''Dreamweapon: An Evening of Contemporary Sitar Music'' is a 1990 live album by

Spacemen 3 Spacemen 3 were an English neo-psychedelia space rock band, formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce, known respectively under their pseudonyms Sonic Boom and J Spaceman. Their music is known for its brand of "tr ...

Overview

The title track is from a live performance at

Watermans Arts Centre Watermans Art Centre is a combined arts centre. It is located in Brentford, England alongside the banks of the River Thames overlooking Kew Gardens in West London, England. It includes a 239-seat theatre, a 125-seat cinema two galleries and tw ...

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, on August 19, 1988.

Peter Kember Peter Kember (born 19 November 1965), also known by his stage name Sonic Boom, is an English singer and record producer. He was a founding member, vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist of alternative rock band Spacemen 3, lasting from 1982 until ...

Jason Pierce Jason Andrew Pierce (born 19 November 1965 in Rugby) is an English musician. Currently the frontman and sole permanent member of the band Spiritualized, he previously co-fronted the alternative rock band Spacemen 3 with Peter Kember from 1982 ...

Will Carruthers Will Carruthers (born 9 November 1967, in Chesterfield, England) is a musician, best known for playing bass in the influential alternative rock bands Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized. Biography Early life Carruthers moved to Rugby in 1977, and ...

, and Steve Evans played. The piece was inspired by

drone music Drone music, drone-based music, or simply drone, is a minimalist genre that emphasizes the use of sustained sounds, notes, or tone clusters – called drones. It is typically characterized by lengthy audio programs with relatively slight harmon ...

, with a text from its 1960s originator

La Monte Young La Monte Thornton Young (born October 14, 1935) is an American composer, musician, and performance artist recognized as one of the first American minimalist composers and a central figure in Fluxus and post-war avant-garde music. He is best kno ...

in the liner notes. The liner notes for this track credit

Pat Fish Patrick Huntrods (20 December 1957 – 5 October 2021), known as Pat Fish, was an English musician best known for his work as a member of the band The Jazz Butcher. (The name "Jazz Butcher" has been applied ambiguously both to Fish and the whole ...

, a.k.a. the

Jazz Butcher The Jazz Butcher was the alias of British singer/songwriter Pat Fish (Patrick Huntrods). It also served as the name of the band, though adjuncts were frequently used to distinguish between Fish’s persona and band itself (The Jazz Butcher Cons ...

, with "joint rolling." 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 Sympathy for the Record Industry (also known as Sympathy Records or Sympathy 4 the R.I.) is a mainly independent garage rock and punk label formed in 1988 by Long Gone John. The first Sympathy release was the Lazy Cowgirls' ''Radio Cowgirl'' LP ...

reissue. The track on the vinyl release plays backwards- from the centre outwards. Dreamweapon is the creation of

Angus MacLise Angus William MacLise (March 14, 1938 – June 21, 1979) was an American percussionist, composer, poet, occultist and calligrapher, known as the first drummer for the Velvet Underground who abruptly quit due to disagreements with the band pla ...

the original drummer for the

Velvet Underground Weave details visible on a purple-colored velvet fabric Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabri ...

and collaborator with experimental contributors including musician

, filmmaker Jack Smith ("Flaming Creatures"), and poet

Ira Cohen Ira Cohen (February 3, 1935 – April 25, 2011) was an American poet, publisher, photographer and filmmaker. Cohen lived in Morocco and in New York City in the 1960s, he was in Kathmandu in the 1970s and traveled the world in the 1980s, before ...

. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' printed an extract from Will Carruthers' memoir about his recollection of the recording of the album.

Track listing

;Original release (Fierce) CD copies contain only "An Evening of Contemporary Sitar Music (Full Length Version)" ;1993 re-issue (Sympathy for the Record Industry) ;2004 re-issue (Space Age Recordings)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dreamweapon: An Evening Of Contemporary Sitar Music 1995 live albums Spacemen 3 albums Sympathy for the Record Industry live albums