- The accepted gospel is that punk killed the prog rock dinosaurs. But over 30 years after Johnny Rotten first sneered about "Anarchy In The UK," it's his tight-jeaned descendants still wedded to the notion of three-chord thrashing who now seem more dated. Progressive rock has recently gone from guilty secret to something plenty of people are prepared to shout loud and proud about; whether it's Lindstrøm making his claim for Vangelis' crown or producers like Etienne Jaumet and Quiet Village making cosmic disco and psychedelia that's as much Peter Gabriel as it is Gloria Gaynor.
Probably best-known for The Grid's novelty banjo-wielding 1994 hit "Swamp Thing," Richard Norris has also let his love for all things patchouli-scented come to the fore of late in his remixes with Erol Alkan as Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve, tie-dying tracks from Goldfrapp, The Chemical Brothers, Midlake and others a distinctly hippy Balearic hue.
The Time And Space Machine, Norris' first full-length solo project since 1987's Jack The Tab album, goes much further back than the birth of acid house, '80s Balearica or even prog's '70s heyday, however. Rather, The Time And Space Machine seems more like one of the curios Norris would uncover when he worked at Bam Caruso—the UK label responsible for reissuing compilations of obscure '60s freakbeat rock throughout the '80s. From the technicolour cover to track titles like "Mushroom Family" to the album's general reefer-heavy air, The Time And Space Machine is less an update of the psychedelic '60s than a lovingly-rendered facsimile; the only real trace of an electronic beat comes in the opening "Time and Space."
Norris largely constructs his tracks from live-sounding bass, ragged guitar solos, carnival organ and the manic drumming of his mate Wildcat Will. He even finds space for flutes and sitars on the aforementioned "Mushroom Family," while "Midsummer Night" has a similar getting-stoned-around-the-campfire vibe. But it's the cover of Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush" which makes it clear in which era The Time And Space Machine is stuck, as a haze of Byrdsy guitars and curlicues of brass envelop Young's lyrics about "mother nature"—which sound even more flower power when sung by naïf-like female singer Raissa. It's a vision of psychedelic bliss that comes with the comfortable rosy tint of nostalgia, rather than any of the scarier brain-bending edges of the original music that inspired it.
Tracklist01. Time and Space
02. Path Through The Cathedral
03. Set Phazer To Stun
04. You Are The One
05. Children Of The Sun
06. Zeitghost
07. Infinite
08. More Cowbell
09. Midsummer Night
10. Mushroom Family
11. After The Gold Rush
12. Trip Sideways