OFF: Dark Star

[Keith Henderson]

Subject: Re: last night's evening session on radio1

>>On tor 14 jan 1999 12.06 +0000 bart <bart at AEOLIANS.BT.CO.UK> wrote:
>>> I'm pretty sure he said Dark Star, as opposed to DarXtar, and I'd be
>>>surprised/amazed if the latter was played on radio1. Any info on the tune
>>>I heard...appreciated.
>
>This Darkstar is actually made up of ex-members of Levitation inc.
>Christian Hayes (who also spent time in Cardiacs). From what I`ve heard,
>they`re pretty good.

Well, being a fan of Levitation myself, I looked into this mess.  To be
honest, I'm more confused than ever...there are obviously several different
Dark Star's.  (Bengtsson admitted to me that the spelling of darXtar was
largely to avoid some of this terrible confusion.)

I have been able to find evidence of several full-length and single discs
attributed to various Dark Stars.

"Marching into Oblivion"

This is a band made up of a couple of Germans and a couple of Californians I
believe, and is spacerock in nature, according to their webpage
(http://members.aol.com/X1Darkstar/).  The leader was previously in a band
called Psychotic Waltz.  Christian Hayes is *not* a member.  'MiO' was their
first release (cool cover) and a second is due in March.  This may be the
band heard on BBC Radio 1 (?)

"Gracedelica" (CD single)

This second Dark Star contains members of Levitation (presumably Christian
Hayes, who apparently was called 'Bic' while in the Cardiacs).  But I can't
tell if there are any other releases by this particular Dark Star.  This
certainly could also be the band heard on BBC Radio 1.

"Untitled" or "Dark Star" ?

A techno (?) duo of a guy named Pure (?) from Loop and Christoph Fringeli
from Praxis.

"Travelogue"

This CD is the most confusing yet.  It seems to be attributed to the *band*
Dark Star, but then was also released on a label (in Germany) that has a
sub-label called Dark Star.  Anyway, the style of this one is
gothic/electronic and has members of Legendary Pink Dots' guesting.  But I
don't really know if the band's name was truly Dark Star or not.  Or whether
it's any of the above.

Finally, there are some more titles that I can't tell who they're by.

"Twenty-Twenty Sound" (full-length)
"Universal Conquest" (single)

Hope that clears things up a bit.  :)

Keith H. (FAA)

P.S.  Terry Bickers, the frontman for Levitation, has his own new band
called Cradle.  'Baba Yaga' was the first full-length release.  Haven't
heard it yet though.

P.P.S.  When is darXtar's Tombola to be released??