Star Nation (was: Re: HW:(was) Hawk Fest in Amsterdam)

[Jonathan Jarrett]

On Thu, Aug 16, 2007 at 05:05:52PM -0500, mike coleman typed out:
> 777 On 8/16/07, StevePXR5 at aol.com StevePXR5 at aol.com
> 777 PS... for those that don't know what I'm on about... Star Nation: "The
> 777 Silver Age

	<snip>

> I only have the first one minus it's hand-made original cover (tear fall),
> and I've been stubborn about playing it because that cover will run through
> my mind during the course...(I'm getting there)
> the question:
> which one do I have? and how many are there?

	There are two. The EP you have, five-track with the Long Man of 
Wilmington or whichever one it is on the cover, is the initial outing, 
and has a couple of nice frantic bits on it (especially `Coup Sticks') 
but only goes so far and suffers from a problem with the lyrics IMO in 
that it sounds like a militant Steve Hillage wrote them, angry hippies 
which doesn't really ring true.

	The second one kind of recognises the conceptual problem there 
because its artwork includes, on the first page of the booklet, a 
drawing of an unnamed stoner lying flat on the floor in a hoodie 
that looks like the costume Max had in _Where The Wild Things Are_ 
(possibly not an international reference) with gaming console controls 
still in hand, stub-filled ashtray over the TV still, eyes shut and well 
gone, captioned, "Mashed". And this is why the hippies have not yet 
achieved the Revolution, friends. Anyway.

	The second one is entitled _The Silver Age_ and it is really 
pretty good. The songs are less political and more interesting, but also 
far more powerful musically, and better blended into each other. There 
seem to be reviews all over the web for this one, so you can gather the 
general idea, but I would say that the Kollector in you *needs* this one 
for the following reasons: (1) Ron is on it for one track, albeit not at 
his best IMO, but he makes a much more convincing angry hippy than 
Richard or Jerry; (2) there is a song called `Star Rats' which appears 
at first, second and indeed every subsequent sight I've so far had at 
the lyrics to be Richard's take on why the Great Ship Hawkwind has had 
such trouble flying at times lately; and (3), the booklet has a pop-up 
drawing of the band standing in front of various world-pagan monoliths 
and it's fabulous.

	When it came out a couple of people said `ah this is where the 
spirit of Hawkwind's gone'--not sure I agree with that but certainly, if 
you accept that there *is* a furrow to plough in where spacerock not 
just borrows from techno but picks it up, sends sparks through its hair 
and runs off with it at high speed cackling, this is probably the best 
attempt to do so there will ever be. Not 100% success, and not all of 
that description (there's a very sweet song called `Invisible Girl' 
which is just perfect psych-pop instead, for example), but definitely a 
brave attempt to forge new things in the genre. I would get hold of it 
if you still can.

	You can Google for reviews of the second album, there are loads, 
most obviously on Starfarer's pages for example, but *both* discs seem 
to be reviewed, and pictured, here:

http://www.musicstreetjournal.com/starnationlist.htm

	Yours,
		Jon (still here, until Trev convinces me)

ObCD: Bevis Frond - _Vavona Burr_
-- 
"When fortune wanes, of what assistance are quantities of elephants?"
	    (Juvaini, Afghan Muslim chronicler, c. 1206)
 Jon Jarrett, Fitzwilliam Museum, jjarrett at chiark.greenend.org.uk