Make Believe It Real is the 12th Spirits Burning album and the third to be credited to Spirits Burning and Bridget Wishart. Of course multiple participants are the spirit of Spirits Burning andMake Believe It Real includes 35 musicians in a variety of configurations. In addition to Bridget and ship commander Don Falcone we have members of the extended Hawkwind family – Dave Anderson, Harvey Bainbridge, Steve Bemand, Richard Chadwick, Alan Davey, Paul Hayles, Simon House, and Dan Thompson. Daevid Allen is present as usual, plus Twink, Keith the Bass (Here and Now), Jay Tausig, John Pack (Spaceseed), and more. This is also the first 2-CD Spirits Burning album. Disc 1 features 11 new compositions and disc 2 consists of remixes and songs that were previously only available on compilations.Disc 1 opens strong with Make Believe (It Acoustic), a Folk-Prog song that is at times tribal, traditional, and Medieval. Cyber Spice has some tasty atmospheric gliss guitar that I assumed was Daevid but is in fact Nigel Mazlyn Jones. The guitar sounds great alongside the contrasting Trance dance beats. Be Careful What You Wish alternates between spacey dreamy song and heavy rave beats. And it all occurs at once too. I love hearing the mellow flute, synths and spoken word narrative alongside the pounding rhythms. Spirits Burning albums can always be counted on for bringing together wildly different elements in exciting ways. Skyline Signal is a spacey, slightly whimsical, oddly rhythmic song that reminds me a bit of King Crimson’s The Talking Drum. Embers consists of darkly intense, electro-dreamy and sometimes ethnic infused tribal Prog. I like the driving percussion ensemble accompanied by winding, searing guitar licks. We’ve got some killer Space Rock songs too, often veering deep into Hawkwind territory. Revenant and Demonkind feature Hawk styled Space Rock with chunky guitars and synths blazin’. And with Bridget on vocals it’s back to Palace Springs! I like the Space-Prog of Eternal Energy. Spacerocknroll is precisely that. AndJourney Past The Stars is an easy paced song with a deep space lyrical theme. Wrapping up disc 1 is the 14 minute Reflections, which is unlike anything I recall having heard from Spirits Burning before. Piano, acoustic guitar and percussion are the primary instruments. And with Bridget’s vocal style the whole thing sounds like a blend of stage production, Folk-Prog, Canterbury and Kurt Weill. Very interesting piece and very difficult to adequately describe.
Disc 2 has six songs, some of which are my favorites of the set. Always (Spirited Away) consists of Space-Prog and rock ‘n’ roll, which is sometimes heavy and sometimes atmospheric, with deep space synths and violin leads. Very cool. No One Cries In Space is a beautiful spacey, funky ambient-jazz instrumental. Iceflow (Icetalk Mix) starts off similar, being a dreamily lulling ambient-jazz song. But then halfway through, darkness descends as it evolves into quietly intense tribal Space-Prog. Take Up Thy Stethoscope And Walk is a cover of the old Pink Floyd tune, which Spirits Burning contributed to the More Animals At The Gates Of Reason Floyd tribute. Make Believe It Real is a Dub and tribal infused Space-Prog tune. And Chain Of Thought is a stylistic cauldron that closes this outstanding set. It kicks off with Space-Prog that spans from Metal edged high intensity to rhythmic rocking. Then around the halfway mark there’s a quiet transitional bit before launching into a symphonic space rocker that’s variously heavy driving Goth metallic and floating trippy space. Definitely one of my favorites with lots of thematic twists and turns.
I’ve been following Spirits Burning since day 1, and though typically insistent on marveling at the catalog of releases as a body of work, I have to say that Make Believe It Real is a highlight.
For more information visit the Spirits Burning web site at:https://spiritsburning.com
Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE AT GONZO:
Spirits Burning & Bridget Wishart – “Make Believe It Real” (Gonzo Multimedia 2014, HST205CD, 2-CD)
Make Believe It Real is the 12th Spirits Burning album and the third to be credited to Spirits Burning and Bridget Wishart. Of course multiple participants are the spirit of Spirits Burning andMake Believe It Real includes 35 musicians in a variety of configurations. In addition to Bridget and ship commander Don Falcone we have members of the extended Hawkwind family – Dave Anderson, Harvey Bainbridge, Steve Bemand, Richard Chadwick, Alan Davey, Paul Hayles, Simon House, and Dan Thompson. Daevid Allen is present as usual, plus Twink, Keith the Bass (Here and Now), Jay Tausig, John Pack (Spaceseed), and more. This is also the first 2-CD Spirits Burning album. Disc 1 features 11 new compositions and disc 2 consists of remixes and songs that were previously only available on compilations.Disc 1 opens strong with Make Believe (It Acoustic), a Folk-Prog song that is at times tribal, traditional, and Medieval. Cyber Spice has some tasty atmospheric gliss guitar that I assumed was Daevid but is in fact Nigel Mazlyn Jones. The guitar sounds great alongside the contrasting Trance dance beats. Be Careful What You Wish alternates between spacey dreamy song and heavy rave beats. And it all occurs at once too. I love hearing the mellow flute, synths and spoken word narrative alongside the pounding rhythms. Spirits Burning albums can always be counted on for bringing together wildly different elements in exciting ways. Skyline Signal is a spacey, slightly whimsical, oddly rhythmic song that reminds me a bit of King Crimson’s The Talking Drum. Embers consists of darkly intense, electro-dreamy and sometimes ethnic infused tribal Prog. I like the driving percussion ensemble accompanied by winding, searing guitar licks. We’ve got some killer Space Rock songs too, often veering deep into Hawkwind territory. Revenant and Demonkind feature Hawk styled Space Rock with chunky guitars and synths blazin’. And with Bridget on vocals it’s back to Palace Springs! I like the Space-Prog of Eternal Energy. Spacerocknroll is precisely that. AndJourney Past The Stars is an easy paced song with a deep space lyrical theme. Wrapping up disc 1 is the 14 minute Reflections, which is unlike anything I recall having heard from Spirits Burning before. Piano, acoustic guitar and percussion are the primary instruments. And with Bridget’s vocal style the whole thing sounds like a blend of stage production, Folk-Prog, Canterbury and Kurt Weill. Very interesting piece and very difficult to adequately describe.
Disc 2 has six songs, some of which are my favorites of the set. Always (Spirited Away) consists of Space-Prog and rock ‘n’ roll, which is sometimes heavy and sometimes atmospheric, with deep space synths and violin leads. Very cool. No One Cries In Space is a beautiful spacey, funky ambient-jazz instrumental. Iceflow (Icetalk Mix) starts off similar, being a dreamily lulling ambient-jazz song. But then halfway through, darkness descends as it evolves into quietly intense tribal Space-Prog. Take Up Thy Stethoscope And Walk is a cover of the old Pink Floyd tune, which Spirits Burning contributed to the More Animals At The Gates Of Reason Floyd tribute. Make Believe It Real is a Dub and tribal infused Space-Prog tune. And Chain Of Thought is a stylistic cauldron that closes this outstanding set. It kicks off with Space-Prog that spans from Metal edged high intensity to rhythmic rocking. Then around the halfway mark there’s a quiet transitional bit before launching into a symphonic space rocker that’s variously heavy driving Goth metallic and floating trippy space. Definitely one of my favorites with lots of thematic twists and turns.
I’ve been following Spirits Burning since day 1, and though typically insistent on marveling at the catalog of releases as a body of work, I have to say that Make Believe It Real is a highlight.
For more information visit the Spirits Burning web site at:https://spiritsburning.com
Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE AT GONZO:
 |
Behold The Action Man CD - £9.99 |
When you think of Burning Spirits , we attack a nebulous space-rock whose ramifications beyond imagination. For who said space rock said course Hawkwind Hawkwind says and says myriads of musicians who played in the group at various times.And what is Burning Spirits, connections with Hawkwind are many and complex. This group was formed in San Francisco in 1996 by a certain Don Falcone . The American musician and producer operates in obscure formations such Thessalonians ,Melting Euphoria or Spaceship Eyes , alongside this project Spirits Burnings which was one of the first groups. Falcone Burnings Raises Spirits and in fact a group of long-term will come out a dozen albums since 1999, sometimes at a rate Stakhanov. Include without sake of completeness "New worlds by design" (1999), "Reflections in a Radio Shower" (2001), "Alien Injection" (2008),"Golden age orchestra" (2009), "Behold the Action Man" (2011) or "Healthy music in broad doses" (2013). The characteristic of these albums was always contacting musicians space rock high level, among which are of course former Hawkwind but also Gong or Steve Hillage. For this new "Make believe it real" , it does not cut the tradition and found an impressive plethora of astronauts hairy, among which we should begin by singer Bridget Wishart . The latter course is part of Hawkwind (1989 to 1991 on the albums "Space Bandits" , "Palace springs" and "California brainstorm" ) but it has also led career collaboration with multiple formations asMooch , Omenopus , Osiris The Rebirth , Spaceseed or The Chumley Warner Brothers . Don Falcone, it is not his first album Spirits Burning since it has already participated in four previous discs. Regarding other musicians, the list that appears on the CD is breathtaking. There are nearly forty, some demigods of the profession : Daevid Allen (Gong), Dave Anderson (Hawkwind, Amon Düül II), Harvey Bainbridge (Hawkwind), Richard Chadwick (Hawkwind), Simon House (Hawkwind , High Tide, Robert Calvert), the inevitable Twink (Tomorrow, Pink Fairies, Pretty Things, Mick Farren and - like so - Hawkwind). Among the more obscure, the percentage of musicians who belonged to Hawkwind is almost as high as the proportion of Corsica in the French Customs. This little world has endeavored to release the album "Make believe it real" , which takes place two CDs with a CD of bonus tracks. There is a bit of everything here : bucolic progressive rock ( "Make believe" ) thick space-rock ( "Revenant" , "Demonkind" ), techno trance ( "Be careful what you wish" , "Skyline signal" ) and long folk litany ( "Reflections" ). The second disc holds the device in the stratosphere with the dance rock of "Always (spirited away)" , the Plutonian nonchalance "No one cries in space" and "Iceflow" or psychedelic and Eastern violins "Make believe it real " . The last song "Chain of thought" ends with more than eight minutes of alternating electrical access with cosmic flutters. At all times of the album, diaphanous and ethereal voice of Bridget Wishart has breathed planing and remote atmosphere, a successful relative to atmosphere maintained by effect. aficionados find the galaxy with Hawkwind "Make believe if real" one new piece up on the big ship of space rock. Others can enjoy an interesting journey into electrical stars and music from the hyper-dimension.