Dreamweapon: An Evening of Contemporary Sitar Music is a 1990 live album by Spacemen 3.
| Dreamweapon: An Evening of Contemporary Sitar Music | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Live album by | ||||
| Released | 1990 | |||
| Genre | Drone music | |||
| Length | 77:43 (2004 re-issue) | |||
| Label | Fierce | |||
| Spacemen 3 chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
Overview edit
The title track is from a live performance at Watermans Arts Centre in Brentford, London, on August 19, 1988. Peter Kember, Jason Pierce, Will Carruthers, and Steve Evans played. The piece was inspired by drone music, with a text from La Monte Young in the liner notes.[2] The composition is a lengthy drone in the key of E. It was recorded in the foyer of a cinema as an audience waited for a screening of the film Wings of Desire; crowd noise and public-address announcements are audible. A brief melodic fragment from the improvisation was re-used as the basis for the song "Honey" from the group's 1989 album Playing With Fire.
The liner notes for this track credit Pat Fish, a.k.a. the Jazz Butcher, with "joint rolling."[3]
The other track on the original vinyl release "Ecstasy in Slow Motion" is a studio performance from 1987 which only features Pete Kember. It does not feature on the original CD. "Spacemen Jam", which appears on subsequent reissues, is Peter Kember and an unknown second guitarist, possibly Jason Pierce. Jason is credited in the sleeve notes on the Sympathy for the Record Industry reissue. The track on the vinyl release plays backwards- from the centre outwards.
The album's title Dreamweapon is the creation of Angus MacLise, the original drummer for the Velvet Underground.
The Guardian printed an extract from Will Carruthers' memoir about his recollection of the recording of the album.[4]
Track listing edit
- Original release (Fierce)
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "An Evening of Contemporary Sitar Music (Full-Length Version)" | 44:21 |
| 2. | "Ecstasy in Slow Motion" | 9:26 |
CD copies contain only "An Evening of Contemporary Sitar Music (Full Length Version)"
- 1993 re-issue (Sympathy for the Record Industry)
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "An Evening of Contemporary Sitar Music (Full-Length Version)" | 44:20 |
| 2. | "Ecstasy in Slow Motion" | 9:26 |
| 3. | "Spacemen Jam" | 15:42 |
- 2004 re-issue (Space Age Recordings)
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "An Evening of Contemporary Sitar Music (Full-Length Version)" | 44:20 |
| 2. | "Ecstasy Live Intro Theme" | 8:15 |
| 3. | "Ecstasy in Slow Motion" | 9:26 |
| 4. | "Spacemen Jam" | 15:42 |
References edit
- ^ Dreamweapon: An Evening of Contemporary Sitar Music at AllMusic
- ^ Spacemen 3, Dreamweapon: An Evening of Contemporary Sitar Music, Sympathy for the Record Industry SFTRI 211, 1993 CD re-issue, liner notes
- ^ "Spacemen 3 Discography". Theotherside1.co.uk. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
- ^ "Spacemen 3: 'A monkey could play one note. But could a stoned monkey?'". TheGuardian.com. 26 September 2016.