A Question for Somnambulist

F/I

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 11, 2006)
• Original Release Date: April 11, 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Strange Attractors
• ASIN: B000EOTVMK
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #366,587 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
"...Old space rockers never die... they just decide to leave Earth for good and go permanently into space. Nuff said...buy this album." - AURAL INNOVATIONS

Along with Die Kreuzen, Boy Dirt Car and sister band Vocokesh, Milwaukee psychedelic rock-and-sound legends F/i spawned a space-rock scene in the `80s unlike any other around. By harnessing the ghosts of Hawkwind and Blue Cheer, extracting the German avant rock scene from the early 1970s as defined by Guru Guru, Ash Ra Tempel and Agitation Free, and sifting it through industrial sounds akin to Throbbing Gristle and Nurse With Wound, over time it has become evident that F/i have quietly influenced a whole new generation of exploratory instrumental freakers. Originally issued in a miniscule run in 2003, A Question for the Somnambulist traverses dark and hazy landscapes, hypnotic textures laced with electronics and exploratory guitar riffs dripping with effects. Resuscitated from the annals of uber-obscurity for another suckerpunch to your third eye, this reissue includes one bonus track from the sessions and comes in a limited edition of 1,000 housed in a deluxe letterpressed and recycled paperboard package.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Into the astral plane, following Hawkwind's vapor trail?, May 17, 2006

By	John L Murphy "Fionnchú" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I came across this latest album, re-released in a limited edition (unnumbered, however) of 1000 on the estimable label Strange Attractors. The Aquarius Records (SF) site recommended it, and having liked the sampled songs I heard, I took the plunge. I'd never heard of this 20-year veteran Milwaukee band, but since my keyword search was "Acid Mothers Temple" and later "Hawkwind," you can catch the drift of this f/i album. Apparently it's mellower than their 80s-era assaults--none of which are still in print and never were issued widely.

The best song is the last one, a bonus track not on the original 2003 release. It has a pep and a bounce that the others, fine excursions as they are into the terrain traversed by Hawkwind three decades ago and over the past decade by AMT, lack. The line-up on that bonus track differs from the other songs, which may mean a shake-up one way or the other resulted in the ninth track's noticeably different ambience. Although the album inside has no notes to speak of beyond credits, due acclaim's due the cover artist for his Frank Baum-Oz inspired (at least to my eyes) graphic and typography. This album's a solid offering, and fans of Hawkwind and AMT are advised to snap it up before these 1000 vanish into the astral plane like f/i's predecessors must have.