| Xitintoday | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1978 | |||
| Recorded | Rockfield Studios; Flute recorded in the sarcophagus in the Kings Chamber of the Great Pyramid of Giza | |||
| Genre | Space rock | |||
| Label | Charisma | |||
| Producer | Stiv Hillage | |||
| Nik Turner chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
Xitintoday (pronounced as Exit into day) is a studio album released by Nik Turner's Sphynx in 1978. It was produced by Steve Hillage (listed as Stiv Hillage).
In the Winter of 1976–7, after Turner had been dismissed from Hawkwind, he traveled to Egypt and made some portable recordings playing flute in the King's Chamber of Great Pyramid of Giza. He persuaded Tony Stratton Smith of Charisma Records, who were Hawkwind's record company, to fund his working of these tapes into an album by regaling him with stories of his adventure. [2]
Steve Hillage had joined Gong for their one-off re-union event in Paris on 28 May, then in July travelled to Los Angeles with Miquette Giraudy to work on his funk-tinged Motivation Radio album with Malcolm Cecil at the Record Plant. Hillage took Turner's original tapes with him for some pre-production work at Westlake Audio. [3] In the interim, Turner had performed with Harry Williamson at the 7/7/77 impromptu Glastonbury Festival. [4] [nb 1]
A loose group was assembled to work-up the recordings at Rockfield Studios, joining Turner, Williamson, Hillage and Giraudy were Gong musicians Mike Howlett (bass) and Tim Blake (synthesiser). [3] There was a plethora of drummers and percussionists including Michael Ashmore, Andy Anderson, Alan Powell (conga), Shelley Morris (conga), Morris Pert (vibes, timpani), Jhalib (tabla) and Baron Sanyata (timbales). [3] Jeremy Gilbert contributed harp and Georges Kazazian added rebab, while Turner adapted lyrics from the Egyptian Book of the Dead . [3]
The album was released in April 1978 attributed to Nik Turner's Sphynx, with a cover and 16-page booklet put together by Barney Bubbles incorporating concrete poetry. [6] It has been re-issued several times, the last in 2007 by Eclectic with a bonus track of the original flute recordings. [7] Dave Thompson described it for AllMusic as a "magical, mysterious, and, most of all, moody album. Songs as such do not exist; rather, lyrics and arrangements follow an atmosphere-licked destiny of their own making, to take the listener deep inside some forgotten pyramid, to witness the spectral rituals being enacted therein." [8]
The group performed live, particularly on the festival circuit with a revolving body of performers that included drummers Steve Broughton and Ermanno Ghisio-Erba, guitarists David O'List and Steffe Sharpstrings (Stephan Lowry), and singer Corrina. [nb 2] Turner organised a Bohemian Love-In event at the Roundhouse on 17 June to promote its release. [nb 3] [9] [10] Other appearances included Glastonbury in June and July, [11] Stonehenge Free Festival, [12] Deeply Vale Festivals on 25 July, [13] [nb 4] and Rock Against Racism Festival at Harwich on 5 August. The group appeared at the Gong Christmas Party on 19 December at Camden Town Electric Ballroom. [14]
With Williamson, Turner conceived the protest single "Nuclear Waste" recorded with Hillage, Howlett and Broughton, and lead vocals from Sting. [nb 5] Williamson had become emotionally involved with Gilli Smyth after her separation from Daevid Allen and the pair embarked on a new project as Mother Gong. Their first album Fairy Tales was effectively by the Sphynx group from the Gong Christmas show, or vice versa. [nb 6] Turner's band would continue into 1979 evolving into Inner City Unit, appearing as both Sphynx and ICU at the Glastonbury and Stonehenge festivals, [15] [16] Turner's activities were reported in the mainstream media in 1979, principally by Jeremy Sandford who was taking an interest in re-incarnation, some filming done by BBC Television for the programme I Have Seen Yesterday by Hugh Burnett. [17] [18]
All tracks composed by Nik Turner, arranged by Sphynx
Hawkwind are an English rock band known as one of the earliest space rock groups. Since their formation in November 1969, Hawkwind have gone through many incarnations and have incorporated many different styles into their music, including hard rock, progressive rock and psychedelic rock. They are regarded as an influential proto-punk band. Their lyrics often cover themes of urban life and science fiction.
Gong are a psychedelic rock band that incorporates elements of jazz and space rock into their musical style. The group was formed in Paris in 1967 by Australian musician Daevid Allen and English vocalist Gilli Smyth. Band members have included Didier Malherbe, Pip Pyle, Steve Hillage, Mike Howlett, Tim Blake, Pierre Moerlen, Bill Laswell and Theo Travis. Others who have played on stage with Gong include Don Cherry, Chris Cutler, Bill Bruford, Brian Davison, Dave Stewart and Tatsuya Yoshida.
Stephen Simpson Hillage is an English musician, best known as a guitarist. He is associated with the Canterbury scene and has worked in experimental domains since the late 1960s. Besides his solo recordings he has been a member of Uriel, Khan, Gong and System 7.
Steve Peregrin Took was an English musician and songwriter, best known for his membership of the duo Tyrannosaurus Rex with Marc Bolan. After breaking with Bolan, he concentrated on his own singer-songwriting activities, either as a solo artist or as a frontman for several bands.
Nicholas Robert Turner was an English musician, best known as a member of space rock pioneers Hawkwind. Turner played saxophone and flute, as well as being a vocalist and composer. While with Hawkwind, Turner was known for his experimental free jazz stylisations and outrageous stage presence, often donning full makeup and Ancient Egypt-inspired costumes.
Inner City Unit were a London based popular music group active from 1979 through to 1985, their music style encompassing psychedelia and punk rock. They recorded four studio albums, one studio EP and one compilation album of previously unreleased material.
Dino Ferari is an Italian drummer who has worked with a number of British bands. He played with former Tyrannosaurus Rex percussionist Steve Peregrin Took's band Steve Took's Horns alongside Trev Thoms on guitar. After The Horns both Thoms and Ferari joined former Hawkwind saxophonist Nik Turner in Inner City Unit.
System 7 are a UK-based electronic dance music band. Due to the existence of another band called System Seven they were initially billed as 777 in North America. System 7 was also the name of the current version of the Macintosh operating system at the time, although this was not the reason for the temporary name change.
Clifford Leon "Andy" Anderson was a British drummer, best known for his work with The Cure and Steve Hillage, as well as a lengthy session career.
Harry Williamson is a British musician, producer and inventor.
Glastonbury Festival is a greenfield music and performing arts festival on farm land near Pilton, England. It was first held in 1970 and has been held in the majority of years since then in the summer. Its line-up is diverse, including music, comedy, circus and theatre, taking place on many different stages and performance areas.
Zorch, who formed in 1973, were an early English totally electronic band, pioneering integrated performances of synthesizers and lightshow. Originally a four-piece, by 1975 Zorch were performing as a duo: Basil Brooks and Gwyo Zepix played three monophonic EMS analogue synthesizers, but were augmented by Silver (dance) and a full-on psychedelic light show, provided by John Andrews under the name of 'Acidica'. At times reminiscent of Tim Blake as well as Tonto's Expanding Head Band, their repetitive melodies, extended improvisation and thumping sequenced bass created a unique musical style that anticipated techno and trance. In the days before polyphonic synthesizers and personal computers, they filled out the sound using two reel-to-reel tape machines as a delay line.
You is the fifth studio album by the progressive rock band Gong, released by Virgin Records in October 1974. It is the last album by Daevid Allen's iteration of the group until 1992's Shapeshifter. Recorded at Virgin's Manor Studios in Oxfordshire, England, side 1 was mixed at Pye Studios, Marble Arch, London, while side 2 was mixed at The Manor. It was produced by Simon Heyworth and Gong "under the universal influence of C.O.I.T., the Compagnie d'Opera Invisible de Thibet", and also engineered by Heyworth.
Fish Rising is the debut solo album by English progressive rock musician Steve Hillage, released by Virgin Records in April 1975. It was recorded just prior to Hillage's departure from the band Gong.
Motivation Radio is the third studio album by British progressive rock musician Steve Hillage, released by Virgin Records in September 1977.
Green is the fourth studio album by British progressive rock musician Steve Hillage, released by Virgin Records in April 1978.
2032 is the twelfth studio album by Gong and the ninth album by the Daevid Allen version of the group, released on 21 September 2009.
Thomas Crimble is a musician who played with Skin Alley and Hawkwind before becoming a central part of the organisation of the Glastonbury Festival from the 1971 free festival until 1999. He subsequently became involved in Nik Turner's alternative Hawkwind project Space Ritual.
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