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Nik Turner left for Egypt.
Xitintoday (Charisma, 1978), credited to Sphynx, comprises flute
recordings that Nik Turner made in 1977 inside the Keope Pyramid and
overdubs by Tim Blake, Steve Hillage, Turner himself (on vocals) and others.
The album, that pioneered ambient music, will be re-recorded with Helios Creed
on guitar and backing by Pressurehed, and
released as Sphynx (Cleopatra, 1993).
Upon returning to England,
Nik Turner formed the Inner City Unit, which debuted with the singles
Solitary Ashtray (1979) and Paradise Beach (1980).
Pass Out (1980) contains Space Invaders,
Watching the Grass Grow, Polyethylene,
Cars Eat With Autoface.
Maximum Effect (1981) has
Beer Baccy Bingo & Benidorm and
Bones of Elvis.
Inner City Unit died after New Anatomy (1984) and
The President's Tapes (1985).
Hawkwind,
now featuring Ginger Baker and Gong's Tim Blake on synthesizer,
released Levitation (Charisma, 1980), which
does not boast any irresistible gem, but features a sequence of strong songs:
Motorway City,
Who's Gonna Win The War,
Levitation,
Space Chase,
The Fifth Second Of Forever,
Dust Of Time.
Sonic Attack (1981) is vastly inferior, despite
Angels of Death and
Rocky Paths.
During the 1980s, Calvert released Hype (1982),
Test Tube Conceived (1986) and
Freq (1984). The latter one is a bizarre case of agit-prop synth-pop.
Bob Calvert died in 1989.
Turner rejoined Hawkwind for
Church of Hawkwind (1982), one of their least appealing albums, despite
the huge doses of electronics, and
Choose Your Masques (1982), a moderate improvement
(Choose Your Masks, Solitary Mind Games,
Waiting For Tomorrow).
Again, the best of Hawkwind came out as singles: Zones (1983),
Night of the Hawks (1984), Needle Gun (1985),
Zarozinia (1985).
The Chronicle Of The Black Sword (Flicknife, 1985), the last major
Hawkwind release, was a concept album
inspired by their friend Michael Moorcock's writings.
The Demise, Needle Gun and Zarozinia are relatively
catchy, while the
surreal soundscapes of Shade Gate and The Pulsing Cavern,
and the fairy-tale ballads of Song Of The Swords,
The Sea King and Elric The Enchanter give the album a cohesive
and unitary feeling.
Dave Brock also recorded the solo albums
Earthed to the Ground (1984) and
The Agents of Chaos (1988), later collected on
Dave Brock & the Agents of Chaos (Flicknife, 1991).
Then Brock focused again on Hawkwind but Turner had quit again.
Out And Intake (1987) boasts two more classics:
Ghost Dance and Assassins of Allah.
On the other hand, The Xenon Codex (1988) is a very minor work.
Space Bandits (1990) marked the return of violinist Simon House,
but did not last.
Harvey Bainbridge left, too, before the radio-friendly
Electric Teepee (1992).
He will release his first solo, the ambitious Schulze-esque cosmic journey of
Interstellar Chaos (Taste, 1993), and then start the Alman Mulo Band
(himself and Norman Alman), which released the high-tech world-music of
Afrodiziac Dreamtime (Taste, 1993), the jazzy/ambient/ethnic hodgepodge
of Diamonds and Toads (Taste, 1994) and Orisha (Divine, 1995).
Hawkwind was
therefore reduced to a trio (Brock, Alan Davey and Richard Chadwick).
The same trio recorded the dull
It Is The Business Of The Future To Be Dangerous (Griffin, 1993).
Disguised as Psychedelic Warriors, Dave Brock, Alan Davey and Richard
Chadwick recorded the electronic album White Zone (Griffin, 1995).
By far the most interesting works came from flutist Nik Turner.
Prophets Of Time (Cleopatra, 1994) reinterprets material of the Inner
City Unit and Hawkwind albums with the help of Simon House on violin and
Helios Creed on guitar.
Spiral Realms are Turner and
Pressurehed keyboardist Len Del Rio,
who recorded Trip To G9 (Cleopatra, 1994) and
Crystal Jungles of Eos (Cleopatra, 1995), two albums of cosmic music.
Anubian Lights are Turner, Simon House, Del Rio, Helios Creed and others.
They debuted with the ambitious The Eternal Sky (Cleopatra, 1995).
The 55-minute EP The Jackal And Nine (Cleopatra, 1996) increases the
doses of world-music and ambient music.
Hawkind's keyboardist Dik Mik died in 2017.
Nik Turner died in 2022.
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da Claudio Vespignani)
Nik Turner part¨ per l'Egitto. Xitintoday (Charisma 1978), accreditato a Sphinx, comprende parti di flauto che Turner registr•
nel 1977 all'interno della piramide Keope e sovraincisioni di Tim Blake, Steve Hillage, Turner stesso (alla voce) e altri. Il
disco, che anticipa la musica ambient, verr… ri-registrato con Helios Creed alla chitarra e l'accompagnamento dei
Pressurehed, col titolo di Sphinx (Cleopatra 1993).
Al ritorno in Inghilterra, Nik Turner form• gli Inner City Unit, che esordirono con i singoli Solitary ashtray (1979) e Paradise
beach (1980). Pass out (1980) contiene Space invaders, Watching the grass grow, Polyethylene, Cars eat with autoface.
Maximum effect (1981) contiene Beer bacey bingo & benidorm e Bones of Elvis. Gli Inner City Unit cessarono l'attivit…
dopo New anatomy (1984) e The president's tapes (1985).
Con l'ingresso di Ginger Baker e Tim Blake dei Gong al sintetizzatore, pubblicarono Levitation (Charisma 1980), che non si
pu• certo vantare di possedere delle grandi gemme, ma contiene una serie di brani potenti: Motorway city, Who's gonna win
the war, Levitation, Space chase, The fifth second of forever, Dust of time.
Sonic attack (1981) e` molto inferiore, nonostante Angels of death e Rocky paths.
Durante gli anni '80, Calvert fece uscire Hype (1982), Test tube conceived (1986) e Freq (1984), quest'ultimo uno stranissimo
disco di synth-pop.
Turner rientro` nel gruppo per Church of Hawkwind (1982), uno dei loro dischi meno interessanti, nonostante un massiccio
uso dell'elettronica, e Choose your masques (1982), un leggero miglioramento (Choose your masks, Solitary mind games,
Waiting for tomorrow). Ancora una volta, le cose migliori uscirono sui singoli: "Zones" (1983), "Night of the hawks" (1984),
"Needle gun" (1985), "Zarozinia" (1985).
The chronicle of the black sword (Flicknife 1985), l'ultima pubblicazione su major, era un concept album ispirato dai libri del
loro amico Michael Moorcock. The demise, Needle gun e Zarozinia sono relativamente intriganti, mentre i paesaggi sonori
surreali di Shade gate e The pulsing cavern e le ballate favolistiche di Songs of the swords, The sea king e Elric the
enchanter danno al disco uno spirito coesivo e unitario.
Dave Brock registr• anche due dischi solisti, Earthed to the ground (1984) e The agents of chaos (1988), raccolti poi in Dave
Brock & the agents of chaos (Flicknife 1991).
Brock si riconcentr• sugli Hawkwind ma Turner se ne era andato di nuovo. Out and intake (1987) contiene due nuovi
classici: Ghost dance e Assassins of Allah. Ma il lavoro successivo, The Xenon codex (1988) risult• piuttosto trascurabile.
Space bandits (1990) segnava il ritorno del violinista Simon House, ma non dur• molto.
Anche Harvey Bainbridge lasci•, prima dell'accessibile Electric teepee (1992). In seguito fece uscire il suo primo disco
solista, il viaggio cosmico ambizioso sulla scia di Shulze di Interstellar chaos (Taste 1993), poi diede vita alla Alman Mulo
Band (lui e Norman Alman), che fece uscire la world music tecnologica di Afrodiziac dreamtime (Taste 1993), il
guazzabuglio jazz/etnico/ambient di Diamonds and toads (Taste 1994) e Orisha (Divine, 1995).
Gli Hawkwind erano perci• ridotti ad un trio formato da Dave Brock,Alan Davey e Richard Chadwick, che registr• il tedioso
It is the business of the future to be dangerous (Griffin 1993).
Sotto lo pseudonimo Psychedelic Warriors, lo stesso trio registr• un disco elettronico intitolato White zone (Griffin 1995).
I lavori di gran lunga pi— interessanti sono quelli del flautista Nik Turner. Prophets of time (Cleopatra 1994) reinterpreta
materiale degli Inner City Unit e degli Hawkwind con l'aiuto di Simon House al violino e Helios Creed alla chitarra. Il progetto
Spiral Realms lo vede insieme al tastierista dei Pressurehed Len Del Rio in due dischio intitolati Trip to G9 (Cleopatra 1994) e
Crystal jungles of Eos (Cleopatra 1995), dedita alla musica cosmica. Gli Anubian Lights sono Turner, House, Del Rio, Creed
ed altri. Debuttarono con l'ambizioso The eternal sky (Cleopatra 1995). L'EP di 55 minuti The jackal and nine (Cleopatra
1996) aumenta le dosi di world music e ambient.
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