HW: NIK: Nik's Sphynx album

[Jonathan Jarrett]

On Sat, 20 Nov 1999, Chuck Rosenberg wrote:

> ---Alright, Doug, when we meet in person next week, we can really have it
> out. As you said, we can disagree on everything but that we're HW fans (or in
> this case Nik fans, though of course we know there are plenty on this list
> inherently opposed to all the Nik albums out of principle, right?). Anyway, I
> love the Cleo Sphynx...until the flute part, which puts me to sleep.
> Hmmm...but talk about vibe...I'm sure if I got to hear it while sitting in
> the Pyramid myself, it'd be a different story.) Anyway, I don't see how
> Sphynx sounds in/un?cohesive. Seems to have a nice ebb and flow to me between
> nice mellow bits and rockin' tunes. It sounds like a band to me (though I
> know it isn't) and I even like Nik's spoken vox quite a bit (hey imagine how
> much worse the album might have been if he'd sung!! He's a better speaker
> than singer, maybe most can agree on that). Anyway, honorable mention to "God
> Rock", my fave from the album, nice slice of ambience...  PS: don't have
> Xitintoday yet, but I thought it was released in '78, not '76?? Chuck

        I got _Xitintoday_ before _Sphynx_, but at the same time as a
comp. with two of the latter's tracks, `Thoth' and `The Weighing of
Heart... '. It also had a remix of `Horus' which I think is great. The
first album is wondrous and unique, as well as being bloody odd; the
remake struck me as a poor-quality cash-in and the vocals were awful. It's
put me off anything Wayne James may have had a hand in. The tracks on the
comp. were the best ones, and the changing of the running order knackers
the original concept. I personally can't understand how anyone would
prefer the 1993 version, but then I'm not as much the trance-follower as
the kraut-rocker on this one and _Sphynx_ is the former, _Xitintoday_ the
latter. Yours,
               Jon

ObCD: v/a - _Subculture Vol. 2_ (Wicked Wonderland - `Material Stupidity')