Space Art

I've featured Space Art here before as part of my Psyche-Out! series of posts. They were a French duo formed in 1977 and their music is very French sounding. On keyboards was Dominique Perrier and on drums was Roger Rizzitelli. I was lucky to find all 3 of their albums on my travels in North America last summer. I wasn't previously aware of the group but picked them out due to the cover art, the band name and track titles; I wasn't disappointed. This post is to celebrate the fact that I've finally got around to transferring all three LP's to mp3! Apparently these were not released outside of France but obtaining a copy of the first two LP's online certainly won't be difficult, nor will it break the bank (they were also released more recently on cd). A copy of the vinyl only Play Back on the other hand turns out to be rather rare and expensive. Possibly my favourite of the three though.


Their self titled debut album was released in 1977 by I-F Records, with distribution by Carrere. Certain melody lines and phrases are re-used throughout the album, giving it some continuity. Onyx opens the album with beautiful, ethereal synth melodies and smooth live drumming. There were a lot of experiments with the synthesizer and electronic music during the late 70s but the drums here really stand Space Art apart from the rest of the crowd. I find this album to be a little darker and more intense than the others. Axius is a good example of this with its growling bassline and nagging, alarm like one-note synth lines. Ode A Clavius is another highlight. It starts out light and dreamy, almost classical, before dropping into a funky syncopated hook. There are also a bunch of alien noises which sound like they were lifted straight out of some weird 70s cartoon or videogame.

Space Art - Onyx

Space Art - Ode A Clavius


Not sure if this is from 1977 or 1979, no dates on the LP itself, but Trip In The Center Head (or Head Center as some pressing state) continues where the previous album left off, opening with two short upbeat melodic pieces: Speedway and Odyssey. Things turn darker with the slow burner Eyes Shade. Opening with a rush of white noise, followed by a lonely synth with some muffled telephone chatter in the background. The track closes with a slow beat and some electric guitar noodling. L'obsession d'Archibald is one of my favourite Space Art tracks. It opens with a pulsing synth note which is joined with an arpeggio and lead melody line. Then out of nowhere this killer bridge section drops in at 2:17 - smooth as silk. I think its greatness is enhanced by the fact that it's gone within a minute, never to return. Epic closing track Psychosomatique is another moody slow burner, though it's a little unspectacular.

Space Art - Speedway

Space Art - L'obsession d'Archibald


Released in 1980 by Waves/Carrere, the third and final LP called Play Back opens with the lush chords, floating synths and rolling drums of Folkstone Hovercraft. A truly beautiful piece of music that I posted here previously. This album had more players on it and a wider variety of instruments accompanying the synths/drums combo of old. This led to a more varied selection of styles within the tracks and also some vocals for the first time. Paris Vision, whilst not having lyrics, makes good use of a vocoder for its scat style vocals. Love Machine is pure pop with a full on vocoder vocal and guitar power chords. Very cheesey and kitch, and not my favourite to be honest. Alpha du Centaure is nice, coming in three parts, but I don't see the theme running between them myself as each is quite different. Closing track Welcome to Love is another thing of wonder and amazement. More vocoder vocals, more beautiful chord sequences and synthesizer sounds, all accompanied by a brilliant shuffling drumbeat and complementary bassline. The seemingly never ending solo in the last 2+ minutes does eventually fade out unfortunately, but its still one of my favourite tracks.

Space Art - Paris Vision

Space Art - Welcome To Love

Psyche-Out!

A discussion with a mate the other week about what sort of music was covered by the term 'Psychedelic' was the inspiration for this loosely mixed compilation. We both agreed that it could be anything from 60's/70's rock, jazz, funk, a bit of prog, kitch/camp grooves and even a bit of disco. I picked out a bunch of LP's I considered to be 'psychedelic' and recorded my favourite tracks from them. The last couple of weeks have been spent getting the track selection right, doing the odd edit and getting the whole thing sequenced nicely. This is the end result, any feedback greatly appreciated. Keep an eye on the blog as I'll be posting up the tracks from the mix in unmixed format, along with some details for each.

acidbearboy - Psyche-Out.mp3

Tracklisting:

1. Billy Cobham - Quadrant 4
2. Lighthouse - Mountain Man
3. George Duke - Floop De Loop
4. Be Bop Deluxe - Shine (live)
5. Stardrive with Robert Mason – Rushes
6. FM - Slaughter In Robot Village
7. White Noise - Love Without Sound
8. Mystic Moods Orchestra - A Man And A Woman
9. A.Vuolo & E.Grande - Drops In The Wind
10. Space Art - Folkstone Hovercraft
11. Passport - Eternal Spiral
12. Nina Hagen Band – Unbeschreiblich
13. Focus – Hocus Pocus
14. The Zodiac – Aries-The Fire Fighter



Back cover with tracklist.

"Psychedelic Twilight" image from:
http://chewupablotter.deviantart.com/

Psyche-Out Unmixed (Part 4)

I think I'll wrap this collection up with this post so we can move on to other things!



10. Space Art - Folkstone Hovercraft.mp3
//Space Art 3: Play Back 1980

More music I checked out due to the artist name and cover artwork. I grabbed their first two albums cheap in Seattle and found the third in Vancouver a week later. This was the most expensive of the three but certainly the best and most diverse. The first two were very electronic sounding but Play Back is a real mixture of sounds, it reminds me of Air in places. Lovely chords and floating synth lines, I love the drumming too.



11. Passport - Eternal Spiral.mp3
//Looking Thru 1974
A perfect example of 70's Jazz Fusion. This is the opening track from an album I got after Daniele Baldelli featured the second half of the title track in one of his Cosmic mix tapes. Mixing up jazz, funk and rock influences, Klaus Doldinger's Passport put out a whole bunch of albums during the 70's and 80's, this is certainly my favourite of the four I own. Awesome cover art too!



12. Nina Hagen Band - Unbeschreiblich.mp3
//Nina Hagen Band 1978

Another record first heard via a Baldelli mixtape. I get the feeling Nina Hagen was a crazy bitch! Her attitude and personality really shine through on this record though. The LP is a real mixed bag incorporating funk, disco, rock and pop - some good and some bad. I love the driving rhythm of this track and the guitar lead that opens the song and returns again in the second minute.



13. Focus - Hocus Pocus.mp3
//Moving Waves 1971

I had actually finished a version of the mix without this track in it. Then it popped into my head one day and I thought to myself "how can I leave this out of a collection of such weird and wonderful songs?" So a few tracks were reshuffled and I think perhaps a couple were removed to make room for this monster of a track. It's a cracking guitar riff, a driving beat, great drum breaks, totally out there vocals and some sweet organ too, what more could you want? How about an excellent guitar solo, a flute solo, some accordion and even a bit of whistling!



14. The Zodiac - Aries-The Fire Fighter.mp3
//Cosmic Sounds 1967

This is excellent. I was in two minds whether or not to buy this LP as I wasn't too keen on most of it; but I had to have this track. It has such energy and intensity. I love the break in the middle and the spoken section. I love the harpsichord(?) and the heavy bass and drums. Even the Sitar doesn't put me off and that's an instrument I truly hate! Proper psychedelic music to loose yourself in. Would love to hear this out on a big system and throw myself around to it!

Psyche-Out Unmixed (part 3)

7. White Noise - Love Without Sound.mp3
//An Electric Storm 1969

This is one of the earliest and most intricate Psychedelic LP’s available and helped pioneer many studio techniques commonly used in the years since. Made before the synthesizer boom, it was created using (abusing?) various studio gear, homemade effects boxes and reel to reel splicing. I can’t say I enjoy the album in its entirety, the more experimental side 2 is particularly hard work, but the shorter song based tracks on side 1 are very good indeed. This is an album I inherited from my father, dug out after Erol Alkan included the track “Your Hidden Dreams” on his excellent Bugged Out/In compilation.



8. Mystic Moods Orchestra - A Man And A Woman.mp3
//Misty Morning 1978

Another I picked up in New York for the excellent cover art. Pretty much the only good two minutes on the album, but what a delightful two minutes they are! I love the lush orchestration and the mixture of kitch, camp and good old cheesiness.



9. A.Vuolo & E.Grande - Drops In The Wind.mp3
//Desert 1979

This track is from the most expensive LP I’ve ever bought (an extortionate £26!!) but with tracks like this and the unlikeliness of finding a copy again, I just had to splash out the cash. The album was recorded and produced in 1979 but didn’t get a release until the Italian label Cardium issued a limited run in 2007. It's a great mixture of Cosmic Disco, Jazz-Funk and Downtempo grooves - highly recommended.

Psyche-Out Unmixed (part 2)

4. Be Bop Deluxe - Shine (live).mp3
//Live! In The Air Age 1977

A nice slow groove here with plenty of ups and downs, with good lead guitar and some nice keyboard work too. I actually know nothing about Be Bop Deluxe and this is probably the only track I’ll really listen to from the LP (which I picked up due to Fritz Lang’s Metropolis imagery being on the cover). A quick search on Wikipedia tells me they were an English progressive rock band who achieved critical acclaim and moderate commercial success during the mid to late 1970s.



5. Stardrive with Robert Mason - Rushes.mp3
//Intergalactic Trot 1973

I love this, just full on wig out synthesized jazz-funk-fusion. You should see the size of the thing on the back of the LP. Extracts from the sleeve notes: “Using a few pre-constructed parts plus a lot of custom-designed gear and great ingenuity, Robert Mason has built the world’s first multi-voiced synthesizer that can be played like a real keyboard instrument with full chords and tonal clusters. Never before has man and machine come so close together with such intimate rapport.”



6. FM - Slaughter In Robot Village.mp3
//Black Noise 1978

I saw this album at a flea market in Toronto (where the band originate), I liked the cover but wasn't sure if it was going to be too 'Rock' for my tastes so I left it for a while. On my way back I picked it up because I couldn't leave a track called "Slaughter In Robot Village" unheard! Turns out the only guitars they do use are bass and that track was the best on this, the bands debut LP.

Psyche-Out Unmixed (part 1)

1. Billy Cobham - Quadrant 4.mp3
//Spectrum 1973

Sit down and strap in, as I’m pulling no punches with the opener! Cobham beats the hell out of those drums and the bassline rolls along at a frantic pace too. After the opening lick from Tommy Bolin on the guitar, it’s straight into an extended solo before returning to the same lick to close the track. There’s even a bit of moog in there from Jan Hammer, classic stuff.



2. Lighthouse - Mountain Man.mp3
//Lighthouse 1969

I picked this self-titled LP up in New York as I loved the psychedelic shiny silver and black cover (which looks awful in the image above but it was the best one I could find). The opener from the Toronto group’s debut album has all the ingredients for a great rock track: a good hook, a funky bassline, great organ work, nice sounding guitars and good horn and reed sections. Check out the funky drumming and that break too, sweet.



3. George Duke - Floop De Loop.mp3
//The Aura Will Prevail 1975

Keeping the tempo up but bringing down the mood a little bit with this one, taken from George’s 1975 album “The Aura Will Prevail”. Much like Quadrant 4, it opens with the hook before rolling along in solo territory for the bulk of the track. I like the way the groove drops back midway through the track to give the guitar solo more room.