Space rock
| Space rock | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Late 1960s, United Kingdom |
| Derivative forms | Post-rock |
| Other topics | |
Space rock is a subgenre of rock music that typically features lengthy, hypnotic sonic explorations and loose song structures. Artists may make use of slow, otherworldly instrumentation, effects-laden textures, and languid vocals, and may draw influence from drug use as well as from musical styles such as psychedelic rock, ambient music, the avant-garde, krautrock, and minimalism.
The term originally referred to a group of early 1970s progressive rock bands such as Hawkwind, Gong, and Pink Floyd who explored a "cosmic" sound. The genre regained attention in the late 1980s and early 1990s with the rise of alternative rock bands such as Spacemen 3, Spiritualized, Loop, Failure, Hum, and Flying Saucer Attack, that drew from earlier psychedelic and experimental influences as well as contemporary post-rock.
Man's entry into outer space provided ample subject matter for rock and roll and R&B songs from the mid-1950s through the early 1960s. It also inspired new sounds and sound effects to be used in the music itself. A prominent early example of space rock is the 1959 concept album I Hear a New World by British producer and songwriter Joe Meek. The album was inspired by the space race and concerned man's first close encounter with alien life forms. Meek then went on to have a UK and US No 1 success in 1961 with "Telstar", named after the newly launched communications satellite and thus intended to commemorate the new space age. Its main instrument was a clavioline, an electronic forerunner of synthesizers.
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