Øresund Space Collective Dead Man In Space Review by Gary Hill
I believe this is actually going to be available first and foremost as an LP. I’m not sure if there is to be a CD release or not, but the group sent me a CDr of it for review purposes. In any event, this is another fine release from the space rock outfit. It really combines Hawkwind-like elements with modern sounds in a great way. We get shades of jam-band music and even jazz on this – and some points earn comparisons to early Pink Floyd. All in all this is a consistent (and fully improvised) recording from one of the greats of modern space rock.
This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2010 Volume 1 at lulu.com/strangesound.
Track by Track Review
High Pilots This rises gradually up with space keys and guitars weaving the sound and creating a definite Hawkwind like atmosphere. After a time it works out to a more full arrangement and there are jam band elements in the mix, making this feel a bit like the love child of The Grateful Dead and Hawkwind. It intensifies at times and also takes on some definite jazz-like qualities at points as they continue to make their way down this space roadway. Around the eight minute mark the guitar leads us out in a new journey that’s got some more modern rock elements but also feels a lot like very early Hawkwind. It shifts eventually back more towards the earlier sounds and space keys dominate at points. This is quite a tasty piece of music that really hearkens back to early Hawkwind while still maintaining a modern sound. Towards the end they wander into more pure psychedelia for a while.
Space Jazz Jam 2.2 It’s interesting that this actually leads off the second side of the LP because it really feels like it stretches out from the previous cut. It has a more open and purely spacey sound. The Hawkwind leanings are still here, but tempered with elements closer to early Pink Floyd. There is some Traffic in the midst here, too – bringing some hints of jazz –as the title suggests. A cool jazz meets space guitar solo emerges later and takes the cut into some tasty territory. It works through some changes and alterations, but all of them are incremental and organic and this piece glides through space at a modest pace. It also includes a section that feels like a modernization of very early Hawkwind.
Dead Man in Space This is a sound effects and spoken word section that feels very much like something from Hawkwind.
