Alan Davey - Eclectic Devils
(Earthquake Records cd0002)
Alan Davey - Eclectic Devils
(Earthquake Records cd0002)
From Aural Innovations October 2009 update
Alan Davey, former Hawkwind bass player, is back with another solo record. This time, he more or less did everything except the violin by himself, whereas
the last record was a major collaboration with a number of folks. The CD is a real mixed bag of material and styles. The CD begins with familiar territory
though for space rock fans. Angel Down, after a synth opening has a quite heavy riff and very characteristic Davey sound and Simon House plays some amazing violin. He is so spacey. Strung Out is a mellow and very cool track with a lot of psychedelic aspects to it. Shadow’s Echo is a bit more like a Bedouin track but lots of special sounds mixed in to give it a real psychedelic nature and the soaring space violin is amazing. Simon’s influence on the CD should not be understated. Too High is a fast paced melodic track that reminds me a bit of Motorway City, the old Hawkwind track. Encounter changes the flavour once again and is a quite laid back melodic number but still very stoned and psychedelic and it actually features a guitar solo to start things off. Is that
Alan alone or with a female singer together or both? Like to see Alan try that falsetto vocal live…ha… [Ed. note: Isobel Morris is the vocalist and wrote the lyrics.] The instrumental track, Waste of Time begins with what sounds like a harp but a lot of spacey stuff is also in the background of this multilayered track which brings back Simon again for some amazing violin. He is truly one of a kind. Alien Veto is a short 2 minute synth and sampler track that leads into Waste of Space, the instrumental companion to Waste of Time has a frantic and uptempo drumming that is carried along by Simon’s melodic violin lines and the bass groove. The title track is next and is a dreamy stoned track with a cool guitar line. This is one of my favourite tracks on the CD. The CD closes with Ya know Ya Should. This is another uptempo track with pretty simple drumming and driven by the heavy bass line. Simon pops back in for one last spacey solo as the track waves good bye…. Alan has really made a cool CD and it really has a different sound and feel from the previous one, more raw and Simon just steals the show.
Check Alan's web site at: http://www.alandaveymusic.co.uk
Reviewed by Scott Heller