrick Lundborg, Ian Abrahams and Rich Deakin.
I have to say, I’m not used to seeing my name as a selling-point so I’m pretty pleased about that as well!
That’s one of the reasons the blog has been a bit quiet lately but plenty of good sounds building up. If you’ve emailed and I’ve not got back to you yet, I will, and if you’re waiting for a review to appear, apologies for the delays and I’ll be posting stuff over the next few days.
Cheers!
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