NIK: '2001, A Space Rock Odyssey Live' and 'Transglobal F&R'

[Stephan Forstner]

Just got both these Nik discs and have been listening to them over the
weekend - here's a rundown of both releases and what I think of them -
apologies for any overlap/duplication of info from previous posts.

First off, they both have very good, profesional packaging. In fact the
packaging makes them look very similar - they both prominently feature Nik
in his 'horny alien' suit and 'spiked radish' headmask for example. The
contents of the discs on the other hand are a completely different story.

First, the disappointment. The Ozit-Morpheus-Nikt 2001 ASROL release has the
followng printed tracklist -

D1. 1. Sonic Attack
    2. You Shouldn't Do That
    3. Odyssey Improvisation (actually this is 'Seeing It As
         You Really Are', more or less)
    4. Dragon Rider
    5. Brainstorm (mislabeled, this is 'Waiting For Tomorrow')
    6. Waiting For Tomorrow (just repeats the previous track)
    7. Master of the Universe
D2. 8. Silver Machine
    9. Spirit of the Age
   10. Sonic Attack
   11. Odyssey Improvisation (actually this is 'Be Yourself')
   12. Brainstorm (mislabeled, this is 'Psychedelic Warlords')
   13. Ten Seconds of Forever (goes into what sounds like it's
         going to be 'Spirit of the Age' but instead becomes
         'Seeing It As You Really Are')

Tracks 1-9 are from Ystalyfera Wales, 10-13 from the earlier Birkenhead
Stairways show. Very loose, long, jamming, mostly rather unstructured takes
on all these songs. The Ystalyfera tracks are clearly an audience recording,
apparently the same one circulating among list-members. The audience is
often as loud as the band. Is that the worst of it? No. No attempt has been
made to do anything with the recording. When the CD track ends it just stops
dead, there is a 2 second silence, then the next track starts abruptly. When
the Birkenhead tracks come on its a relief, at least here we have what
sounds like a soundboard recording. But again there is no attempt at a
smooth transition between tracks - just a sudden discontinuity - except on
the last 2 tracks - 12 fades out, then 13 fades in, but to me it sounds like
they could have just run them together because this is the one place where
the sound appears to be continuous. Go figure. The sound on the Ystalyfera
tracks is so poor that the HW listeners who balk at 'Yuri' or 'Text' should
steer well clear of this regardless of actual musical content. Any good
points? The aforementioned packaging - learning that Dik Mik's real name is
apparently Lloyd George (!?) - decent sound on the Birkenhead tracks. Those
who listen to audience recordings - say, members of Neo-Quark - will find a
few more good things here - Terry Ollis' drumming throughout / the
occasional HLL moment / the occasional segment where everything clicks, the
audience fades into the background, and it really works for a short while -
but in the end I don't think there's nearly enough here to justify buying
this. I liked the version of WfT, I kind of liked what they did with SotA
and PW, and it was good to hear SIAYRA and BY, but in the end I just cannot
recommend this. Sorry guys.

Fortunately 'Transglobal Friends & Relations' more than makes up for the
disappointment of the 2001 disc. Liner notes say its 'Compiled by Hawkfans
for Hawkfans' and they've done it right. It's a mix of live 94 material
(which would fit right in on the 'Space Ritual 94' discs - same lineup),
live 95-96 material (which would fit right in on the 'Past or Future?' disc
- same lineup), and some odds and ends.

Here's the trax for Disc 1:

1-4. Delay / Sun Jester / Yyrckoon / Sea King - studio 95
Previously described by EliF. Just a few things to add - Sun Jester adds
some lines ("He was Jesus/He was Judas (Jonas?)" among them) to those on the
BOC version, Yyrckoon is my pick from among these 4 - the lyrics suffer
slightly from Moonglum syndrome but the music is great with some ripping
bass -, and Sea King would have a Mike Moorcock credit as the 1st 3 verses
were penned by MM as the spell Elric recites to summon the Sea King in the
first Elric book.

5,6. Ejection / Thoth - live 94 (Netherlands)
Adds Babyface Welsh on trumpet to the SR 94 lineup - the sax/trumpet combo
works quite well on Ejection.

7. Dream Worker - live 95 (Austin TX)

8. Day of St. Anthony's Fire - Farflung live 2000 (Spaceland L.A.)
Great song, and a great version here.

9,10. Peter Gunn / God Rock - live 94 (Dallas TX / Minneapolis MN)

11,12. Orgone Accumulator / You Shouldn't Do That - live 94 (San Jose CA)
Credits say lead guitar is by 'Shane' instead of Helios Creed - did someone
cover this in an earlier post?

13. Cleveland Capers - 6-7 minutes of a 94 radio interview w/ Nik

Disc 2.

1. Mother Orbis - Farflung at Strange Daze 97

2. D-Rider - live 94 (San Jose CA)

3. Watching the Grass Grow - live 95 (Austin TX)

4,5. Spiral Galaxy / Vision of Infinity - live 95 (Chicago IL)
VoI is the Farflung song.

6. Opa-Loka - live 96 (Tokyo)

7. The Right Stuff - live 94 (San Jose CA)

8. Master of the Universe - live 96 (Tokyo)

9. Raven Jam - Farflung at Strange Daze 97
A short jam excerpted from 'Raven that Ate the Moon'

10. Silver Machine - live 94 (San Jose CA)
Joined on stage by members of Sleep.

11. In the Mood - live 95 (Chicago IL)
Few minutes of Nik solo.

A great collection, consistently very good/excellent with what I consider
some truly standout moments, especially the Farflung material. I would still
say that you should first get 'Past or Future?' and 'Space Ritual 94', but
when you've got them, and if you like them at all, then I think this release
is most definitely deserving of a place on the shelf right next to them.

Thanks for your time and always get a second opinion,

Stephan