The Time of the Ancient Astronaut

The follow-up to Spaceheads' 1999 CD Angel Station, The Time of the Ancient Astronaut, a collaboration with sound artist Max Eastley, was as a surprise. The unit comprising Andy Diagram (of Pere Ubu) on trumpet and electronics and Richard Harrison on drums and electronics was mostly known for its groove-oriented techno-space tunes. This disc is nothing like that and a lot better. Eastley performs on the Arc, a monochord home-built instrument hooked to electronics. It provides alien sound textures, the perfect match for Diagram's pitch-shifted and echo-looped melodic lines and Harrison's subtle percussion work in the quiet passages, thundering free rock drumming during the more intense episodes, and electronically altered sheets of metal. This studio session followed an ad-hoc live appearance at a Manchester (U.K.) festival. The first 30 minutes (continuous, indexed over six tracks) unfold like a cross between a haunted house soundtrack and Star Trek on acid. Mostly ambient, it turns into free space mayhem in "Interstellar Escalator," peaking with an abruptly cut climax. "Hail Bop" is another highlight: the drummer sounds possessed, hitting everything at once while Diagram blows one of his best solos and Eastley saws away on his microtonal device. The last three tracks are excerpts of longer jams. The set close with "Ancient Astronauts," a more typical Spaceheads beat-oriented tune. The Time of the Ancient Astronauts is an exciting attempt at a form of "free space rock" or "space improv" and stands out in the duo's discography as something much more experimental and trippy. Strongly recommended. ~ François Couture, Rovi