Space rock
Space rock is a style of music; the term originally referred to a group of early mostly British 1970s progressive rock and psychedelic bands like Hawkwind and Pink Floyd,[1] characterised by slow, lengthy instrumental passages dominated by synthesisers, experimental guitar work and science fiction lyrical themes, though it was later repurposed to refer to a series of late 1980s British alternative rock bands that drew from earlier influences to create a more melodic but still ambient form of pop music.[2]
History
Space rock emerged from the late 60s psychedelic music scene in Britain and was closely associated with the progressive rock movement of the same time period.
Many of Pink Floyd's early releases were important in the development of space rock[citation needed]. Tracks such as Astronomy Domine [3] and Interstellar Overdrive [4] from their debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (both songs attributed to original band member Syd Barrett) were amongst the earliest examples of space rock. The band's second album A Saucerful Of Secrets contained new songs, such as Let There Be More Light and Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun, with explicit science fiction themes. Later albums, such as Ummagumma and Meddle further explored the genre of space rock.[citation needed]
A major seminal album in the history of space rock was Hawkwind's Space Ritual (1973)[5] a two-disk live album advertised as "88 minutes of brain-damage" documenting Hawkwind's successful 1972 tour of their blow-out show complete with liquid lights and lasers, nude dancers (notably the earth-mother figure Stacia), wild costumes and psychedelic imagery. This hard-edged concert experience attracted a motley but dedicated collection of psychedelic drugs users, science-fiction fans and motorcycle riders. The science fiction author Michael Moorcock collaborated with Hawkwind on many occasions: for example, he wrote the lyrics for many of the spoken-word sections on Space Ritual.
By the early 1990s, the term "space rock" came to be used when describing numerous American and British alternative rock bands of the time. Shoegazing and noise pop genres emerged into the mainstream with the explosion of bands like Slowdive, The Verve, My Bloody Valentine, Ride, The Flaming Lips, Failure and Hum. The sonic experimentation and emphasis place on texture by these bands led them to be dubbed "space rock". By 1991 (see 1991 in music), though, the original space rock bands had mostly fallen apart and the musicians had moved on to new bands or new styles. One famous band that became known under that label was Monster Magnet.
In the mid 1990s, a number of bands built on the space rock styles of Hawkwind and Gong appeared in America. Some of these bands (such as Pressurehed and Melting Euphoria) were signed to Cleopatra records, which then proceeded to release numerous space rock compilations. One release was Space Daze (2001) [6] described as 21 tracks tracing the curving contours of ambient and electronic space rock. An at times opaque genre with too many tangents to count, space rock can be impenetrable for the casual listener. Space Daze remedies that considerably, offering tracks from both pioneers (Brian Eno, Gong, Hawkwind) and significant ancillaries (Coil, Amon Düül II, Sky Cries Mary). An enlightening space rock essay from Dave Gilbert (author of a separate book of the same name) is also included, making Space Daze a fabulous primer for anyone needing a road map for their first space rock trip.
Oddity: Odd ditty
The probable earliest example of something like space rock is a song written in the 1940s by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger for a BBC radio show called You're Only Young Once. The song is called Space Girl and parodies most of the major themes of 1940s science fiction (a version was recorded on "The World of Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger" volume 2: Songs from the radio ballads in 1971 on Argo Records label).
A much shorter version of the same song was recorded in the 1960s by Shirley Collins.
Examples of space rock
- Acid Mothers Temple
- Alien Stash Tin
- Bardo Pond
- Circle
- Eloy
- The Flaming Lips
- Flying Saucer Attack
- Füxa
- Gong
- Hawkwind
- Hidria Spacefolk
- Hopewell
- Hum
- Monster Magnet
- Omega
- Ozric Tentacles
- Pink Floyd
- Secret Machines
- Slow Motion Reign
- Soyuz38
- Spacemen 3
- Spiritualized
- Sun Dial
- Zombi
Notes
- ^ Richie Unterberger, Pink Floyd biography Allmusic
- ^ Space Rock, Allmusic
- ^ Bruce Eder, Astronomy Domine song review, Allmusic
- ^ Richie Unterberger, Interstellar Overdrive song review, Allmusic
- ^ Wilson Neate, Space Ritual review, Allmusic
- ^ Johnny Loftus, Space Daze review, Allmusic
