steve hiLLAGE

L is my fav. awesome production of Todd Rundgren, amazing Don Cherry (this days member of Todd Rundgren's Utopia, & recorded his legendary albums for ECM production too),  in " Lunar Music Suite", the track which they made in the studio in Woodstock, New York, only in the full moon nights . 

Originally posted by Cheesecakemouse Originally posted by Certif1ed Originally posted by Cheesecakemouse I really like Khan, shame they didn't stay together, but because of that I'll have to keep a look out for Fish Rising (and also Egg but that has little relevance to this thread)      If you haven't already, get the Arzachel album - Steve played under the pseudonym Simon Sasparilla because of legal issues - indeed, the whole band played under pseudonyms - but in Steve's case, it was largely because of his age (he was 17). It's an incredible album, not least when you consider his age. Steve's talent for turning blues licks into something altogether more out of this world is highly enviable, and Miquette Giraudy's synth work is near-miraculous at times. I think his best "rock" album is "Fish Rising". The System 7 stuff is quite amazing too, ranging from the ambience of "777" to the near full-on techno on "Power of Seven" that pretty much paved the way to the Trance explosion in the late 1990s, of which a goodly proportion is progressive. You could hear the electronica thing developing in his music in the quirky "For to Next" and "And Not Or" of the early 1980s - but I still hear those as fun curios rather than anything substantial, musically speaking.   Thanks a lot for the info!

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Originally posted by ViolinCyndee Originally posted by oliverstoned Thanks for the samples. OK, so we'll maybe meet each other in 'Dam, although the ticket price is outrageously high.     High?????????  Hmmmmmmmmm I thought it was a bargain for 3 days of GONG and Gong-related bands.  I am looking forward to seeing Steve play with Gong and the other ensembles he will be playing with!  (btw..  I will also be playing in the other room, coming from the US)   Cyndee

His remasters are due out very soon of course, I believe. I liked the Khan album a lot, wasn't as enamoured with Arzachel but it's a good effort for the era of course.

Originally posted by Syzygy The techno beat isn't that strong on the System 7 I've heard, but it's definitely there. Point 3 was released in 'Fire' and 'Water' mixes; the Water mix was more ambient and left the beats out, so if you find the rhythm off putting maybe you will enjoy that one.   There are some short samples on their website http://www.a-wave.com/system7/   The discography is pretty informative as well.

Although I hate pidgeonholes, I think here is one instance I'll make an exception - System 7 is far closer to Psy-Trance than Techno; their sets tend to start off with a slow, almost chillout vibe, but slowly, they bring in richer textures and harder beats - before you know it, you're dancing like mad & don't know how you got there...

I was never lucky enough to see Hillage in the late 1970s, but I've seen System 7 many times:

    

For an album which best sums them up, I'd recommend 'Live Transmissions' if you can get hold of it - it was a free performance a couple of years ago they did in the studio & broadcast from the website.

He's now gone in a slightly different direction, too - his 'Mirror System' project is similar in feel to System 7, but more aimed at the chillout room, than the dance floor, and the album (released last year) is an absolute stunner...

One gripe - I found out last week, System 7 played in support of Ozric Tentacles in London a couple of weeks ago; don't know if it happened, but I'd be surprised if there wasn't a point at which Hillage was playing guitar with the Ozrics...

Thanks for the samples. OK, so we'll maybe meet each other in 'Dam, although the ticket price is outrageously high.

Thanks!

Do you plain to attend to Gong Amsterdam in November?


    

Edited by oliverstoned - August 21 2006 at 07:04

Is there some "boom boom" beat on System 7, Chris?

Originally posted by Intruder His style and mentality perfectly meshed with the Daevid Allen/Gong philosophy....but I agree with the underachiever tag.  There just aren't enough Hillage albums out there.....we need more vintage Hillage....open up the archives and let some of those old tapes out!

    

Try Gong live Sherwood forest 75'...
I did a review. Steve Hillage is on top form and there's some incredible "Fish rising" live material.