Stonehenge Decoded

Despite taking its title from the classic Space Ritual-era "Sonic Attack," the bulk of This Is Hawkwind, Do Not Panic dates, in fact, from a full eight years on, as the revived band sold out a string of U.K. theaters in the run-up to Christmas 1980, including this show at London's Lewisham Odeon. By the standards that Space Ritual set, of course, This Is Hawkwind is little more than an average live album. By those standards established by the myriad other live Hawkwind albums one could choose from, however, it is one of the best, in terms of both sound and performance…

Curated by the band’s current label, Cherry Red Records, this three disc box set was released in 2008 to herald a complete overhaul of the band’s catalogue from 1976 to 1997. Cherry Red acquired the rights to these albums, and rolled out a reissue programme that saw each album get a dramatic upgrade in sound quality, accompanied by bonus discs of previously unreleased songs or live takes. However, while Hawkwind’s legacy is impressive, it’s fair to say that not every album is a winner, and certainly in the later years the albums suffered from a lot of filler, and leader Dave Brock tended to recycle and re-record older tracks and simply badge them with new titles. This set manages to filter out a lot of the weaker material, and concentrates on the tracks that define Hawkwind at their best…

Timothy Kramer has recorded and released a full album of his orchestral works with Navona Records. The result: SENTINELS, an evocative representation of Kramer’s compositions that span several decades, with influences ranging from Baroque to rock.