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Atomhenge ATOMCD 1027. Originally released as Flicknife Records/ SHARP 018 in April, 1984. 24-bit remaster- ed compilation. 2011 Cherry Red Records Ltd. Includes ( 9 ) tracks plus ( 5 ) bonus tracks. Dave Brock plays: guitars, synths, keyboards, drum-machine, biscuit tin and vocals ( -except "Winter" by Bob Calvert ). Drums

on "Social Alliance" by Keith Jones. Includes ( 6 ) page B&W/ colour booklet and liner notes by Brian Tawn.  

PREFACE:  It was late October, 79'. My backpack was packed. I was ready to go. I'd be spending my winter in Colorado working at a ski lodge. My last order of business was to enclose my twenty question interview along with a cassette tape in the padded manila envelope and get to the post-office before I left. I had interested Synapse Magazine in my idea of doing an interview with Dave Brock. Whether or not Dave would actually      concede to doing it was another matter. None-the-less I thought I'd give it a try.

To be honest, after sending the package I never gave it another thought until I returned home the following March. If you've ever worked a season in the Colorado ski/ tourism industry you'll know why. Simply stated,      I was too damned busy working 10-12 hour days  to think about it! However, when I arrived home in March  the following year, my folks told me there was a package from England waiting in my bedroom. It took me a second or two to remember what it might be. "Could it be that interview tape I'd sent Dave?" 

For years the music press has "pigeon-holed" Hawkwind as a bunch of drug-addled hippies capable only of playing simple "3-chord LSD music". That and the fact they used to employ a topless dancer ( Stacia ) during their 70's  stage shows. That's about all our music press wants to focus on with regards to Hawkwind. What      a shame! They completely overlook the fact that Hawkwind literally created the "Spacerock" genre we know today. It's a true statement to say that: "Without Hawkwind Spacerock wouldn't exist!"

And as the band's founder, much of the group's penchant for sonic experimentation originates with Dave       

( -with a sizable dollop of credit also going to the band's early "synth-gnomes" Del Dettmar, Dik Mik ( -who sadly, as we go online with this piece -has just passed away. RIP Mik! ), and later to Simon House -for giving  the band their distinctive "sonic icing" of synthesized "spaciness" back in the day ). In many ways, "Earthed    to the Ground" has that same old-school feel of joyous, unfettered sonic experimentation. And much of it is quite listenable too. Electronic-music and Hawkwind fans alike will find it thoroughly engaging!

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So, here are my impressions of the ( 14 ) tracks on this compilation album:

"Earthed to the Ground":  A pumping sequencer and drum-machine fueled tale about a tech-geek pining away for the ultimate "man cave" set-up ( -and what he'd do with it ). "I'm wired up for sound,...I'm earthed to the ground".  Lots of synth effects and even an audio-clip from the vintage "Superman" serial thrown in for good measure.  Segueways into: 

"Assassination":  One of Dave's best EMS Synthi-Aks sound collages in my opinion. It incorporates actual      60's newsreel audio footage from the JFK/ Oswald and Senator Edward Kennedy assassinations. The intense    ( -bordering on hysterical field reporter's coverage of the shootings ) are duly documented as twittering EMS Synthi flourishes, a continuing heartbeat and heavy-breathing sound-effects along with a gradually faded-in human drummer establishes a compelling mid-tempo rock beat ( -making the point that with tape and    today's memory-storage technology ) the famous and "infamous" can now live on in perpetuity "frozen 

in time".  An rather astute observation for a Hawkwind member -wouldn't you say music critics? 

"Green Finned Demon":  Swamp like sound-effects, tined organ chords, tweezy synth and a slow padding sequencer line sets the mood for this sci-fi tinged "Creature from the Black Lagoon" tale.  The song closes out with some fuzzed electric-guitar and overdubbed Mike Oldfield-style "gliss guitar" riffing and creature sounds. Not my favorite track on the album but quite imaginative none-the-less.

"Spirits":  Opens with a cool heterodyning oscillator drone as a low pumping synth sequencer line establishes the spine of this electronic instrumental. Metallic xylophone-like synth clangings mark out a mystically cadenced pattern of notes as a variety of curious sounds ( chimes, cymbals, whispers, a horn blow and synth twitters ) fill the background. Shakers are brought in to add a tribal feel before the cryptic synth pattern concludes and synth drone fades. Nice! 

"Sweet Obsession":  Easily the disc's most "radio-friendly" tune. Based upon an engaging acid-guitar            riff ( -with a drum-machine providing the steady backbeat ).  A song about one man's romantic obsession:      "I received your letter but the information's clear, I want to keep the feeling going -not let it disappear..."          Some nicely crafted lyrics and about as close to a "love song" as you'll get from Dave and Hawkwind.            This song is so hummable it could actually be played on "Top 40" radio!  A really nice and accessible tune!

"Oscillations":  An inviting ditty with warm and friendly sounding keyboards and sweeping, ringing "oscillating"  synths. About one man's obsession with sound and technology. Ends with an ascending synth frequency sweep and stereoscopic panning pitch-shifted vocals.  A really nice song. 

"Machine Dream":  A raw chucking guitar/ bass intro with tambourine and queasy pitch-bending synth chords. Builds to an unremitting sonic onslaught with layered keyboard pads ( -until you hear an irate father insistently knocking on his son's bedroom door shouting "Hey, will you turn that down -I can't hear a bloody thing! Can you hear me? Turn it DOWN!", after which the track abruptly stops. The soundtrack of many Hawkwind fan's  teen years no doubt! Clever and funny.  

"Now is the Winter of our Discontent":  Opens with a meandering EMS Synthi-Aks sequencer line and recurring "total- destruction" electric-guitar phrasings. Bob Calvert gives us a phase-shifted/ flanged recitation of Shakes- peare's renown sonnet. Sweeping, gliding oscillators and filtered sequencer effects provide the electronic back-drop. A nice reading by Bob with plenty vocal drama ( -enhanced  by the phased/ flanged treatment ). A great track that could've been better if it were shortened a bit. 

"On the Case" ( -starts at 8:14 mins. in ) An acid-guitar tale of a "Sam Spade" like detective whose definitely "on the case". The perco-lating drum-machine beat and wasp-angry electric-guitar lick, combined with it's sly, strutting "tongue-in-cheek" lyrics are quite infectious and appealing. Reinforcing synth refrains shore up the song's ending refrains. One of the album's more "radio-friendly" cuts. It'll leave you with a smile on your face. Too bad Bogey didn't have this song for his "The Maltese Falcon" soundtrack....

This CD compilation includes five "bonus tracks" not found on the album's original 1984 vinyl pressing.

So, if you're looking for maximum "value for your money" this CD has it!  And good tracks they are too.

Here are my impressions of them: 

"Zones":  Filtered EMS Synthi-Aks and arpeggiated/ sequenced opening with taped CB trucker snippets.  I think this served as the intro to "Dangerous Visions" on another Hawkwind album. Here it serves as the intro to: 

"Processed":  An early, less polished version of Hawkwind's "Living on a Knife Edge" tune from the band's 1981 "Sonic Attack" album. A good deal different from the later version. This song could've been the sound- track for Oliver Stone's film "Snowden". Brock was definitely ahead of his time penning these lyrics way back  in the late seventies. Unfortunately, Dave's cautionary tale of an encroaching "surveillance state" is becoming  all too real these days ( -with Edward Snowden's recent revelations concerning the NSA ). Once again, Brock's perceptive lyrics disprove  the music press' rote categorization of Hawkwind as mere "stoner rock"! 

"Social Alliance":  A power-drenched electric guitar "barn-burner".  This rotorhythmic, cadenced riff ( -with    it's filtered synths swirling about ) is a veritable shred-fest! The tune's throw-away lyrics "Sunshine alliance are you in distress? Just contact me and we'll do our best!" mean absolutely nothing but sound darn good with the lunging, headstrong riff.  At least until the song is "digested into" a synth filter tweaking session and regurgit- ated out the other side with renewed sonic vigor ( -restating the tune's lyrics and ending abruptly with Dave's  parting salvo: "Thank you and good night..." ).

The last two tracks on the album are a mixed bag. While I love "Wired up for Sound", I could've done without "Raping Robots in the Streets" -my least favorite song on the compilation. 

"Raping Robots in the Streets":  A cacophanous, synthesized "robot march". Opens with Dave's shouted      and "answered" vocals about life in the days of an android society. My least favorite tune on the album.      Next please!

"Wired up for Sound":  Clinking electric-guitar chiff start that "warms up" with bassy, fuzzed acid-guitar and    re-purposes some of "Earthed to the Ground's" lyrics. Great power-soaked riff! Too bad it ends just as it gets going. I would've liked to hear this track go on a bit longer. I can never get enough of Dave's acid-guitar riffs!

So, there you have it. I'll just go ahead and say it: "Earthed to the Ground" is a great album! Is it perfect?      No, but what is? Do a few of it's songs carry on a bit too long? Yeah, but overall I loved going along for the ride. And while I have something of a personal attachment to this album ( -as explained above ), I can heartily recommend it to both Hawkwind fans and electronic-music afficianados alike.

If you enjoy the thrill of sonic discovery, this album will be right up your alley! Each track is a new "sonic experiment" and you get to "go along for the ride" ( -as Dave tries out new guitar pedal effects, synth patches, vocal processing tricks and merges them with "found" audio snippets, clever song edits and segueways ).    And that's not even mentioning the occasionally brilliant, insightful and truly visionary lyrics and concepts      Dave explores on this album. So, overall this album is unique and well worth having! 

In the unlikely event that Dave ever gets around to reading this review -I'd like to thank him again for doing 

that 1979 interview ( -and also for sending those great studio tracks! ). And while I'm at it, I'd like to ask his permission to re-print  that 1979 interview here in "Creative Tech Nerds" ( -for fans who may want to read it ).  And lastly, since a lot of "water has gone under the bridge" since 1979/ 80' -I'd also like to ask Dave to do   

a new interview for CTN ( -covering some of the band's more recent  history ). I've come up with some    intriguing questions and ideas for the band and I'd be interested in getting Dave's "feedback" on them. 

As mentioned above, a couple of the tunes Dave included at the end of my interview tape remain a "mystery"    to me up until the present day. I've never heard them on any other  Hawkwind album ( or ) for that matter,    on any of Dave's other solo albums ( -though I haven't heard his "Brockworld" album yet ). Since I really dig these tunes, I'm hoping some keen Hawkfan out there might know the title of these songs ( -along with what  album they can be found on ). If you know, leave me an e-mail on my Contact Page and I'll give you proper credit in this article. I'd  really like to find these "Lost" Brock tunes! 

The first of these songs featured a repeating "mod-sounding" Farfisa combo organ riff and chiffing electric-guitar with Dave chanting a recurring "Mummenshantz -Mummenshantz -Mummenshantz" refrain which evolved into:  "moan and shout -moan and shout -moan and shout" and some words like "when I get          my -something -something -momma give me Mummenshantz...." ( -with Dave's voice trailing off into

the background ).

The second featured a tasty, cadenced "Kraftwerk-like" synth part along with some gentle, reverbed electric guitar riffings and noodlings ( -with some poignant string bends added in here and there ). Some very nice      stuff! I only wish these had made it onto the "Earthed to the Ground" compilation! So, if you're a super        Brock/ Hawkwind afficianado and happen to know the names of these "lost tunes" let me know!

While I'm at it I thought I'd give you some quick "thumbnail" reviews of Dave's OTHER solo albums.  So, here then are my brief impressions of each ( -except the "Brockworld" album which I have yet to hear ):