Memos & Demos

Memos and Demos culls recordings Hawkwind leader Dave Brock made in his home studio sometime in the late '90s (precise dates are not given). They must be approached as laboratory experiments, although they are fully developed ideas, not half-cooked tracks. Brock plays guitars, bass, keyboards, and drum machines, and he sings. All these demos were recorded with Hawkwind in mind and some ended up in the group's repertoire, especially on 2000's Spacebrock: "Kauai," "The Right Way" (here titled "Find the Right Way"), "Do You Want This Body" (disguised here as "Why Is a Raven Like a Writing Desk"), and "Sex Dreams," included in two variations ("Surreal Sex Dream" and "Space Riders and Sex Dreams") and sporting the same suggestive female voice sample (asking "Ever thought about having a dream during sex?"). Some versions differ very little from the official studio album, with only a few overdubs from other group members missing; others would be completely reconstructed. The die-hard fan can have a peek at the man's creative process. Necessarily, anybody else will find this album redundant, and in any case you should listen to Spacebrock before this companion. "Clouded Vision" and "Love in Space" are two good songs that make things a little more interesting. ~ François Couture|