Space Rock.....
Sep. 24th, 2002 11:32 pmSeveral years ago, a friend gave me a demo CD called "Nik Turner & Travellers of Space". I listened to it a few times. I thought the music was OK -- lot of heavy-metal guitars, drums, and synths -- but I really liked the two all-synth tracks by Spiral Realms, "A Trip to G9" and "Voyage to Pluto".
This past week, I re-discovered the CD in my CD case and created MP3s of the two Spiral Realms tracks mentioned above. I also did a search of "Spiral Realms" on the Web and found that Simon House -- the one man of the one-man-band Spiral Realms -- was in a group called Hawkwind in the '70s. I also found that several of the artists on the CD I had were also members of Hawkwind, including Nik Turner. Now, I had only heard of Hawkwind on the net, and that SF author Michael Moorcock occasionally performed with them. But I had never heard their music. If the stuff on the CD is any indication of Hawkwind's music, then I ought to give them a try. That is, if I can find a copy.
One of the puzzling things is that I rarely hear about Hawkwind in the filk circles I hang out in, since both are a combination of elements of music and science fiction. Most of the filkers I know are guitarists, and have a strong orientation toward folk music. I play keyboards and woodwinds -- some say badly -- so I'm a bit of an anomaly in filk circles. I also have a wide range of musical influences, from big bands to jazz to R&B to electronica to rock. That makes me even more of an oddball in filk circles. But maybe someday, after I get that Kurzweil I've been drooling over for years, I might write a movie soundtrack. That would be cool.
And I think I'm gonna have to get a copy of "A Trip to G9" now, and add it to my CD collection.
This past week, I re-discovered the CD in my CD case and created MP3s of the two Spiral Realms tracks mentioned above. I also did a search of "Spiral Realms" on the Web and found that Simon House -- the one man of the one-man-band Spiral Realms -- was in a group called Hawkwind in the '70s. I also found that several of the artists on the CD I had were also members of Hawkwind, including Nik Turner. Now, I had only heard of Hawkwind on the net, and that SF author Michael Moorcock occasionally performed with them. But I had never heard their music. If the stuff on the CD is any indication of Hawkwind's music, then I ought to give them a try. That is, if I can find a copy.
One of the puzzling things is that I rarely hear about Hawkwind in the filk circles I hang out in, since both are a combination of elements of music and science fiction. Most of the filkers I know are guitarists, and have a strong orientation toward folk music. I play keyboards and woodwinds -- some say badly -- so I'm a bit of an anomaly in filk circles. I also have a wide range of musical influences, from big bands to jazz to R&B to electronica to rock. That makes me even more of an oddball in filk circles. But maybe someday, after I get that Kurzweil I've been drooling over for years, I might write a movie soundtrack. That would be cool.
And I think I'm gonna have to get a copy of "A Trip to G9" now, and add it to my CD collection.