Hawkwind

ah no! been going through a bit of a hawkwind phase of late too

Me too, totally hooked on 'We Took The Wrong Steps Years Ago', especially.

no!!! i hadn't heard. i had had a strange sense recently we'd lose an OG hawklord but i guess not so strange as they are getting on. really sad.

there are so many great NT tracks. this live D-Rider is just epic. his voice! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSmya2TR5wc

he was the heart of early hawkwind. the gentle out-there heart. last time i saw him with them was early 80s and he was on stage on rollerskates, with the craziest hair looking as if he was in the wrong band. the OG Acid Punk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkqCF3RUuJY

a sad lack of hawklove.

RIP Nik Turner - need to mention his band after Hawkwind - Inner City Unit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APTqKK2YV3s

Still reeling from the sad loss of my friend Nik Turner. I’ve known Nik for nearly 50 years. He was one of a kind. An inspiring and warm hearted human being, always game for musical adventures. With his departure this world is a lesser place, as his Spirit rides free. ♥️

— Steve Hillage (@stevehillage) November 12, 2022

i forgot how good this is (reminded by the hillage tweet).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63S4x_xBwDI

this one too, with Miquette Giraudy on vocals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U05HunYjwM

hadn't heard either of those before, very cool

listening to 25 Years On by Hawklords right now, where have you been all my life you beautiful new wave/solo eno/space rock/berlin bowie concoction??

See also Hawkwind's "Quark, Strangeness and Charm"

so a local bar here does a "prog night" every week and I befriended enough people there to feel obligated to go to the first ever performance of a Hawkwind tribute act (I mean nearly the entire band goes to this). they played at 11 PM and did like 5 songs off Space Ritual to a very young and very very drunk crowd and it fucking KILLED. and they say Hawkwind just isn't cool anymore (disclaimer: only like three of us knew who Hawkwind were)

Cool

Hawkwind is always cool, it is "they" who are wrong

Imagine doing the Del/Dik Mik roles in a Hawkwind tribute act, what fun!

... and Stacia?

no but the drummer (who was shroomin) was in a corset

I used to play sometimes in the audio generator role with a band heavily influenced by Hawkwind, it was quite fun! Easiest gig ever I have to say, I was using a Moog Rogue.

lol yeah the dude doing that was a pretty accomplished musician but I think didn't practice with the band at all. the sax dude wasn't very good and was relieved to find out nobody could really hear him. also the smoke machine went into overdrive and apparently after the first song they couldn't see anyone in the audience. I told them they probably didn't need it because so many people were vaping in front anyway. the drummer was insane though. you ever see that "drummer at the wrong gig" video? he played like that the whole time

Nik Turner was never exactly Sonny Rollins either tbf

Imagine doing the Del/Dik Mik roles in a Hawkwind tribute act, what fun!

i'd sign up for that, though i think Del did have some actual musical talent so maybe I'd be best suited to the Dik Mik crank the joystick on the VCS3 role.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb9xyMY2dFo

frogbs this sounds amazing, I am so jealous. let's bring Hawkwind back in the 2020s!

No details yet, but Cherry Red just announced that on September 29 they'll be releasing a 10 CD/1 Blu-Ray box set of Space Ritual. I think my brain just melted...

i can't see it on the website but eager to hear what is on it. i see there is also a steven wilson remix of warrior on the edge of time forthcoming too. i don't feel a need to hear a remixed version but interesting it is coming in the OG shield sleeve.

Speculation on Twitter from Joe Banks (author of Days of the Underground)

If we have a remix/remaster of the original, plus the full Brixton and Liverpool shows, that's 6CDs. Then Sunderland and/or Margate. 2 Blu-Rays for 5.1 mix. But what I REALLY hope is included is the Wembley Pool footage I unearthed during my book research, restored and synched! pic.twitter.com/FnOb82ZqU3

— Joe Banks (@JoeBanksWriter) June 14, 2023

Yeah, I saw that. And apparently the band's current bassist has confirmed the Sunderland show will be in there.

This is great, I listen to Space Ritual and the surrounding live recordings more than any other Hawkwind records, so to have a bunch of these gigs in full would be excellent.

More info - https://www.loudersound.com/news/hawkwind-detail-mammoth-eleven-disc-space-ritual-box-set

frogbs, has the Hawkwind tribute band had any more performances?

Thought this might be bumped for the pretty solid new album. Thighpaulsandra clearly a good addition to the lineup. Not a patch on prime era, obvs, but some solid space rock and well exceeded my expectations.

Not yet!!! But they’re playing again next week I think. So I’ll be there :)

Inspired by this thread, I've been listening to Hawkwind all afternoon and now am in an altered state of consciousness. I await the arrival of the Universal Hero.

First day of forever has been a disappointment here at my house but maybe tomorrow

From the SCIENCE70 archive: Barney Bubbles, personal stationary of Stacia, dancer for the band Hawkwind, 1973. #graphicdesign #1970s pic.twitter.com/s3wUzZdGY5

— SCIENCE70 (@SCIENCE70blog) June 16, 2023

so awesome.

i now want to see if he made other art with aubrey beardsley elements but my barney bubbles book is in a box

(apologies for the alliteration but what choice had i)

gorman describes it as "unique" on his website (but that might mean the concept rather than the design lineage)

The Future Never Waits is pretty solid! Obviously not a patch on any earlier career peaks, but this is better than I expected and probably my favorite since Onward.

FTR, I have been unexpectedly flush since starting a new job, so I pre-ordered the giant Space Ritual box.

I've been mighty tempted, but not sure I can justify it at the moment...

I ordered it straight from the label and thus overpaid (though they did offer tracked shipping), but there are some discounts available here and there.

I ordered it straight from the label and thus overpaid

lol

On such a big Hawkwind kick lately and really eyeing that Space Ritual box but having trouble justifying the cost. I hadn't realized until today that the Space Ritual album itself is included twice, with different mixes, so kind of only an 8 disc box.

Listening to it now — the full concerts are great (the actual album was pulled from the Brixton and Liverpool shows, but the Sunderland show is entirely previously unreleased) and I'm definitely interested to hear the new mix of the album, on which a couple of songs have been extended and a version of "You Shouldn't Do That" has been added.

The live shows are really clear and loud, which is a problem the original album always had — no matter how loud you turned it up the mix always felt underpowered somehow. Also, the whole thing reminds me that Lemmy really belongs on any list of rock's greatest bassists. He was the engine in the Hawkwind rocket, but so much more than that, almost a lead player half the time and really shaping the music in a way I can only compare to John Entwistle.

Ended up relenting and picking up the Space Ritual box. Only got delivered late last night so I haven't had a chance to dive in yet, but it looks gorgeous.

The new mix of the album is amazing.

i think the biggest revelation for me is that I had always heard that Dave Brock had done a massive amount of overdubbing on the live tapes but that patently isn't the case from listening to the Sunderland gig. Also notable how well rehearsed they were as the Sunderland gig doesn't massively deviate from the Space Ritual set we know and love (there's a bit less of a freak out jam on Orgone Accumulator). looking forward to delving in deeper. The booklet rules too.

in related activity i'm off to see Hawklords tonight.

"Also, the whole thing reminds me that Lemmy really belongs on any list of rock's greatest bassists. He was the engine in the Hawkwind rocket, but so much more than that, almost a lead player half the time and really shaping the music in a way I can only compare to John Entwistle."

I'm reading Joel McIver's Motorhead book and there is a line by Lemmy in there talking about Hawkwind that really at the core it was a trio, as really him, Dave Brock and Simon King locked in then rest of the group just did whatever they wanted on top.

Lemmy can obviously play "lead bass" when it suits him but he usually wanders a lot less than Entwistle. He doesn't mind hammering the same riff over and over.

Should be past tense, he's neither wandering nor hammering these days.