Khan - 1971 - Space Shanty

Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.25 out of 5

I've always let Steve Hillage be my primary constant for exploring the Canterbury scene, and the short lived band Khan is another very groovy step on his musical journey. This plays pretty much like a Steve Hillage solo album with Hillage handling the vast majority of the songwriting and most of the vocals. Of course I'd be remiss not to mention organist Dave Stewart, who also played with Hillage on the Arzachel album and never had any thing to do with the Eurythmics (that's a different guy). His organ playing is a perfect foil for Hillage's crystaline leads and he gets a few moments to shine on his own as well. The sound does recall a fair amount of Khan's jazzy prog peers, but I always appreciate Hillage's 'new age Jesus' vibe, and the production here is very crisp and meaty.

Truthfully, the band pretty much fits a comfortable jazz-rock groove and sits on it for most of the album. It all flows very well, but certainly doesn't come across as groundbreaking. Yeah, it sounds sort of like an early 70's Pink Floyd albums, but it has a more positive vibe than those titans of the album charts usually managed. Besides, Hillage's guitar playing makes Gilmour sound like an amateur (although a very passionate one), and Dave Stewart hit some precise organ runs that I don't recall hearing Rick Wright manage. I dig the vocal part of "Space Shanty," as it reminds me of Cheech and Chong's performance at the end of Up In Smoke. "Driving to Amsterdam" and "Hollow Stone" pretty much sound like the same Meddle outtake, but this is a band that you can pretty much just float downstream with anyway. I also dig the acoustic glaze that permeates "Stranded."

While this album gets a D- for originality, the quality of the performances, production, and songwriting make it worth a few listens. Steve Hillage fans especially need to check it out. You would probably be accurate by slapping a label on the front of this that says 'Generic Canterbury Album," but that's not necessarily a bad thing when you could end up with Grand Funk Railroad or the new Justin Beiber album instead.

Buy Me:
Khan - 1971 - Space Shanty

Arzachel - 1969 - Arzachel

Quality: 4 out of 4
Trip-O-Meter: 4 out of 4

This is an interesting early effort from the soon-to-be members of Egg and 70's space guitar diety, Steve Hillage. Apparently, the musicians more or less threw this together from only a day in the studio, but the musicianship is at such a high level that it comes out sounding far more thought out than its origins imply. They'd also been playing gigs together a year or so earlier under the name Uriel. Still, for a lark this is pretty solid stuff. The music here is right on the cusp between 60's psych and prog, infused with the vibes of the Canterbury scene.

The album begins with several shorter form tracks, the best of which is the opening "Garden of Earthly Delights." It comes across very much like one of Traffic's better psych singles and the balance between Mont Cambell's psych-folk crooner vocals and Steve Hillage's happy, but never quite on key, singing is fun. You also get a pure blast of Hillage's lead guitar work at the end, although you'll find plenty of that on this LP. "Azathoth" starts out sounding like a more gothic Procol Harem before becoming far more unsettling near the end. "Queen St. Gang" and "Leg" are the lesser tracks, with the former being a pleasant but unassuming psych-jazz rocker and the latter sounding like a Cream outtake, although Hillage's attempt to nail a Jack Bruce-style vocal doesn't really hit the mark. This causes the band to de-evolve into insane echoing feedback for the last few minutes of the song.

Side two brings us two, long jammy tracks. The first one, "Clean Innocent Fun," carries on the Cream vibe, but with lots of organ. It's a little derivative, but I'd honestly rather listen to Hillage rip out wild leads on his guitar than Clapton, and the band works up a proto-punk head of steam that Cream was never able to do. "Metempsychosis" is the better of the long form tracks, with the band serving up a sixteen minute psychedelic freakout that would have captivated the heads at the UFO Club in the 60's. Yeah, they recycle a few tricks from early Floyd and the Soft Machine, but I think that these top-notch musicians are able to pull it off a little better (not that the Soft Machine didn't have top-notch musicians too - and the Floyd charming ones). Along with the album opening, this is the one that you need to hear.

Here at the Psychedelic Garage, I often get distracted by ambient and krautrock tangents, but if you need a dose of straight up, pure psychedelic rock, this is a pretty good album to shove into your earhole. It's got a couple of great songs in its grooves, and plenty of full on attacks from one of the better psychedelic guitarists around.

Steve Hillage - 1979 - Rainbow Dome Musick

Quality: 5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 5 out of 5


I originally picked up this album with no knowledge of Steve Hillage or Gong. The cover art simply grabbed my attention, as did the title. Rainbow Dome Musick sounds like a psychedelic planetarium to me, which is very appealing to my sensibilities. Fortunately, that description fits the actual music quite well. While Steve Hillage's space rock albums may have had some clues towards this sound, Rainbow Dome Musick is worlds away from those earlier albums. This is an ambient chill out album, with sliding sequencers, watery noises, and glissando gliding guitars. 1979 may seem earlier for an ambient chill out album, but Alex Patterson of the Orb famously DJed his late 80's chill out room using this, and once it caught Hillage's attention, the guitarist ended up both working with the Orb and founding the fine electronic group System 7. It's not a stretch to say that this album is ground zero for an entire genre.

This is music that must be experienced - you will not find yourself humming it as you go down the street. As such, we are presented with two side long tracks. With Tibetian bells, spacey sequencers, Hillage's restrained guitar playing, and the sounds of flowing water, it's difficult to focus on these sounds. But that's the point. If these album clicks with you, it will likely shirft your brain into a more zen state. All I can say specifically is that I'm always disappointed hearing the ting-sha at the beginning of "Four Ever Rainbow" as that lets me know that the album is now half way over.

Those that read this blog regularly are probably aware that I have a soft spot for trance inducing records, and this is one of the best ones to come from a rock background (not that you'll find anything resembling rock here). I would go as far to say that this is one of the albums that got me motivated to start writing this blog. Why it took me three years to actually write about it is beyond me (probably laziness).

Note: The vinyl pressing of this is on clear vinyl. It looks awesome and fits the sounds found in its grooves.

Buy Me:
Steve Hillage - 1979 - Rainbow Dome Musick

Steve Hillage - 1979 - Live Herald

Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4 out of 5

First off, I'm taking a look at the CD-era version of this album, which is completely live. The original issue of the album boasted a side of studio tracks, which have now been ported over to the Open album. Anyway, this is one of those live albums that sort of double as a greatest hits collection. Your favorite track from Hillage's first four albums may very well not appear here, but what's here are still fine tracks. The performances definitely benefit from Hillage's road worn band, and Giraudy's electronics add a nice new dimension to the tracks from the first few albums. The cover of Donovan's "Hurdy Gurdy Man" is even better here and the "Lunar Music Suite" contains an energetic tear through the always welcome "Om" riff.

The sound quality on this disc is not quite as clear as I'd like, but it is a live album and it is certainly listenable. This is not to rip on the remastering; the Hillage reissues are one of the better sets of reissues I've come across.

When you get right down to it, this isn't a bad place to start if you're unfamiliar with Hillage. Those who are already fans will find a lot to love here as well. As with Green or L, this is about as good as British space rock gets (I have to give the Germans the win in the end).

Buy Me:
Steve Hillage - 1979 - Live Herald

Steve Hillage - 1978 - Green

Quality: 4.25 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.5 out of 5

Golly! I started with these Steve Hillage reviews more than two years ago and never really got back to them. Well, here's Green to continue the tale. As you may or may not be aware, Steve Hillage was one of the more notable guitarists to spend time with the freaky psych-prog band Gong and I would count him (along with Manuel Gottsching probably) as the premier space rock guitarist of the 70's. This album includes some extra space rock royalty as Nick Mason of Pink Floyd served as this album's producer. His presence and the 1978 date on this album do push the sound into the territory of Animals or Wish You Were Here. Hillage's endearing new age Jesus vibe helps to distinguish the affair, and with top rate instrumentalists backing him up (especially his 'life partner' Miquette Giraudy handling the electronics), I'll go ahead and say that I prefer this to the sounds of 70's Floyd.

The songs on Green don't really slap you with an aura of instant awesomeness, but they definitely grow on you. A few songs like "Sea Nature" and "Unidentified (Flying Being)" have an entertaining slight funk edge. The P-funk style bass in the latter probably takes it a step further. "Ether Ships" and "Leylines to Glassdom" focus on the tranced out electronics and guitars that Hillage and Giraudy would focus on more and more over the years (the two are still active and producing fine electronic albums under the monkier System 7). "Crystal Ships" shares an affinity with the music that Bowie and Eno were releasing around this same time period. The proper album closes with "The Glorious Om Riff," which was originally recorded as "Maser Builder" on Gong's You. I'm hesitant to say this one is better, especially with the bias of considering You as one of my favorite albums, but I will say that this track is at least as good as the original.

The reissue of Green also features four bonus tracks. Three of these are contemporaneous live tracks (the studio version of "Not Fade Away" is on Motivation Radio). Hillage has a fine live album with Live Herald, but you can make a pretty fine live set by compiling the tracks from these reissues. There's also an alternate mix of "Meditation of the Snake," which is a little odd since that track is from Fish Rising, but whatever.

This doesn't bug me too much, but it's probably worth noting that Hillage doesn't have much of a singing voice. Space rock bands don't seem to put a lot of stock into vocals (Gong's Daevid Allen doesn't have much of a voice either), and I would describe Hillage's golden throat as a slightly more unhinged Roger Waters. Perhaps Hillage figured this out, and that's why he doesn't sing on the System 7 recordings.

My first impression of this was not the best, but after some time I feel that this is a competitor with L for the title of Hillage's best rock album. It's got a bit of a sci-fi nuance to the sound which always gets my attention. This is also the happy point where Hillage's album artwork switches from 'embarassing' to 'awesome.' Green should go straight to the top of your space rock heap.

Buy Me:
Steve Hillage - 1978 - Green

Steve Hillage - 1977 - Motivation Radio

Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4 out of 5

Now this is a horrific album cover. Apparently, the execs at Virgin Records decided that they wanted to market Hillage as some sort of new age Jesus figure, and I feel that this cover really reflects this. Fortunately, it does not effect the music inside, and if you get past the poor visual design, you'll find another solid Hillage album.

Once again, there are some changes here. Hillage had finally hooked up with a stable band (and still skilled) at this point, and Miquette Giraudy is now working her synth magic as a full member. To get an awesome dose of what she does, head straight for "Searching For The Spark." The songs here are also much more concise, giving Motivation Radio much more of a pop edge. It's a really happy, positive sounding album.

Hillage always came up with killer guitar riffs, and they work quite well in a more traditional song context. "Motivation" and "Saucer Surfing" in particular have some classic riffs. I like to refer to this stuff as sounding like the happy version of 70s era Pink Floyd. Feeling comfortable as a solo artist, Hillage references Gong a little more, especially in the goofy call and response of "Light In The Sky" and the Radio Gnome informed "Octave Doctors." He scores another great cover song too with the closing version of Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away," which retains the Bo Diddley beat but injects the song with a cosmic vibe.

As a warning, there is a certain amount of cheese present here. Hillage's lyrics are often hopelessly new age naive, but he sounds so happy singing them that I can't help but forgive him. He projects a lot of joy in his music that glosses over some potential rough spots. There's also even more 70's white boy funk present here, but the band is more than limber and I think they make it through ok.

Motivation Radio may be the best introduction to Hillage. It retains most of his trademark sound, but serves it up in a more pop sort of context. As a result, Hillage's best compositions are present here.

Buy Me:
Steve Hillage - 1977 - Motivation Radio

Steve Hillage - 1976 - L

Quality: 4.5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.5 out of 5

Let's try to ignore the terrible new age hangover cover art, L is where Steve Hillage really comes into focus as a solo artist. Giving him some focus is producer Todd Rungren, who also brought along a few musicians from his Utopia band. Also joining the band is Hillage's longtime girlfriend, Miquette Giraudy. She would eventually match Hillage's guitar with her cosmic synths, although here she is just providing some background vocals and playing something called 'Isis vibes." Still, this is the start of a great musical collaboration that continues to this day in their electronic act System 7.

Ironically, Hillage finds his own voice in part through a few covers, which bookend the album muc has the prog epics did on Fish Rising. He opens the disc with a phenomenal version of Donovan's "Hurdy Gurdy Man." Bypassing the proto-heavy metal crunch of the original, Hillage uses the track as a launching point for his echoing sonic explorations. The track eventually drifts into the sweeping pads and eventual climax of the original composition "Hurdy Gurdy Glissando." Closing the album is a cover of George Harrison's "It's All Too Much." This one is far less essential and somewhat closer to the sound of the original, but it's very pleasant.

Between these tracks is one of of Hillage's signature tracks, "Electrick Gypsies." It very much encompasses what will come to define the Hillage vibe, with soaring guitar, a slight 70's funkiness, and cheesy but earnest new age lyrics. Hillage's voice doesn't have much range and it's a bit thin, but he always sounds completely committed and I find his singing infectious. I don't think anyone else could sing this one without making it cringeworthy. "Lunar Musick Suite" is another prog epic, although slightly more condensed than the Fish Rising tracks at twelve minutes. Rundgren's production also helps a lot, giving the track the crisp sound it requires and more focus. His Utopia band mates fill in nicely for Hillage's missing Gong comrades.

I feel that L is the first real Hillage solo album. Here he carves out a sound that can recall his old bands, but also brings something distinctly new to the table. This is Hillage as the quintessential new age informed space rocker.

Buy Me:
Steve Hillage - 1976 - L

Steve Hillage - 1975 - Fish Rising

Quality: 3.5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4 out of 5

Steve Hillage was a phenomenal space guitarist (not that he's dead or anything; it's just that now he's more of an electronic guru) best known for being the axeman during Gong's prime, although he shines in lesser known projects such as Khan. In terms of sheer skill and interstellar trippiness, Hillage blows the far more famous space guitarist David Gilmour out of the water. For this particular niche of guitar music, Hillage really is the best there is.

This album was recorded while Hillage was still affiliated with Gong. The basic sound of this album seems to be an extension of Gong's You. In fact, he dragged along Gong drummer Pierre Moerlin, saxophonist Didier Malherbe, and bassist Mike Howlett along for the ride. This isn't to say that there aren't some major differences. While You drifts into extended grooves and synthesized ether, there is far more instrumental interplay and soloing here. I'd say that Fish Rising is much more of a tradtitional prog album than anything Gong ever did. For me, this is a tiny strike against Fish Rising as I'm not much of proghead, but it could very well be a positive for you. Also, a key component of earlier Gong is the strange humor of Daevid Allen and Gilli Smith. They are nowhere to be found here, and while Hillage has a quirky charm of his own, it doesn't come out as strongly in an atmosphere so reminiscent of Gong.

More annoying is the production. Hillage takes the production reigns himself, and while he would eventually become a fine producer, the sound here gets a little muddy. After hearing Moerlin's drumming with a crisp sound on Gong albums, it's a little disappointing to hear him smeared along the canvas. Keep in mind that this disc is very much a proper remaster, and is far from unlistenable, I just feel that this music would be best heard with a little more definition.

Songwise, the album is bookended by some prog epics. "Solar Musick Suite" and "Aftaglid" both clock in around 15 minutes and include some very extended instrumental sections. I prefer "Solar Music Suite" as it flows more and has a much less lumbering main riff than "Aftaglid." In the end though, both tracks tax my attention span a little bit. Sandwiched between is the short "Fish," the synth swirling "Meditation Of The Snake," and "The Salmon Song." "Meditation Of The Snake" recalls the more esoteric synth side of Gong's You, and that makes it winner in my book. "The Salmon Song" is a far more 'concise' prog rocker at eight and a half minutes, but it has the benefit of including a killer guitar riff.

I feel like Fish Rising was conceived more as a 'side project' to the mothership band of Gong. Hillage would sound much more committed on his second solo album after leaving Gong. Hillage did better soaring than grounded with a heavy prog sound. Just as a side note, I always get an image of midgets dancing around a tiny model of Stonehenge 5:44 into bonus track "Pentagrammaspin."

Buy Me:
Steve Hillage - 1975 - Fish Rising