HW/OFF: while I'm at it...

[ANDREW GARIBALDI]

nice idea - Jon - your move!!!!!
Andy G.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Captain Bl at ck" <starfield at SUPANET.COM>
To: <BOC-L at LISTSERV.SPC.EDU>
Sent: Sunday, January 28, 2001 9:34 PM
Subject: Re: HW/OFF: while I'm at it...


> Dunno, but I'd be interested to read it. Negative criticism is good for
ego
> balancing and reminding us we're not immortal.  Perhaps I should send him
a
> copy.
>
> Captain Bl at ck
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: ANDREW GARIBALDI <andygee at DIAL.PIPEX.COM>
> To: <BOC-L at LISTSERV.SPC.EDU>
> Sent: Sunday, January 28, 2001 2:55 PM
> Subject: Re: HW/OFF: while I'm at it...
>
>
> > Dunno what prompted Jon to do this - maybe I missed something - but it
> does
> > throw up a few points that I'd like to answer - can't wait to see what
he
> > says about the Starfield album - wonder if he'll feel the same about an
> > album done by a guy who actually plays in Hawkwind!!!
> > For those interested, read on, otherwise the rest of you move on to your
> > next e.mail..
> > Andy Garibaldi (the guy who runs Dead Earnest on which label the Krel
> album
> > is released)
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Jon Jarrett" <jjarrett at CHIARK.GREENEND.ORG.UK>
> > To: <BOC-L at LISTSERV.SPC.EDU>
> > Sent: Monday, January 22, 2001 12:07 AM
> > Subject: HW/OFF: while I'm at it...
> >
> >
> >          Dear All,
> >                     and here is a review of Krel's _Ad Astra_. I
> >  particularly enjoyed the spot-the-HW-riff bit and recommend that
everyone
> > gets a copy to play this game themselves :-)
> > REPLY>>>>Tad cynical but at least you're recommending it so thanks for
> that.
> > ------------------------
> >          "Krel are one of the few remaining British space-rock groups.
Or
> > they were. They started in the early eighties I believe, shedding
various
> > people who went on to form Spacehead, PXR1 and Cellular Structure and
some
> > time two or three years ago finally went pling leaving one Martin M with
> the
> > name. He is now Krel. And though they were apparently very highly
thought
> of
> > on the scene in the early nineties, only now (well, 1999) has
> >  anything more album-like than limited edition cassettes emerged. And
> since
> > it's all Martin's work I wonder how much it's like proper Krel. But
> anyway.
> > REPLY>>>>>>>>>>>>No such thing as 'proper Krel' - the early albums will
> all
> > be released onto CD, so you can hear the old Krel for yourself and no
> doubt
> > compare it to the new Krel, and soon we may have the debut CD from
> > CyberKrel - it's all an ongoing process.
> > ----------------------
> >          "This album is a very good example of a phenomenon that really
> > irritates me in the British underground. By which I mean that its a very
> >  good album within that phenomenon. That phenomenon is the inability of
> > British space-rock to do anything more than rip off, imitate and
generally
> > fail to get over Hawkwind.
> > REPLY>>>>>>>>>There is no attempt to 'rip-off' Hawkwind on this album,
> > musically, but when you're a musician into Hawkwind and space-rock who
is
> > very heavily influenced by them, what do you expect - Yes samples!!! The
> > accusation of imitation may irritate you but I have always said that if
> > something is worthwhile musically, even if it sounds like someone else,
it
> > is still worthwhile musically and you simply can't argue with that. This
> > album is a worthwhile and highly enjoyable musical statement and you
can't
> > say fairer than that.
> > --------------------------
> > Now, Hawkwind are a lgend, and though they do turn out some crap they
are
> > capable of complete transcendence and no-one else does it the same way.
> But
> > Krel and Spacehead particularly seem to be unable to get further than
> > recycling those riffs and putting new lyrics on
> >  the old themes (Hawkwind haven't dedicatedly sung about space since the
> > early seventies)
> > REPLY>>>>>>>>Hang on a minute - Hawkwind can go from crap to
transcendence
> > and that's OK, but every other band has to be transcedent AND original
all
> > the time - not fair, that one - and Hawkwind still sing about space live
> in
> > concert, even if not on CD, although I'll bet that's arguable.
> > ----------------------------
> > . Now, this is a good album. The keyboards are very nice, the textures
> good,
> > the samples well-chosen and placed, and the playing of the other
> instruments
> > cant be complained about. Even the sleeve is nice although the fact that
> all
> > the information is inside the booklet annoys me
> >  - it would be nice to check a track number without extracting it.
> > REPLY>>>>>>>>>>yes - blame me for that. It was the first CD we released
> and
> > we made mistakes - I should have put more on the back but we loved that
> > photo treatment - incidentally, without using any special lenses, the
> cover
> > is South of France and the inside and booklet back are looking over the
> > delights of Newcastle-Under-Lyme, Staffordshire from a higher point in
> > Etruria, a mile or two away.
> > ---------------------------
> >  I am often hyper-critical of the stuff that gets claimed as "better
than
> > Hawkwind" or "reminiscent of Hawkwind at their best so I'll try and make
> > clear again before I launch into the diatribe that there are lots of
good
> > points about this album and I do like it
> > REPLY>>>>>>>>>Thanks for the comments - not sure if I ever claimed it
was
> > 'better than' (check that old promotion!!!) but compared to something
like
> > 'Distant Horizons', this is sensational stuff - all a matter of opinion
I
> > suppose, but I go back to my previous statement - this is a class album
> > regardless of who or what it sounds like.
> > -------------------------
> > . The only musical argument I have with it per se is that Martin isnt a
> > great singer, and that he mixes his vocals too loud. This is a
particular
> > problem on the second part of the first track, `Towers', which has a
> > deliberately arythmic vocal. So the riff just gets established (and its
> not
> > a brilliant riff, but it does) and you're just hooking onto it when the
> > words arrive and throw you off it. Once you know when they're coming in
> its
> > OK but on first listen that is not good.
> > REPLY>>>>>>>>Your taste, but what you are saying, in that it is an
> original
> > treatment of the style, while it may irritate you, goes against the
> > accusation of lack of originality. He's loud so you can hear the words -
> not
> > exxactly Shakespeare, but for us it all fits well together
> > --------------
> >          "The lyrics are not too bad. Spacehead have the wrst lyrics in
> the
> > world, the sort of junk spacerock set to Motorhead-like patterns that
you
> > can generate for hours on end, rhyming `space' with `race' and so on.
> > REPLY>>>>errr......I don't release Spacehead for their mastery of the
> > English language - fair point but they freely admit a heavy Hawk
influence
> > to the degree you say, but we like it and that is our only criteria for
> > releasing CD's.
> > --------------------
> >  This stuff is much better, the same pattern but unexpected words and
> things
> > that sound thoughtful. And though the early rock tracks have a bit too
> much
> > of the singalong bounce about them,
> > REPLY>>>>>ahh - commerciality - sometimes you can't do right for doing
> > wrong!!!!
> > ---------------
> > REPLY: I won't bore you with replies to the specific tracks, just to say
> > that it is nit-picking in the minutest detail to say that a part of a
riff
> > sounds like something out of a Hawkwind song and then sort of damn it
with
> > faint praise, especially on an album where this has simply not happened
on
> a
> > conscious basis, if at all.
> > ---------------------------
> > "So, in conclusion, it's a good approach at doing Hawkwind classics in
> > nineties dressing, and if Hawkwind still put spacerock of this quality
out
> > they would still be legendary. The fact that Krel too are drawing on
> > Hawkwind's past glories should not be allowed to detract from the fact
> that
> > they do it well. But so do Hawkwind. How many parrot acts do we need?
And
> > when will someone do something new?"
> > REPLY>>>>>>>>>>>>>Need? It's not a question of 'need' - if a space-rock
> > group does a great album, it's greeted with acclaim and people buy it -
if
> > Hawkwind do a poor album, people still buy it - if Hawkwind did an album
> you
> > hated, you'd still buy it 'for the collection' - and something new?
After
> 40
> > years of the music industry in the 'modern era', there's very little
'new'
> > (in the sense that you've never heard anything like it before ) under
the
> > sun - you could lay the ghost of many a Krautrock band of the seventies
> > against many of the USA space-rock bands in a similar manner!!) but
there
> is
> > tons and tons of great music out there - always has been, always will
be,
> > and hopefully we'll weigh in with a few along the way at Dead Earnest.
> > Andy Garibaldi (speaking for/as Krel/Dead Earnest)