Playlist #2: Heavy Metal and Outer Space

Jun 6, 2014
2 min read

--By Tzarathustra-- As is so often the case with me, my era specific obsession is begining to metstasize. My late 60s acid rock phase is slowly starting to morph into a jones for any credible brand of brain-melting psychedelia. The obvious next step is space rock as seen above with Hawkwind.

I wasn't around in the late '60s. But it's obvious through the media of the time that the moon landing and the promises of the Apollo program put space topmost in the mass consciousness of the era. Even Timothy Leary, after helping tune an entire generation into their inner-spaces became more interested in the possibilities of outer-space.

You could see the same thing happen in music. As the earthy blues of acid rock was on the wane, space rock began to rise. And nobody really did space rock better than Hawkwind. Crazy sci-fi lyrics, sometimes even donated by author Michael Moorcock, floated above music that combined hypnotic droning, driving rhythms, and long instrumental workouts. The earliest entry in Hawkwind's greatest stretch of albums begins in 1972 with the album Doremi Fasol Latido, which features the debut of bassist Lemmy Kilmister, later of Motorhead. On this record the electronics and keyboards were pulled back somewhat due to the straightforward rocking power of Lemmy and new drummer Simon King, which gave the band a new propulsion system. This is the sound that Monster Magnet would end up idolizing and emulating, even covering the opening track on 1993's Superjudge.

But there are also more modern bands for whom 1968 never really ended. So now my brain is a swirling technicolor mess of Hubble telescope images and Steve Ditko art from mid-60s Dr. Strange comics, all presided over by sounds like this:

--titles link to tracks--

HOLY MOUNT: We Fell From the Sky Holy Mount are a young Toronto based metal band who proudly maintain the tradition of loud music as a means of astral transit. Check out their Band Camp site.

UCLE ACID AND THE DEADBEATS Desert Ceremony (BBC Session)

A Cambridge England band who've decided that the proto metal of the late '60s is where they want to stay forever and a day, Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats played this track live in studio for their BBC Sessions, though it's as tight and powerful as any studio album track. The song comes from their most recent album.