Bedouin & the "Scene" (was: HW: Recent v Old / Poll)

[Jonathan Jarrett]

On Tue, 23 Nov 1999, Carl Edlund Anderson wrote:

> At Strange Daze this past year, I noted the bill was heavy on "space" and
> less heavy on "rock"--Born to Go and Farflung being notable exceptions. I
> suppose people who like the heavier stuff gravitate towards "stoner" and
> people who like the lighter gravitate towards "space/ambient"?  Our society
> is so label conscious, there seems no escape.

        Which is odd, really, given that Farflung started as a trance act.
Or so their ex-bassist would have me believe, but he is very odd. They
float as well as bludgeon, it seems to me.

> Hawkwind at their best straddle the light and the heavy, and I wish there
> was more crossover in the scene(s). I like the heavy blanga stuff, I like
> the spacey trippy stuff, I like them very well both at the same time :)

        The only crossovers I can think of at the moment are Electric
Wizard, who are definitely in space even if it's some part of space one
really doesn't want to live, and a NZ band called Datura who mostly sound
like Fu Manchu, but, I am told, have a guitarist who suffers from wanting
to be Manuel Gottsching and thus manage to take off more than a bit. I
have not heard their stuff but it is on the list :-)

> But Bedouin seemed to me like a Motorhead-influenced band that due to their
> heaviness would fit well in the "stoner" scene (Sabbathoid or not) but were
> marketing themselves on the strength of Alan's associations with latter-day
> Hawkwind. I appreciate the desire of the _artiste_ ;) to avoid
> pigeonholing, but a little careful pigeonholing which raises awareness of
> your music among audiences who will probably like it might be a good idea.

        I think Man's Ruin could do Alan a lot of favours; they are very
well-connected over here and he can play several of their bands off the
stage. Yours,
              Jon