OFF:Faves of 1997

[cannibal at CUTEY.COM]

At 16:41 16.12.97 +0200, you wrote:
>Scott Heller's FAVORITE CD'S OF 1997

>Alien Planetscapes- Life on Earth (US)  What can I say? Amazing free form
>space rock jazz... Great CD!  Too long of a wait!
>
>Hawkwind- The 1999 Party (UK)  Amazing live CD. Keep them coming Dave!
>
>Architectural Metaphor- Creatures of the Velvet Void (US) This bands 2nd Cd
>with great new songs and a long killer jam based on Golden Void to end the
>disc.  Mix could have been a lot better but great playing and songs.

I totally agree on the above 3 ! Haven't heard enough of the new Tangle Edge
or the Ade Shaw at all though. I would add:

Hawkwind - Distant Horizons : Kerrr-anng!! Wotta bag of Halloween candies
(just don't ask Ron to Trip Or Treat because he'll do both). The Xenon Codex
of the 90's, a varied mix of hard crunchy munchies and soft taffy treats!

Jessamine - Another Fictionalized History (US): Tangerine Dream, Suicide and
Spectrum/Spacemen 3 play the same bill and JAM at an outer space hipster
hangout. Collected rarities from across the known fashionable cosmos....

Voivod - Phobos (CAN): Raygun paranoid space thrash industrial psychedelic
avant-garde metallists return back in form..! The "companion" to 1985's
awesome
Killing Technology!! This would get Al Jourgenson to pee his little leather
panties and run crying to his mommy!!

Julian Cope - Interpreter (UK): arguably its true the IDEA of mr. Jesus
Cope is
better than his music, this is oddly traditional in his usually untraditianal
way (??) - "Spacerock with Me" and "The Loveboat" are absolutely hilarious/
spot on, and generally his lyrics are smart as usual. If you can take his drug
burnout philosophy/rants/Messiah-complex combined with weirdly normal
bubblegum acid-pop/spacey rock with skewed heapings of analog sauerkraut
then get it! Like Bevis Frond, every album is an interesting mixed bag
with staying power....

Gong/v.a. - You're Remixed (UK) - what a great set that proves Gong were very
far ahead of their time (and *ack* boy were they, er, heads). Some killer
remodellings of the awesome cosmic You album by System 7, Orb, Shamen
and many others - I'd say  Mad Stof take(s) the No. 1 prize for their
incredible remix of Master Builder. Here we go into space, kids - wheeee!!

HawXtar - HawXtar (Sweden) - not necessarily as GOOD as it is INTERESTING,
but the band sounds better with their own material than anything else I
have heard of theirs. And Nik is his usual demented self doing old Hawkwind
numbers with the DarXtar boys doing their best Space Ritual. (I didn't say
it was *essential*! :-)

Honorable reissue mention: the early SunDial - Return Journey collection
and the 2CD Stranglers set!

Honorable mention, EP's:

Hawkwind - Love In Space (just for the live Paradox)

Amorphis - My Kantele (all 'round great including the awesome Levitation
cover!)

OP8, featuring Lisa Germano - Sand: won this in a radio contest, this is
GREAT smoky, late night, laid back atmospheric listening... (most of the other
CD's I won were crap!!)


Christian

ObCD: Guru Guru - UFO