Whatever happens to the band at the bottom of the bill. The eternal support slot band. The kind of philosophical quandry that bothers absolutely nobody but the likes of me. Hey I have a blog to write. These things do actually vex me. I have geek DNA.
Yesterday evening I chanced upon a flyer for one of the great Indie bills from the nineties; Sebadoh, Stereolab and Yo La Tengo playing at the Shepherds Empire. 1995 as it happens, should you care. One event I certainly wish I'd been at.
The fourth band on the bill that night were the less feted and certainly less fondly remembered, Quickspace Supersport. Never heard of them. Have many? But my curiosity was certainly picqued by their name and I delved deeper. I'm glad I did.
I found myself listening to the band's final studio album The Death of Quickspace from 2000, and finding it blindingly and astonishingly magnificent. Something of a forgotten if shapeless masterpiece.A vision of Indie yesteryear.
Hey, I'm perfectly aware that I do this, or something like this, every other day. Shouting to the heavens abour some great record I've been listening to. But if I have a job as a Blog Writer, and I would argue perhaps I actually do, then getting excited about records I like and trying to persuade others to listen to them, is probably it.
This is a fine, enigmatic, weaving and sinuous guitar and synth album. Born from the ashes of Camden Scene band Th' Faith Healers, Quickspace, (they sensibly shortened their name), fashioned a deft amd fluent and freewheeling Krautrock sound that embraced Neu! and Outsider Folk-ish influences equally enthusiastically. They use these to craft a wonderful signing off statement here. There's a fabulous giddy theremin zigzagging across several tracks on The Death of Quickspace which embodies its marginal essence and spirit.
The record's a joy to listen to frankly, Here's a set of musicians for whom the experience is more important than the pay cheque. That matters. More than that it's really exactly how it should be.
Well, that was ace, Bruce! Think I knew the name, but hadn't heard them before. Nice delving! Wish I had been at that gig, too.....
ReplyDeleteI didn't know them at all. Delightful find. I've been doing quite a lot of productive delving last couple of days while we wait for new releases to make themselves known. Found a few great records and bands from way back that I thought were really great. Watch this space Darren.
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