Harvestman/Minsk/US Christmas – Hawkwind Triad (Neurot)

The legacy of HAWKWIND doesn’t exactly loom large in the firmament of popular music. Whether or not that status is deserved is a debate for another time, but I’d like to think no one could deny that the long-running (40+ years) psychedelic powerhouse has made some interesting sounds over the years. Certainly STEVE VON TILL, co-leader of NEUROSIS and curator of the Neurot label, thinks so, and he’s asked a couple of likeminded cohorts to help him pay tribute. Despite the variety of musical minds involved – the experimental psych of US CHRISTMAS, the avant metal of MINSK, the acid hard rock of Von Till’s HARVESTMAN – there’s little variance. All three acts choose to stick close to the space rock guidelines laid out by Hawkwind decades before: aggressive guitars, whooshing synthesizers, repetitive rhythms, droning vocals. It would have been nice if the bands had filtered songs like “Master of the Universe,” “Assault and Battery/The Golden Void” and “Orgone Accumulator” through their own artistic sensibilities, but they certainly do the tunes justice. Their love for the source shines like a supernova in the distant night sky, and their sonic attack often rivals that of their inspiration (cf. US Christmas’ “You Shouldn’t Do That”). Besides, the song choices (all, by the way, from the band’s early 70s heyday) sometimes avoid the obvious – anyone whose Hawkwind collection doesn’t go beyond a best-of or two probably won’t know “D Rider,” “Children of the Sun” or “Magnu.” Whether one appreciates the artistic direction or not, the introduction of some Hawkwind gems to a wider audience makes Hawkwind Triad unquestionably worth it.

http://www.neurotrecordings.com