Hawkwind listening

[David Howard & Kim Pieters]

Over the New Year I was working as the fireworks contractor to Napier, a
modest but pretty coastal resort in the North Island of New Zealand; along
with the truckload of necessary gear I packed my discman and Hawkwind CDs
and, at the end of day, slumped on my hotel balcony with Dave Brock et al
filling my head. This intensive listening changed my valuation of respective
releases.

For years I've played a handful of titles and neglected the rest of the
catalogue. I guess it's no surprise to many of you when I say that 'Space
Ritual', after gathering dust, reclaimed its place as a highpoint; 'Hall of
the Mountain Grill' eased out 'Doremifasol' (which I thought was my
favourite early disc until this back-to-back comparison), and 'Palace
Springs' confirmed my high opinion of it. The unexpected runner was 'The
Business Trip', which I came to admire above many other more touted
releases.

There is one rider to my comparisons: I only have the delightful 'Quark
Strangeness & Charm', and 'Angels of Death' on vinyl (which remains my
preferred medium) so they weren't part of the listening exercise. Having
returned home I can confirm that 'Quark' sounds as powerful as ever, while
'Angels' remains marginal.

As a result of this I'm now selling nineteen CDs; if you're interested in a
list backchannel me.

David Howard