HW: OFF: random thoughts

[K Henderson]

Andy G. thus spake...

>while a lot of people are getting into four new albums
>(Hawkwind/Brock/Davey/ Bedouin) virtually all out at the same time - phew!!!
>no wonder it's quiet; everyone's out or listening!!!???!!!

Well, over here in the states folx are travelling a great deal due to the
fact that tomorrow is a holiday.  And I assume folx in the UK are still
travelling around from all the gigs and all.

Let's see...what can I bring up?

Oh, I see there's some sort of strange fantasy fiction novel out called "The
Legend of Hawkwind" by Adrian Drake, and no...unlike the Butterworth books,
this one doesn't appear to have any relation to Hawkwind the band.

Rudy from the Falcata-Galia label in California (related to the Transparency
label that released the 2CD Nik - TG F&R deal) tells me that the new
Farflung CD (When Science Fails) is due to be released in about two weeks.
So look for that one.  Weird is that a lineup I saw didn't include mention
of Len Del Rio, but had a few other guys who I'd never heard of, in addition
to Tommy and Brandon.

In the local used CD store I saw second-hand copies of Brainticket's two
discs on Cleo/PP...Voyage and Adventure.  Both for $5.  If anyone's been
looking for either/both of these, I can pick 'em up for you and mail 'em to
you.  $6 domestic, ppd.  Note that I've heard that some of these came out
misprinted (switched one for the other), but the ones I have are just fine.
So I can't guarantee that these are what they say they are, but if you got
both, it might not be a big deal anyway.

Another local store actually stocked two of the Weird Tapes CDs!  That's
pretty amazing for Columbus, OH.  Oddly enough, it was 103 and 104, the two
that I *just* ordered from Voiceprint directly.  In the end, the cost would
have ended up just the same if I'd bought them here.  I think they had them
for $14 + tax, which is a pretty good deal considering the distribution is
probably fairly convoluted getting all the way to High Street, Columbus.
Jerry, if you're looking to buy one of 'em, there's a good spot (Singing
Dog...Classic 70s section).

Down further south on High Street is Magnolia Thunderpussy, that has a fair
number of Hawkwind CDs, but they usually have mostly the crap ones.  They do
have the Live '79 double, and also Glasters '90 (sadly enough), but at $14
or so, they're not completely gouging people for something that they
probably don't even know is pretty lousy sounding, great gig or no.

King Crimson is coming to Columbus next week, and I'm wondering if there's
any great reason to go.  I've never seen the band before in any incarnation,
and frankly have no clue as to what they've been doing lately.  It seems
like they have seven different versions doing seven different styles of
music.  The four guys in the photo are Adrian Belew and Robert Fripp, and
then two guys I don't really know, although I think one of the guys is Trey
Gunn, who I don't know from Adam (is he a bassist?).  I do like Adrian
Belew, at least as a solo artist, and think Lone Rhino was brilliant (why
it's not on CD is beyond me...the compilation that included a good half of
it was a start but hardly adequate).  I think I've seen him three or four
times, and once with the Psychodots as his backing band (and opening band),
which was then essentially the same band as the Bears.  Nearly local they
is, being from Cincinnati/Covington.  Well, anyway, my fandom of King
Crimson is fairly limited - I think the first album was great and of some
importance.  Then I lose interest as they got into the tragic "excesses" of
progdom, the sort of thing that led to Yes' "Tales of Topographic Oceans,"
but then (like Yes with Rabin) they brought in a melodic pop influence
(Belew) and had some success in a different sense.  Those albums like 'Beat'
and what was it? "Red" or "Discipline"?  Whatever...the ones with "Elephant
Talk" and "Thela Hun Jinjeet" - that sort of stuff was interesting at times,
with the occasional 'what the f*ck?'.  "Three of a Perfect Pair" the song I
liked also.  But overall, my interest in King Crimson is spotty and if I had
it to do over again, I probably would come to the conclusion that 'In the
Court...' and 'Lone Rhino' are the two albums that I really need to have
from this lot.  Although 'Inner Revolution' and even the Bowie-period Belew
album were fun at times...that "I Am What I Am" is great anyway.  Forget the
awful Orbison-cover thing - ick.  I'm just rambling on without any point or
direction, so feel free to move on any time.

It's a four-day holiday and nobody's around so I have the music (the totally
awesome new Into the Abyss (Athens, Greece) CD "Adrenochrome" - if you like
bombastic stately gothic proggy rock with psychedelic overtones, then....)
cranked up pretty loud and am just putting off doing anything productive
(like that doesn't happen ever day anyway), so bear with me.

I've got a heap of Quarkspace CD's to send out yet.  Probably get to that
during the weekend proper.  Some of you will get one of the dozen or so
CDR's that I burned up myself.  Some of you will be lucky enough to get one
of the actual manufactured CDs that Paul actually had made.  I think they
did do a run of 300 but then stopped short of having the artwork/booklets
done once they decided to offer it as a freebie. Not sure yet if the artwork
that was started is complete enough to just offer up as a couple jpg's to
print out.  If so, and I get them, I'll put them up somewhere to grab.

The show Saturday night (ostensibly Quarkspace's final gig) was really a
great time.  Lots of guests showed up to play at certain points, and it had
the most variety of any Quarkspace gig I'd been to.

The guests included (in order of performance)...
Richard Orlando (guitar)
Carl "No-Muzik" Howard (synths)
Matt Kearns (guitar)
Darren Gough (guitar)
Bevin Lynch (vocals)
Kendra Lewis (vocals)

Darren of course was an 'original' member, at least from when they started
making CDs, and I think Paul said that Matt had also been a member long ago
and that he'd come in from Oregon to guest.  Ritchie Orlando of course is
Alien Planetscapes' past (and now again present) guitarist and it was great
to have him come in from NYC to play on four or five tracks, including a
very different version of 'Quark, Strangeness, and Charm' (the band's name
origin as you might have guessed) full of wonderful e-piano stylings from
"Prog Boy" Jay Swanson and Chet strumming on an acoustic guitar while
Ritchie made up a nice solo once he got plugged in two-thirds of the way
through the song (probably a good six minute version).  I think I'll try to
get Paul to put up an .mp3 of this track at least (I know he recorded the
whole gig to digital disc) as I'm sure lots of you would be interested in
hearing the patented Quarkspace 'jazz-fusion' version of 'Quark.'  :)

Other covers performed throughout the night were Traffic's "Low Spark of
High-Heeled Boys" and Neil Young's "Down By the River" which was the post-2
AM finale with all the various folx jamming outright on the cramped Ruby
Tuesday stage with great aplomb.  "Low Spark" was the time that Carl H. got
to plug in his 'audio-generator/oscillator' type synth (sorry Doug - no idea
what it was) and he cranked it up and played some totally freaked and
whacked sh*t.  Which was completely inappropriate for the song as it were,
but then it was rather funny in that way and at some point later during the
'jam' bit, it all came oddly together and sounded great.  Carl hung around
for a few more space-jam-improv numbers where he was right at home.

Q-Space saved some of the new stuff for the last set when the 'girls' got up
and sang along, to the title track at least, which is starting to grow on me
now.  Earlier in the set, they did the 'Pavlovian Causeway' tune (I think)
which is one of the coolest totally-spaced numbers they have done lately.  I
know they did 'In the Shadows' again like they did at Strange Daze (or at
least here at the Columbus Quimby show), 'cause I remember that that was the
time where Paul's gear freaked out on him or something, and the whole band
got totally out of sequence or something.  Well, that's what he gets for
writing such a pleasant little ditty in 5/4 or whatever.

OK, how am I doing?

It's been fun reading the gig reports from the UK shows.  I'd love to be
there of course, but at least we're getting firsthand nollidge of the
goings-on.  I'm still rather disappointed to learn that Tim B. was dumped or
whatever happened. Anybody get the word on what went down yet?  And I hear
from Hardy via Jerry that Quimby (who were bumped from the two Scottish gigs
due to space limitations, pun not intended) will now open for Hawkwind at
the 'Christmas 2001' gig in London (will it be the Astoria again?).  So make
sure y'all make it down to that one early.

It looks pretty definite that I'll be moving to Switzerland next year come
July 1st, so not that anyone really cares I suppose, but it'll be different
for me getting to see different gigs and fests there but then missing what
we have here at the same time.  And although I'll be working with a group at
the University of Berne, I'll actually be living and working near Zurich at
the Paul Scherrer Institute.  So I'll be darn close to the German border,
perhaps 20 miles southeast of Basel.  I don't know any Swiss bands
whatsoever, unless you count the aforementioned Brainticket that spent some
time there.  Do we have any Swiss boc-l listmembers?  I don't recall seeing
any .ch email addresses appear here.  Oh, BTW, the .ch stands for
Confederato Helvetica, which is the original Latin name for the country now
know more as Switzerland, or Suisse, or Schweiz, whatever.  Luckily, most
everyone over there speaks English pretty well as I am pretty inept at any
foreign language, including German that I even studied in college (the first
time, back in the 80s) for my chemistry degree.

Well, ok, I have to go pee, so I think I'll wrap this doggerel up and head
out and mebbe get some vittles as well.  Vittles is food in case you didn't
know - surely you've seen the Beverley Hillbillies?  Comes from 'victuals'
meaning 'that which sustains life.'  I suppose that could also mean space rock.

Grakkl (FAA)

P.S.  Anybody have Freedom's Children - Astra (So. Africa 1970)?  Sounds
like something to get from what I've read.  Now out on CD in Germany
(Repertoire?).