A hugely underrated, hidden gem of the late 90's, full of hypnotic, darkly dreamlike grooves. Dark Star were a hotly-tipped trio, formed in 1996 from the ashes of neo-psychedelic indie types Levitation, who featured ex-House of Love member Terry Bickers. After signing a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music, an influential friend at the company moved to work at EMI, and signed them. 'Graceadelica' was their debut release in 1998 on Harvest Records, the progressive rock subsidiary of EMI. Below are the original single version, and the remix by Danny Saber.
After further singles 'I Am The Sun' and 'About 3am', the band released their debut album, Twenty Twenty Sound in June 1999. Produced by Steve Lillywhite, the album was recorded completely live, with vocalist Christian Hayes stating that the band "recorded it all live so basically we just got in there, set up and did what we always do and got the best take. It's the best way to record a record really. If you haven't seen us live you may not think that, but it's exactly like we play it—there's no overdubs. It's basically what we do, it's what we play". In the year 2000, the band parted ways with EMI shortly after they "experienced losing a couple of key players who left the company and that coupled with the fact that we resolutely towed our own musical line, led to the parting of the ways". After failing to find another record deal, the band subsequently split in 2001 with no announcement, and an unreleased second album.
Hayes recently confirmed that there were no plans for the band to reunite. Drummer David Francolini set up a recording studio in Bristol, where his band Dragons recorded material before splitting up in 2009. In 2005, Francolini produced and played on Julian Cope's 2005 album 'Citizen Cain'd' under the pseudonym Mitch Razor. Hayes toured with the Pet Shop Boys and worked as guitar tech/tour/production manager for the likes of My Bloody Valentine, Kula Shaker and David Cassidy. In 2007, Hayes began releasing archive releases of previously unreleased solo material under the name of Mikrokosmos via Ingatia Recordings. A trio of releases, In The Heart Of The Home, The Seven Stars and final installment in 2014 Terra Familiar have been issued.More recently Hayes has been involved in several improvisational instrumental psychedelic bands in Brighton, including ZOFFF, LSD-25 and the audio/visual project Cuts. Bassist Lawrence O'Keefe went on to work as a roadie and session bassist, working with the likes of Sophia, Dead Can Dance and Martina Topley-Bird.
After further singles 'I Am The Sun' and 'About 3am', the band released their debut album, Twenty Twenty Sound in June 1999. Produced by Steve Lillywhite, the album was recorded completely live, with vocalist Christian Hayes stating that the band "recorded it all live so basically we just got in there, set up and did what we always do and got the best take. It's the best way to record a record really. If you haven't seen us live you may not think that, but it's exactly like we play it—there's no overdubs. It's basically what we do, it's what we play". In the year 2000, the band parted ways with EMI shortly after they "experienced losing a couple of key players who left the company and that coupled with the fact that we resolutely towed our own musical line, led to the parting of the ways". After failing to find another record deal, the band subsequently split in 2001 with no announcement, and an unreleased second album.
Hayes recently confirmed that there were no plans for the band to reunite. Drummer David Francolini set up a recording studio in Bristol, where his band Dragons recorded material before splitting up in 2009. In 2005, Francolini produced and played on Julian Cope's 2005 album 'Citizen Cain'd' under the pseudonym Mitch Razor. Hayes toured with the Pet Shop Boys and worked as guitar tech/tour/production manager for the likes of My Bloody Valentine, Kula Shaker and David Cassidy. In 2007, Hayes began releasing archive releases of previously unreleased solo material under the name of Mikrokosmos via Ingatia Recordings. A trio of releases, In The Heart Of The Home, The Seven Stars and final installment in 2014 Terra Familiar have been issued.More recently Hayes has been involved in several improvisational instrumental psychedelic bands in Brighton, including ZOFFF, LSD-25 and the audio/visual project Cuts. Bassist Lawrence O'Keefe went on to work as a roadie and session bassist, working with the likes of Sophia, Dead Can Dance and Martina Topley-Bird.
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