Former HAWKWIND Members ROBERT CALVERT & ALAN DAVEY Join THE ROLLING STONES’ MICK TAYLOR For A Transdimensional Rock Anthem From Upcoming Album CHAOS ROCKS By Supergroup HAWKESTREL!

When former Hawkwind bass player Alan Davey first launched his Hawkestrel project, an intrepid, free-wheeling collaborative space rock supergroup, the world was on the verge of being plunged into the COVID pandemic. Like a starship bound for better worlds, the band, which counted Hawkwind co-founder Nik Turner along with several other Hawkwind alumni among its crew, ventured beyond the darkness that engulfed the planet and reached meteoric heights, being embraced by both longtime Hawkwind fans and newcomers alike.

Now the mighty Hawkestrel is ready to soar once again with a new album coming April 12. Hosting another collection of stellar musicians and heroic “musicnauts,” including one actual space traveler, William Shatner, alongside Simon House, Mick Slattery, Huw Lloyd-Langton, Helios Creed, and lots more, Chaos Rocks seeks to pay tribute to the past, revamping classic songs like “Silver Machine” as well as honoring those who now live among the stars. Just check out the album’s first single, a transformation of Robert Calvert’s “Evil Rock” from his 1981 album with the brilliant Mick Taylor lending his prodigious six-string talents. The results are simply out of this world!

Album features Hawkwind Alumni Alan Davey, Nik Turner, Huw Lloyd-Langton, Simon House & Mick Slattery
PLUS Chrome's Helios Creed, space captain William Shatner, Cactus drummer Carmine Appice and more!

Chaos Rocks will be available on all formats including CD, vinyl and digital beginning on April 12. The CD version even features bonus tracks of songs that have never before appeared on physical format and include special guests Ginger Baker, Geoff Downes, Adam Hamilton and more!

Stream/download the single: https://orcd.co/hawkestrel_evilrock2023ad
Order the CD/Vinyl: https://cleorecs.com/store/?s=hawkestrel+chaos+rocks&post_type=product
Pre-order/pre-save the digital: https://orcd.co/hawkestrel_chaosrocks

The Origin of Cyberpunk, Hawkwind and Michael Moorcock

Cleopatra Records Issues Deluxe Collector’s Edition Of HAWKWIND Co-Founder NIK TURNER’s 1978 Album XITINTODAY!

From ‘60s legends the Grateful Dead to Grammy winning flautist Paul Horn, industrial band Killing Joke, and Hawkwind co-founder Nik Turner, Egypt’s Great Pyramids have been a powerful source of inspiration for many musical adventurers over the years. Some, like Turner, have even gone so far as to record their instruments inside the ancient wonders, capturing the unique resonance of these mystical spaces and blending them with modern techniques and sensibilities to create a truly innovative work of art. Shortly after his abrupt departure from Hawkwind in the late ‘70s, Turner recorded nearly a half an hour’s worth of improvised flute melodies within the Egyptian pyramids, which he then used as the basis for his incredible 1978 experimental ambient masterpiece Xitintoday. The album, which is officially credited to Nik Turner’s Sphynx, is an adventurous, groundbreaking collaboration with several alums from prog rock legends Gong including Steve Hillage (who produced the album), Miquette Giraudy, Harry Williamson, Mike Howlett, Tim Blake and more.

For Turner, the album has a more personal meaning as he explains, “Xitintoday was a very necessary source of catharsis and healing for me, not only from being fired by my former band but also from the death of my father.”

Now this superb project is being reissued in a deluxe collector’s edition on gorgeous picture disc vinyl housed in a gatefold jacket with 16-page booklet insert that meticulously recreates the distinctive artwork of graphic design icon Barney Bubbles. The package also includes the entire album on CD with a special bonus track of Turner's raw 30-minute flute recording from deep within the pyramid. 

Track List:
VINYL
SIDE A
1. The Awakening (Life On Venus)
2. The Pyramid Spell
3. The Hall Of Double Truth
4. Anubis
5. Thoth

SIDE B
1. Horus
2. Isis And Nephthys
3. Osiris
4. God Rock (The Awakening)

CD
1. The Awakening (Life On Venus)
2. The Pyramid Spell
3. The Hall Of Double Truth
4. Anubis                                                                                                                  Xitintoday (Picture Disc Vinyl)
5. Thoth                                                                                                
6. Horus
7. Isis And Nephthys
8. Osiris
9. God Rock (The Awakening)
BONUS TRACK
10. Pyramidflutenik 

The Encyclopædia Hawkwindia The Ultimate Guide to More Than Fifty Years of Hawkwind by Dave Thompson Now Available!

Almost 600 pages of Brain Damage!

The Encyclopædia Hawkwindia is the ultimate guide to more than fifty years of Hawkwind, from the first show in August,1969, to the next scheduled gig in February, 2021.

Arranged alphabetically, the encyclopædia contains over 1,750 entries, from “Abducted” to ZZZ, and includes every song… every single… every album… every band member… dancers… festivals… spin-offs… side projects… solo albums… live shows… support bands… cover versions… venues… characters… crew… record labels… managers… reissues… compilations… tributes… culture… friends and relations…. and more.

More than seventy interviews, many undertaken specifically for the encyclopædia, include recollections, anecdotes and personal details from such icons of Hawkwind history as founder members Dave Brock and Nik Turner, classic line-up mainstays Lemmy, Robert Calvert, Stacia and Del Dettmar, and a host of names from throughout the band’s long history - Alan Davey, Paul Rudolph, Adrian Shaw, Huw Lloyd Langton, Bridget Wishart, Mr Dibs, Simon House and more.

There are entries for members’ pre- and post-Hawkwind projects - Magic Muscle and Krel, Smartpils and Spirits Burning.

For like-minded travellers through space rock and beyond - Michael Moorcock and Motörhead, the Pink Fairies and Gong.

For the Bath Festival and the Battle of the Beanfield, Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid of Cheops.

200 illustrations include vintage press cuttings, memorabilia, art and rare photographs from musicians’ personal collections.

________________

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Dave Thompson is author of over 150 books, mostly on music, but other themes besides.

He is co-author of autobiographies by Nik Turner, photographer Bob Gruen, Motown legends Eddie and Brian Holland, New York Doll Sylvain Sylvain, Heartbreaker Walter Lure, The Yardbirds’ Jim McCarty, Fairport’s Judy Dyble, folkie Steve Ashley and Nektar’s Roye Albrighton (forthcoming). He also wrote the official tenth anniversary history of Fruits de Mer Records.

Thompson has written at length about Space Rock, Glam Rock, Industrial, Goth, Alternative and Punk, including biographies of David Bowie, the Sweet, Sparks, Genesis, Jeff Beck, Robert Plant, Deep Purple, Rozz Williams (forthcoming) and Cream.

Thompson’s journalism and music writing has appeared in a wide variety of publications, including Goldmine, Record Collector, Mojo, Alternative Press, Rolling Stone, Spin, Melody Maker, Zig Zag, huH, Seattle Times, Music Week and others.

To purchase: https://hawkwindencyclopaedia.wordpress.com

HAWKWIND Supergroup HAWKESTREL Release Second Album PIONEERS OF SPACE Plus Single Featuring ROBERT CALVERT!

Hot on the tail feathers of last year’s debut album from Hawkestrel, the project spearheaded by former Hawkwind bass player Alan Davey, comes this brand-new album from the quintessential Hawkwind supergroup! Made up of more Hawkwind alumni than any previous project, Hawkestrel is truly the next evolution of this legendary British rock legacy. The new album, Pioneers of Space, continues the sci-fi adventures with a mix of original compositions and bold covers including the wildly adventurous version of Post Malone's megahit “Circles” featuring some stellar guitar work from Hall Of Fame nominee Todd Rundgren. And Rundgren isn’t the only special guest here; also contributing their talents are former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor, prog legend David Cross, electric violinist L. Shankar, wild man Arthur Brown, MC5’s Wayne Kramer, and lots more!

For a taste of what’s in store, the first single from the album “Day Of The Quake” is currently available on all digital platforms. The track is a complete revamp of a rare early ‘80s recording from Hawkwind’s much loved poet laureate, Robert Calvert. Davey enthuses about the track saying, “From the lyrical genius that is Bob Calvert comes ‘Day of the Quake.’ This masterclass of English poetics gets married up to some up-tempo exciting music I wrote with the one and only Mick Taylor guesting on lead guitar and the legendary Nik Turner on sax. Get ready to rumble!”

Pioneers of Space will be available starting October 16 in a digipak CD and two vinyl configurations: a special double vinyl set with a bonus EP or the single LP set in RED colored vinyl!

Day of the Quake

Punk Icon RAT SCABIES Releases Remix Of 1981 Track By HAWKWIND’s ROBERT CALVERT!

When two rebellious, boundary-pushing artistic minds come together, sparks will definitely fly. And if those two minds happen to belong to two of Britain’s most creative experimentalists, namely, punk musician/raconteur Rat Scabies and the enigmatic poet/visionary Robert Calvert, then you can guarantee the result will be utterly unique. Although Calvert shed his mortal coil in 1988, after an astounding career as the lyricist and vocalist for the legendary Hawkwind, multiple solo albums and collaborations with the likes of Brian Eno, Arthur Brown, and Motörhead’s Lemmy, his music continues to inspire and Scabies remix of Calvert’s watershed track “Lord Of The Hornets” will most certainly keep the flame burning bright. The track originally appeared on Calvert’s 1981 solo album Hype, an ahead-of-its-time masterpiece that has received renewed attention in recent year.

Scabies describes his involvement with the remix, saying “Bob Calvert and I buddied up during the ‘80s. I loved his approach to making music and his ability to write great lyrics about the most random and everyday topic. It was with a great deal of respect and caution that I approached a remix of one of his best-known songs. While I mixed, the back of my mind had a constant nagging as to whether Bob would have approved of the treatment I was giving one of his most iconic songs. Him and the legions of Calvert/Hawkwind fans out there who will happily lynch me if I’ve messed it up. In truth, and without a Ouija Board, I’ll never know what Bob would have made of it. For my part, I freshened up the backing tracks, added real drums and guitars and as Bob was such a consummate performer his vocals were untouchable and best left alone. The rest of you can make your own minds up as to whether it meets with your approval or not. So, twist one up, hit the couch and enjoy!”

Scabies remix also features additional contributions from Chris Constantinou (Adam Ant/One Thousand Motels) on bass and backing vocals, and Billy Shinbone (Neville Staple Band/The Sinclairs) on guitar. It is available now on all music platforms.

 Also be on the lookout for a full-length Robert Calvert remix project to be released later this year featuring a host of supremely talented electronic artists including Xiu Xiu, Die Krupps, Joy Division’s Peter Hook, Small Black, The KVB, Soft Kill, Black Plastic feat. Richard Butler of Psychedelic Furs, Xeno & Oaklander, Sixth June, and more - courtesy of Cleopatra Records! 

TODD RUNDGREN & L. SHANKAR Join HAWKESTREL for a Cover of POST MALONE’s “CIRCLES!”

Hot on the heels of their debut release, The Future Is Us, the Hawkwind-themed supergroup returns with a brand new single, “Circles” featuring the extraordinary guitar work of legend Todd Rundgren and gorgeous violin soloing by musical genius Lakshminarayana Shankar (L. Shankar) who has worked with Frank Zappa, U2, Peter Gabriel, Jeff Beck, Pete Townsend and many, many others! The song, which will be featured on the forthcoming Hawkestrel album (coming in 2020), is an historic first for Prog Rock as it is the first Prog Rock-style cover version of a song originally performed by a hip hop artist!

To purchase the Hawkestrel album, The Future Is Us, on CD, go here: https://cleorecs.com/store/shop/hawkestrel-the-future-is-us-cd/
Buy the vinyl here: https://cleorecs.com/store/shop/hawkestrel-the-future-is-us-limited-edition-blue-vinyl/
Buy the digital here: https://orcd.co/hawkestrelthefutureisus 

HAWKWIND Collaborator MICHAEL MOORCOCK & THE DEEP FIX Release Third Studio Album!

As a novelist and short-story writer, Michael Moorcock stands with one foot planted firmly in reality and the other in fantasy. He has won and been short-listed for almost every award in the sf/fantasy world as well as in the wider literary world. The London Times named him one of the fifty best British writers since 1945. He scripted ‘The Land That Time Forgot’ film and his Jerry Cornelius novel ‘The Final Programme’ was filmed with Jon Finch. His much-imitated and most famous character, Elric, is currently optioned for TV/movies and the BBC have his Hawkmoon series under option. As a journalist, he has written for The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Financial Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The New Statesman, and The Spectator.

His music career has been no less laudatory. When performing with Hawkwind, Moorcock won a gold disc for Warrior on the Edge of Time. He has also worked with Blue Öyster Cult, Robert Calvert, Spirits Burning, and developed his own music project dubbed The Deep Fix. Moorcock’s long friendship with the legendary guitarist-bookscout Martin Stone (The Action/Mighty Baby, Savoy Brown, Chilli Willie) culminated in their decision to do an album together. They had grown up in the same town and had similar influences as musicians and readers. Both lived in Paris. The result is the new studio album Live At The Terminal Café.

Moorcock explains the genesis of the album: “Martin contacted Denis Baudrillart, the outstanding French drummer, and bassist/all-rounder Brad Scott and we rented a rehearsal studio. Eventually, the basic tracks were recorded in Montmartre and after that it was up to my friend Sean Orr in Texas to add fiddle and friend Don Falcone in California to perform his magic, adding Catherine Foreman and Jonathan Segel (Camper Van Beethoven), and our first psychedelic Country & Cajun record was ready to go. Like a lot of my music, it’s intended to complement certain books of mine, in this case, the ‘Blood’ trilogy set in Texas and Louisiana where the Earth’s polarities are reversed, with bizarre consequences.”

Moorcock wrote or co-wrote the 11 songs, sings lead vocals on all tracks, and also performed harmonica on two songs on Live At The Terminal Café. The album was mixed and produced by Don Falcone, who runs the music collective Spirits Burning.

Both the CD package and vinyl version include full lyrics, plus artwork by Walter Simonson (best known for Marvel Comics’ Thor), who drew Moorcock’s DC series ‘Michael Moorcock’s Multiverse’.

Band links:
www.multiverse.org
https://www.reverbnation.com/michaelmoorcockandthedeepfix  

Buy the CD here: https://cleorecs.com/store/shop/michael-moorcock-the-deep-fix-live-at-the-terminal-cafe-cd/
Buy the vinyl here: https://cleorecs.com/store/shop/michael-moorcock-the-deep-fix-live-at-the-terminal-cafe-limited-edition-blue-vinyl/
Buy the digital here: https://orcd.co/michaelmoorcockandthedeepfix

ALAN DAVEY Forms The First HAWKWIND Supergroup HAWKESTREL, Releases New Album THE FUTURE IS US Featuring 9 HAWKWIND Alumni Plus Special Guest WILLIAM SHATNER!

DO NOT PANIC, Hawkwind fans! Alan Davey, the former bass player of that legendary UK rock band, has put together an incredible project involving no less than 9 members of the Hawkwind family including co-founder Nik Turner, original bassist Lemmy Kilmister, drummer Ginger Baker, violinist Simon House, original guitarist Huw Lloyd-Langton, Paul Rudolph, Mick Slattery, and Bridget Wishart. It’s an epic undertaking worthy of the band that united these accomplished musicians, and continues to gain new followers with every new generation of music lovers.

The album is called The Future Is Us and it features brand new compositions alongside several re-workings of Alan Davey’s solo songs plus a very special new version of the spoken-word Hawkwind classic “Sonic Attack” with the Captain himself, William Shatner!

Davey shares his thoughts on the project, saying “It has been so much fun making this album with my ex-Hawkwind friends. This is what the fans have wanted from us ex-Hawks for some time and now it’s here! Cleopatra suggested the idea and then gave me free reign to contact everyone, write the songs, mix and produce the whole project. The ex-Hawks and William Shatner all did exceptional performances for the album as they always did. It’s been a real honour for me to work with them all again and end up with a great, historically important album which has reminded me what great musicians we all are! Bravo everyone and huge thanx to all at Cleopatra!!”

The Future Is Us will be available everywhere August 9 on both CD in an attractive digipak as well as on a special limited edition BLUE vinyl 2LP set in a gatefold jacket.

Buy the CD here: https://cleorecs.com/store/shop/hawkestrel-the-future-is-us-cd/
Buy the vinyl here: https://cleorecs.com/store/shop/hawkestrel-the-future-is-us-limited-edition-blue-vinyl/
Buy the digital here: https://orcd.co/hawkestrelthefutureisus 

The Future Is Us

HAWKWIND Co-Founder NIK TURNER Boldly Goes Into THE FINAL FRONTIER!

After suiting up as the Space Gypsy in 2013, blasting off on an epic Space Fusion Odyssey in 2015 and enjoying Life In Space in 2017, pioneering musician/songwriter Nik Turner is now set to venture to the outer reaches of space rock with his awe-inspiring new studio album The Final Frontier! Picking up where his last album left off, Turner brings another set of psychedelic freak-out grooves that will take listeners on a journey they won’t soon forget! Standout tracks include the album opener “Out Of Control,” a super-collider of rollicking psych rock that unites saxophone and guitar in spectacular fashion, and the dramatic space ballad “Interstellar Aliens.” Once again joining our intrepid traveler Turner is Nicky Garratt of UK Subs and Hedersleben, Jürgen Engler of Die Krupps, and Jason Willer of UK Subs and Jello Biafra’s band as well as special guest appearances by Hawkwind alumni Simon House and Paul Rudolph. Available on CD in a digipak case as well as a gorgeous limited-edition yellow vinyl in a gatefold jacket! The Final Frontier is now in stores everywhere!

www.nikturner.com

International Rock Collective Sontaag Release Hawkwind Cover “Silver Machine” feat. Nik Turner!

 Featuring Killing Joke's Youth, Dave Barbarossa of Adam And The Ants/Bow Wow Wow and ex-Hawkwind legend Nik Turner!

International rock collective Sontaag, whose conceptually ambitious, eponymous debut album (a sonically cinematic, cross-generic space opera) arrived into the progressive firmament to critical acclaim in 2014, are finally set to re-establish contact with our much-troubled earthly realm.

On March 15th, 2019, Sontaag return with a fiercely contemporary interpretation of Hawkwind's iconic 1972 hit, “Silver Machine.” The Sontaag crew on this particular mission finds core creatives Richard Sontaag (guitars, keyboards, producer) and Ian Fortnam (vocals and guitar) joined by Killing Joke's Youth on bass, Dave Barbarossa (Adam And The Ants/Bow Wow Wow) on drums and ex-Hawkwind legend Nik Turner on sax.

“Silver Machine” is mixed by Youth.

Design and photo montage by Julie Cunnah. Thanks to Kevin Nixon.

“Silver Machine” is available through Cleopatra Records via all digital platforms and also comes in radically remixed form courtesy of Sontaag's fellow travellers in outer and inner psychedelic space, The Orb.

Ian Fortnam: “Hawkwind were punk-proof. Even in '77, Richard and I would jam on 'Silver Machine.' Hawkwind were the UK's counter-cultural underground incarnate. I discovered them in that narrow space between Bolan and Bowie, simultaneous to Alice, in the summer of '72. Astral explorers. Eyes aflame with psychedelic visions. The people your parents dreaded you becoming. The coolest band alive. 'Silver Machine' was Hawkwind's magnum opus, a spiralling maelstrom of riff-driven brilliance. Who wouldn't want to cover it? Four years ago I found myself spirited to Nik Turner's place in Wales, where we spoke of the Great Pyramid, orgone accumulators, space rituals, hallucinogenics, sonic generators, woodwind and Hawkwind. Before we parted, I gave him a copy of the first Sontaag album and the seeds of the 'Silver Machine' project were sown. Obviously, the very best material deserves the very best band, so calls were made to maestro Youth and Dave Barbarossa (the dream rhythm section) and here we are. And what a rare privilege to work with The Orb whose 'Imaginarium Translucent JellyFish Dub' remix is a work of art in and of itself.”

 Richard Sontaag: Ian's been pestering me to do a Hawkwind cover since way back when -- the coolest kid in our school, he was often seen walking around with the Doremi Faso Latido LP under his arm between classes. But our Silver Machine came about in an unexpected way. I was alone in the studio late one night, and noticed that the guys had strung up a microphone from the ceiling. I put all the amps in a circle around it -- which is really bad technique - and went round each one, blasting out Silver Machine on different instruments. That was the most fun I have ever had in a studio -- and some of it even made it on to the final track.

For more information: https://twitter.com/Sontaag