Two of my favorite things, sci-fi and prog-rock, together at last. But what exactly is Space Rock? To me, it is more of a feeling than a strict stylistic descriptor. Anything that inspires me to imagine blasting through the cosmos fits the bill well enough. To be honest, I can not articulate it much better than that.
I grew up on Star Trek: The Next Generation and it is still my all time favorite TV program. I recall catching one episode every weeknight in the early to mid-nineties on the local Fox affiliate. My father, two younger sisters and I would curl up just before bed and let Jean-Luc make it so. This has carried on to my adult life. The lady and I ritualistically work our way through the series one episode per night before bed. My fascination with the show really drove me to explore the genre of sci-fi. Borrowing my uncle's immense back log of Asimov's Science Fiction periodicals, I had access to thousands of short science fiction stories. Douglas Adams, Philip K. Dick, and William Gibson still populate my regular reading regimen. Being able to combine my love of Sci-Fi with my love of music is the penultimate entertainment for me.
Rush, early Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree and Ozric Tentacles; there is a lot of really good Space Rock out there. It is easy to squeeze a lot of artists into the genre if you really try. Emerging in the early seventies in Britain' the genre experienced a revival in the early nineties, but under a sometime different moniker. Then referred to as Shoegazer or Stoner Metal, many excellent groups built on the experimental, texture focused approach to composition. Yo La Tengo, Kyuss, and Tool; many of my favorite bands were born of this movement.
Space Rock is still chugging along, though more recently many groups have emerged that have a more Metal than Rock sensibility. Mastodon, The Sword, Earth; some of what I consider to be the top of the current field of bands can be labeled as Space Rock.
Today, I will review an album by a band that has flown just under the radar for almost a decade, Zombi.
Zombi - Spirit Animal
http://www.discogs.com/Zombi-Spirit-Animal/release/1668320
Relapse records signed Zombi shortly after their formation in 2002. It is an interesting choice of labels for the band as most of Relapse's catalog is Metal. It's great for us though, Relapse puts out some really good presses of their catalog. Usually available with an initial but limited colored vinyl release followed by a larger 180 gram black vinyl release I have found their offering to be excellent without exception. This pressing of Spirit Animal is the white version. There is a really small batch of them available on clear vinyl (100 I believe) and a larger batch of them on 180 gram black. They have not repressed this album as far as I know, so there are only 1,000 total available; 100 clear, 400 Black 180 gram, and 500 white. This, the third offering from Zombi, is the first to implore the use of an electric guitar.
The front jacket features a charging tusked elephant kicking up dust as it approaches. A storm roils in the background as lightning arcs between the clouds. It conveys a frightening sense of a not altogether expected meeting.
The back of the jacket lists the tracks and credits. Two penned elephants separate them on a deep red background.
The vinyl itself, though described as white, is really more of an egg or cream. To me it looks delicious, I want to eat it. The album spans two LPs, both white with custom labels. The sleeves are thick white paper with the top corner cut.
This is the first time I've spun this album, but not the first of it I have heard. I also purchased the CD on a whim before buying the vinyl; I really wanted to hear it and I have very little self control. After an initial brushing, I see no defects and I expect their to be no problems with the physical quality of the medium.
That should cover the technical details, time for a bowl. This album progresses in five movements, basically one per side. I will review them accordingly and as there are no lyrics, I will transcribe what the album moves me to.
Spirit Animal
The first side spirit animal really launches your space ship. It builds quickly and then trances you into submission through the use of full, warbling phased synth. Percussion skitters along beneath you as the focus of the music falls from front to back. It is pared down to echoing keys and low synth midway through then reconstructs piece by piece into a reprise. You can almost feel the elephants attention turn to you as the storm approaches. The tempo changes as Spirit Animal concludes, tranced me the fuck out.
Spirit Warrior
This track is the first to incorporate the use of electric guitar, and it is fucking awesome. Pink Floyd comes to mind immediately, slow bent tones tickle our emotions. This track also is effective at hypnotizing you, the bass repetitively slides up and down as you sink back in your chair. The composition reminds me of King Crimson, it is fucking excellent. The track begins to take on a definite Godspeed feel toward its end.
Earthly Powers & Cosmic Powers
Side 3 is the only side that contains two tracks. The first, Earthly Powers is a happy medium between King Crimson's The Power to Believe and Porcupine Tree. The main riff is really familiar, I almost wonder if it was heavily "influenced" from elsewhere. The tone on this track is significantly darker than the first two. Apprehensive and uneasy, you feel a sense of foreboding. Cosmic Powers is really spacey. A walking bass line rumbles beneath trancey synth. A heavily distorted and effected (?) guitar enters the soundscape and transforms the track into an almost Ozric Tentacles style jam. The tempo picks up as we build toward the final track.
Through Time
The last track remains fairly similar stylistically. However, part way through a synth sirens and the percussion picks up. The bass is distorted and the time signature becomes complex. This track is very disconcerting during this portion. As the track progresses, it becomes more and more disheveled but is brought back from the edge of falling apart by chirping synthesizers. The track slowly fades out and static resonates for a few moments as we contemplate the album.
Due to the limited pressing, this album can be difficult to find and impossible to purchase for a reasonable price. Nothing on eBay, starting at $50 on discogs. It is a god damned travesty because this album is a must own. The sound quality compared to the CD version is, to me, superior. There is a large spectrum of tonality and volume that really shines through on the medium of vinyl. I am tempted to say it is worth the fifty bucks, but then I think about the value of fifty bucks. That's like two weeks of lunch or a tank of gas, not an inconsiderate amount of scrilla. I would say that if you have followed the band for a while, grab it up. But in that case, you are probably one of the thousand or so that already has.
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