Hawkwind are a band I struggle with. The listener doesn't want for content, but so much of it is, tbf, pretty disposable. Levitation I really like, but it seems an outlier in terms of quality.

I would love to find more music like those two instrumentals: City of Lagoon, and, Chronoglide Skyway.

If Hawkwind can't cut it, who can?

Almost all of the HAWKWIND instrumentals are excellent, and they are in a lot of albums.

I don't think there is a "band" that does stuff like that so well, however, it is very likely that a lot of it is a good listen to a lot of European bands that mixed things really well instrumentally ... I'm not sure if it fits, but the many keyboard related experiments by many artists all over Europe are probably what you look for, but to make a list is scary ...some of this stuff is way out there, expensive, and not likely to be found in the user bins of LP's ... 

Right off the bat ... and I'm not sure that this is what you look for or not ... 

Space Art

SFF

Hydravion 

Eberhard Schoenner (although some tracks are very different, but the early stuff without Sting is very good)

Phillipe Besombes (Hydravion), also matched up with another (Rizet) to do Pole ... but I think this was a bit more experimental.

I was thinking that what HAWKWIND did was more something out of Simon House's stuff than anything else, and I think that Dave was able to add to it ... in the earlier days, BEFORE Simon House, the band used raw electronics that were augmented by some vocal stuff either by Michael Moorcock or Nik Turner.

Not sure that I did a good job on this or not ... hopefully this helps some, but your request is very tough in general, without making generic suggestions that do not always come up to par with your request.

My take on these things, btw, is very different ... in the very early days, in between songs PF used sound effects and eventually created a story around those (The Wall) ... Hawkwind, did a bit more with the electronics in their early albums also with bits and pieces of words here and there, and then "graduated" to these instrumentals that you mention, and by the time you get to "ELECTRIC TEPEE", these are hard, and solid and very much close to what used to be stated as "psych rock" or "acid rock" ... but in the later days, I think the band lost the taste for these things ... and honestly, I miss them ... my thoughts tend to wonder if these were "songs" that never got words for them ... for whatever reason, but I really think they don't need words in them at all ... they are beautiful to listen to and that is one of my favorite albums, along with the opening (Side 1) of IN THE HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN GRILL which also has a very nice instrumental, and it is pretty much all Simon House.

Simon's solo albums are all instrumental, and sometimes they are hard to deal with as there are too many threads coming and going over other ... and while these are nice, I kinda think that if they were better defined and not have so many effects on them at the same time, they could have even sounded like Tangerine Dream ... which is probably what you want to look at from STRATOSFEAR on for the next 20 or so years.

Hawkwind are an odd band. They aren't the strongest musicians, but they do write some good tunes. Levitation is a fantastic album, I like Chronicles, but there's so muchs tuff out there the signal to noise ratio is pretty high. Plus they are a bit reptetitive and simplistic (don't hate me!).

I do like Tangerine Dream, but really only their period with Johannes Schmoelling, criminalally underrated on here. Force Majeure is really good. Cyclone is ok, the vocals are annoying. Further back than that, and I can't get into it at all. 

 

 

Matthew Wright looks like he's in Space Rock heaven in that video.

I love that track too and the whole album is my favourite Hawkwind one - I prefer the Bob Calvert era. I do prefer the original version to Matthew Wright's. But imagine the buzz of singing with one of your favourite bands. Cool.

The album this version is from: 'Take me to Your Leader' also features Arthur Brown and Lena Lovitch. Not a bad album either.

If you've not already heard it, the soundtrack Miracle Mile is a must. It sounds like a FFS/FFH hybrid.

Also, a Tangerine Dream album called Kyoto exists that features only Edgar and Johannes.

I also recommend Peter Baumann's first two solo records, Romance '76 and Transharmonic Nights, but I'm sure you have them...

Hi,

I am not sure that they are not the strongest musicians ... in general ... you won't last this long without having some strength in what you do ... and do well.

Repetitive ... there was a bit with Jaki (CAN) that was talking to one of the professor/composer in the Berlin School ... and he was asking for more "repetition" ... and not to stop ... which in many ways CAN did anyway. HAWKWIND, did have the "repetition", but it was at a time when the sound effects were totally new, and the maintaining of the repetition, to allow for the complete turning of the sound effect on the music, makes for something rather nice to listen to ... unless one is counting beats and thinking that it is the only listening that you can do to music! The "change" on the effects, from beginning to end, and sometimes for more than several minutes, adds a lot to the music ... that is really easy to not understand, and then think that it is boring ... it isn't boring to me!  

This is, probably, something that is important for HAWKWIND to have done in those earlier days ... but I'm not sure that most fans, TODAY, are allowing for the experimentation that was being done at a time when so much of these electronics were NEW ... which today they aren't ... and sometimes, totally over used, which is what some folks will say about HAWKWIND, but that is a statement "out of time" ... and a slight lack of understanding of what the music equipment had to offer in those days, as opposed to today ... this is major and the reason why so many reviews done today, disrespect some of that older stuff by many bands, because it does not sound clear, or complete, or as I like to say ... cheesy and short ... so you get the feeling the musician knows what they are doing!

And this is a part of the "progressive music" history ... that we tend to ignore ... people really experimented with the equipment, as opposed to today, where you have a hard time finding folks that actually experiment with their music ... perfect example is easy ... always the same format! And none of the "effects" made any difference whatsoever!

Of course. I just want something new to listen to. I've got hillage, gong, ozrics. Not a huge fan of Can/Krautrock though. Ozrics are my favourite but there isn't much else like them. Quantum fantay aren't bad.

All these bands are just iconic so finding stuff similar is tough plus I'm incredibly fussy :D

Could do with some new stuff to listen to

As someone else already said : if you don't like something there's no need to feel guilty about it.  Personally I tried very hard to like Porcupine Tree, and Steven Wilson after that, but after much perseverance and deliberation I think both the guy and his band are just an over rated bunch of complete crap and a total fraud.  I don't feel guilty about the fact that many will undoubtedly disagree with me on that.  It's all just down to personal taste you see..  One mans bunch of ear aching crap is another mans aural delight.

I very much like 1970s Hawkwind myself but yes, they do have a lot of filler material.  I like them for the high points - like Sonic Attack on Space Ritual for example - truly soaring moments which are so often offset by the poor filler material which tends to plague most of their albums and is very much throwaway material.  Warrior on the edge of time is the best Hawkwind album IMHO but all their early albums up to and including Warrior are great if you like the psychadelic 70s kind of thing..   Just bypass the filler tracks and you might eventually come to appreciate them, but don't feel guilty if you never do !.

As for Hawkwind I like most of what I have heard but am far from an expert. I typically just like a spacey sound sometimes so they scratch that itch when I need it. 

Ghost Whistler wrote: Yeah, I don't think Hawkwind are for me. I like some of their stuff, but it's ultimately not satisfying. Like prog rock junk food :D Could do with some new stuff to listen to

For something else to look into I recommend Ozric Tentacles. There is a Hawkwind influence but they are much closer to being virtuosos and are more musical. They are basically pure instrumental though so no vocals except for maybe a tiny bit here and there on their earlier stuff. Also, you might want to check out Eloy or Gong. 

Hawkwind are definitely an acquired taste; back years ago mates of mine who were into Gong and Hillage, Henry cow and Hatfields didn't like Hawkwind because it was just too loud and noisy for them.. and I get that.. but like the Grateful Dead (who really have nothing in common music wise) or Van Der Graaf Generator for that matter they could be brilliant live or truly awful.. but somehow it was when that spark ignited, it just flared up..