HW: My Top 10 Space albums

[Tim]

Great list Stephan; I'll use it as a guide to expand my spacerock collection. Would like to know where you find Marble Sheep cds, all i've ever found was _Stone Marby_(love the track  "inside out")
tim  8>)...
Stephan Forstner wrote:
 >
 > Here's a list of some of my favorite space and spacerock albums. I've
 > divided them into loose categories, with primary selections and alternates
 > in each category. They are not in any particular order, except that number 1
 > is number 1 and number 10 probably shouldn't be there at all so it is number
 > 10. I'm sure I'm missing some titles, and next week the list will
 > undoubtedly be slightly different, as it will the week after that, and some
 > of what's there might have its positioning argued with, but what the hey,
 > this is just an excuse for me to list some stuff I like. Read it and then
 > give your own choices. Or don't.
 >
 > 1) ----------------------------------------
 > Hawkwind - Space Ritual
 > ----
 > Hawkwind - X In Search of Space
 > Hawkwind - Doremi Fasol Latido
 > Hawkwind - Hall of the Mountain Grill
 > Hawkwind - Warrior on the Edge of Time
 >
 > Was, is, and probably always will be my number 1 pick. Mention should also
 > be made of Complete Live 79, Levitation, Palace Springs, and IITBOTFTBD.
 >
 > 2) ----------------------------------------
 > Heldon - I Electronique Guerilla
 > Heldon - III It's Always Rock n Roll
 > Heldon - IV Agneta Nilsson
 > Heldon - VII Stand By
 > ---
 > Fripp & Eno - No Pussyfooting
 > Richard Pinhas - Chronolyse
 >
 > Heldon started fairly mellow, with guitar lines over synth backing,
 > sometimes sounding much like Fripp & Eno, then moved into krautrock, avant
 > prog, quasi-industrial, and finally full-on prog overload on VII. Pinhas
 > solo albums at this time were more minimalist keys and synth affairs, but
 > the half-hour side-long 'Paul Atreides' track on Chronolyse is one of the
 > all-time great spacerock tracks.
 >
 > 3) ----------------------------------------
 > Circle - Zopalki
 > Circle - Pori
 > Circle - Prospekt
 > ---
 > Pharaoh Overlord - #1
 > Ektroverde - Ukkossalama
 >
 > Finnish collective centered around Jussi Lehtisalo, playing space / psych /
 > drone / kraut / punk / industrial / soundscape / jazz / metal / minimalist /
 > hypno / experimental / kitchen sink music. Best band(s) of the 90's.
 >
 > 4) ----------------------------------------
 > Ash Ra Temple - Ash Ra Temple
 > ---
 > Acid Mothers Temple - La Novia
 > Acid Mothers Temple - In C
 > Agitation Free - At the Cliffs of the River Rhine
 > Pharaoh Overlord - #1
 > SubArachnoid Space - The Sleeping Sickness
 >
 > Intense, layered, mostly instrumental, guitar-based spacerock. SubArachnoid
 > Space is a US band with a back catalog you can reach into pretty much at
 > random and pull out a winner. I like the Pharaoh Overlord so much I wanted
 > to make it a primary selection, but ended up unable to give it a slot of its
 > own, so to make up for that I've listed it as an alternate twice, here and
 > with Circle.
 >
 > 5) ----------------------------------------
 > Magma - Mekanik Kommandoh
 > Christian Vander - Wurdah Itah
 > Magma - Kohntarkosz
 > Magma - Hhai / Live
 > ---
 > Weidorje - s/t
 > Universal Totem Orchestra - Rituale Alieno
 >
 > Prog rather than space, and fairly avant prog at that, but its all about
 > space flight to distant planets and the struggle for peace against both
 > human and alien foes so its here. Some of the most intense and,
 > occasionally, beautiful, music ever made in a rock(ish) context. Magma's new
 > release K.A. promises to merit consideration for inclusion as well.
 >
 > 6) ----------------------------------------
 > Tony Conrad with Faust - Outside the Dream Syndicate
 >
 > Perfect rock minimalism. The 30th anniversary CD edition gives you 40 extra
 > minutes.
 >
 > 7) ----------------------------------------
 > Amon Duul II - Yeti
 > ---
 > Amon Duul II - Phallus Dei
 > Farflung - So Many Minds, So Little Time
 > Farflung - The Belief Module
 > Pressurehed - Explaining the Unexplained
 >
 > Most space and spacerock music seems to be defined by long-form
 > instrumentals but the occasional band (like Hawkwind) will structure their
 > work mainly around songs. Nevertheless, these songs often have unusual
 > formats and non-standard structures, and extended instrumental takes, both
 > within songs and on their own, are pretty much a requirement.
 >
 > 8) ----------------------------------------
 > F/i - Space Mantra
 > Vocokesh - Paradise Revisited
 >
 > Yin and yang, two sides of the same coin. Possibly the peak of American
 > spacerock. Vocokesh's recent The Tenth Corner may end up on this list as well.
 >
 > 9) ----------------------------------------
 > Klaus Schulze - X
 > Tangerine Dream - Zeit
 > Tangerine Dream - Atem
 > Tangerine Dream - Rubycon
 >
 > Analog synths in space.
 >
 > 10) ----------------------------------------
 > Synaesthesia - Desideratum
 > ---
 > Delerium - Spheres 1 & 2
 >
 > In the 80's, space music started being made with digital rather than analog
 > synths. As time went on there were good space music discs made with
 > digisynths, but to my ears the level of goodness seemed proportional to how
 > close they came to emulating the old analog sounds. Music made with digital
 > synths that explicitly displays its digital-ity usually just doesn't do it
 > for me. So here are 2 releases that maybe aren't exactly 'best', but which
 > are at least representative.
 >
 > 11) ----------------------------------------
 > Hawkwind - Text of Festival
 > Parson Sound - s/t
 > Pharaoh Overlord - The Battle of the Axehammer (live)
 > Faust - Land of Ukko and Rauni
 > Neu! - '72 Live
 > Amon Duul - Psychedelic Underground
 > Marble Sheep - Whirl Live
 >
 > Had to add one more category - lo-fi, sludgy, droning, repetitive hippief*ck
 > jamming! Not actually recommended listening, at least to most, but I love
 > this stuff and had to include it.
 >
 > ----------------------------------------
 > ----------------------------------------
 >
 > The above only scratches the surface of course. Here are a few more that may
 > have just missed inclusion, or that maybe are not quite space/spacerock, but
 > which need to be mentioned anyway.
 >
 > ----------------------------------------
 > Blue Oyster Cult - B/W trilogy, Imaginos
 >
 > Sci-fi rock rather than spacerock. But required listening nevertheless.
 >
 > ----------------------------------------
 > Chrome - Alien Soundtracks, Half Machine Lip Moves
 >
 > Out-there experimental punk psych industrial spacerock.
 >
 > ----------------------------------------
 > Final - Solaris
 >
 > Isolationist ambient space sound sculpture. From the Godflesh crew.
 >
 > ----------------------------------------
 > Gravitar - Edifier
 >
 > Another US band where random selection from the back catalog pretty much
 > guarantees a winner. Edifier was their last and best release - possibly my
 > favorite free / experimental / noise rock record ever. And it grooves like a
 > bastard.
 >
 > ----------------------------------------
 > King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King, USA
 >
 > Court is sci-fi prog rock rather than spacerock, but still pretty much
 > required listening. Later on the band would do lots of extended instrumental
 > improv work, much of it being really excellent spacerock - The Great
 > Deceiver boxset offers some great examples, but USA will give you a
 > condensed version. Also, Earthbound, though usually considered the band's
 > nadir (and from a strictly prog-rock viewpoint, rightly so) is actually a
 > fairly good, slightly funky spacerock record.
 >
 > ----------------------------------------
 > Loop - Fade Out, Wolf Flow
 >
 > Layered psych-drone-rawk. Richard Hampson would later work as the
 > experimental / ambient Main.
 >
 > ----------------------------------------
 > Ozric Tentacles - Erpland, Strangeitude
 >
 > Mention should also be made of Steve Hillage - Fish Rising, and yes, I know,
 > Gong should be in here somewhere, I promise I will be picking up their
 > classic albums at some time in the future!
 >
 > ----------------------------------------
 > Pink Floyd - early '70s live material
 >
 > Together with Hawkwind, PF pretty much codified the spacerock sound in the
 > early 70's. The band has basically given their permission for fans to freely
 > distribute old live recordings, so try to pick up some live sets from '70
 > and '71.
 >
 > ----------------------------------------
 > Skullflower - Ruins, Last Shot at Heaven, Carved Into Roses
 >
 > Heavy noise / free rock pioneers. Matthew Bower would later work as Total
 > and Sunroof! before recently starting up Skullflower again.
 >
 > ----------------------------------------
 > ST 37 - Spaceage, Nunavut
 >
 > Yet another US band with a deep and satisfying back catalog. Their releases
 > more or less alternate between song-based collections (Spaceage) and
 > instrumental improvs (Nunavut). Their most recent release (The Insect
 > Hospital) is a collection of older material and contains examples of both,
 > so would make a good introduction to the band.
 >
 > ----------------------------------------
 > Nik Turner - Past or Future?
 >
 > Should perhaps be in the Hawkwind slot, but I don't begrudge Nik his own
 > section, as long as he doesn't try to appropriate the Hawkwind name.
 >
 > ----------------------------------------
 >
 > That's it for now,
 > Stephan