released June 17, 2007

Darren Gough: Guitar (tracks 1, 4, 6)
Chet Santia: Bass, Guitar
Jay Swanson: Keyboards, Synth
Paul Williams: Drumming, Synth, Keyboards

Special Guests:
Stan Lyon: Bass, Guitar
Greg Kozlowski: Guitar (track 7)

All Music Improvised by Quarkspace.
Produced by Lance Starbridge.
Cover photo courtesy of NASA.

Album Reviews

Quarkspace is: Darren Gough (on guitar), Chet Santia (on bass and guitar), Jay Swanson (on keyboards and synthesizers), and Paul Williams (on drums, synthesizers and keyboards). Joining the band on guitar or the epic finale track is Greg Kozlowski (from Architectural Metaphor).

A sense of meandering chaos swiftly coalesces into glistening sonic gems of astral proportion. The instruments mesh with expert perfection, flourishing to produce melodies that astound and mesmerize with dreamy determination.

The guitars provide a bevy of searing riffs, from smoldering chords to cosmic pinnacles to grinding sustains. Growling strings unfurl stunning melodies that radiate excess ardor with each note. Sidestepping the conventional flash of showy solos, the guitars establish their command through quiescent application, captivating the psyche with luxuriant chords of luminous beauty and endearing duration.

The keyboards establish a loving foundation of agile-fingered melodies that wind through the mix like rivers of nectar. Adopting a variety of delivery modes, sometimes the keys resound with the drama of grand piano, while other times they bewitch with the slippery style of classic progressive organs.

A host of synthesizers lurk herein, their issue oozing through the melodies like electronic honey and enhancing all the neighboring sounds with a rewarding shimmer. Rumbling with subterranean vibrations, the basslines generate an undercurrent of tasty heat.

The percussion pulsates with vibrant beats, entrancing and compelling. The tempos are often submerged, providing a rhythmic presence from an immersed vantage. A mood of on-stage jamming is fostered by the drums’ seemingly detached attitude.

These compositions possess a sedate structure that is seasoned by the vigorous zest exemplified by the performers and the powerful mastery of how they handle their instruments. Dreamy passages seethe with craftily restrained puissance, generating a seductive psychedelic flow of steadfast appeal. The melodies send consciousness soaring to breathless altitudes with their sultry charm.

Releases like this keep alive the heritage of trance rock, evoking a modern incarnation of the Grateful Dead’s endless jams inspired by cosmic starscapes. - Matt Howarth, Sonic Curiosity

It's been quite a while since we've had a new Quarkspace album. Three years since the last studio album (Node in Peril) and 6 years since the last Spacefolds. But being in semi-regular contact with Paul Williams I know he's been busy getting new goodies ready. Spacefolds 8 is a true new millennium album, being a digital download only release available from iTunes, eMusic, Rhapsody, Napster and other digital music services.

The 14 minute "My Starship has Mudflaps" opens the album with a cool bluesy space groove. Original Quarkspace guitarist Darren Gough is back in the fold and injects a little something new (or perhaps old?) to the always recognizable Quarkspace sound. Gough trips along and his licks can get nicely ripping at times, and Jay Swanson's piano, which straddles the axis between improvisational jazz and classical, sweetly compliments him. "Bridget in Space with a Ham Sandwich" is classic jamming Quarkspace, and again I really dig the bluesy edge to their ultra cosmic sound. This is one of the shorter tracks of the set but the band build things up to feverish levels of intensity. "Shifting Dervish" has a slight King Crimson-ish feel, mostly at the beginning, while still dwelling firmly in the Quarkspace quadrant. A killer mind-bending space jam. "Far Gathering", parts 1 & 2, and "Obscured by Perch" are all cool space jams. And along with the opening track, the set closing 16 minute "Flight of the Architect" is a real highlight, and as an extra treat features Architectural Metaphor and ex-Secret Saucer guitarist Greg Kozlowski.

Overall a very tasty set of space rock instrumentals. Veterans Quarkspace fans are guaranteed to be pleased and newcomers really should check these guys out. Paul Williams' ubiquitous synth contributions are noticeably sparse, though perhaps with the original lineup in motion nostalgia compelled him to hang behind the drum kit. Whatever… this is a sweet set of cool grooving space improvs. - Jerry Kranitz, Aural Innovations

Blimey! It's been a long while since the last Spacefolds installment.
When was it? 2001 maybe? Good grief. But, finally, the latest in
their long running series of improvisational spacerock is here. And
it's good.

There are two particularly inspiring pieces of music on offer here.
And luckily, they're the two longest. The opening 'My Starship has
Mudflaps' unfolds over 14 minutes of blues inspired guitar work from
returning, original Quarkspace guitarist Darren Gough, and it's a
real headtrip. At the other end, the album closes with the 16
minute 'Flight of the Architect', a monumental post-rock epic which
sees Architectural Metaphor guitarist Greg Kozlowski adding in his
spiral technics.

That's not to say that the rest of the album isn't good, because it
is, but these are the two jams you're going to keep returning to.
Elsewhere, there's a Frippian edge to 'Shifting Dervish' and 'Far
Gathering Parts 1 & 2' take the notion of the space jam to the outer
edges.

It's an excellent release, although sadly an online only one. It's
more organic than some of the more recent (recent?) installments,
which definitely works for me. You should definitely check this out
but pray for some high quality downloads. - Metal4Life

Quarkspace have been together for 23 years, and in that time have
created music that transcends time by creating spaced out
progressive rock that is a mindtrip. Spacefolds 8 (Eternity's Jest)
is the 8th installment of a series of albums the band have done for
awhile, and this just goes deeper into the improvisational style the
group have become known for.

The album opens up with "My Starship Has Mudflaps", which consists of guitar, bass, keyboard, synths, and an electronic rhythm that is light in its attack. There are moments in the 14 minute song where I wished a real drum would've fwacked the hell out of the proceedings, but the lack of drums makes it possible to focus on the great guitar and bass work of Chris Santia. One can imagine hopping on the starship and being taken to a place unknown with the kind of feeling one might get if the Grateful Dead or The Allman Brothers Band were jamming up in the cosmos. It is airy, spacey, and ethereal.

When "Bridget In Space With A Ham Sandwich" begins, it sounds as if someone just interrupted a jam session and fortunately they allowed us to sit in. The drums in this mix seem a bit too low in the mix, but maybe that was the intention of the band. "Shifting Dervish" has them switching over into a new place with layers of guitars and an effect which sounds like something is flying in from the distance.

The drums rarely reach a level of dominance, but it comes close at
the end with "Flight Of The Architect", and it sounds a bit like old
Tangerine Dream, especially with the way every instrument kind of
solos and does its own thing as each segment of the song moves into the next.

This instrumental album is perfectly suited for people who want to
be taken on a voyage with their music, and while it would be great
music to carry with you on a long road trip, I would watch out
because the music might make you forget where you're at any given
time. It's audio hallucinogens, and that comes from a group of guys
who know how to create the formula to make it work. I would have
preferred a bit more drums in some of the songs, or at least
in "Flight of the Architect", because it would have made it possible
for the band to take the music home. If it is about travel, or at
least music that moves you out of your present state and into
another, then maybe home is not an option. Listen to this and the
recent Mushroom album back to back for greater results. - John Book, Music for America

This quartet must be the longest-running true Lost In Space crew, a
tribe dedicated to sprinting as rapidly as possible to far nebulae,
star-tossed clusters, and snaking wormholes. From the instant each
CD opens, perspectives erupt and shift, instruments appear and
disappear, modes transform, and a very satisfying long, long, long
term of improv unfolds. Darren Gough, chief axe-wielder, is cut from
an old mode, the template that birthed Mike Schenker's earliest
masterworks, as well as David Gilmour's, Manuel Gottsching's, and
all the other acidheads and spacefaces we know so well. Chet
Santia's (bass, guitar) equally drenched in the glory days,
providing backup. Jay Swanson, as time goes forward, has more and more favored piano along with a multitude of synths, continuing
to expand Froese's Encore period, while Paul Williams similarly mans the keys but is primarily a percussionist, often nicely recessed so as to avoid mistakes made by Harald Grosskopf with the T.Dreamers and others.

More than a little anarchy exists in Quarkspace, as they rarely pay
attention to elaborate pre-structures, keeping comfortably to
accustomed confines, playing their collective best hand each time
out. Unfortunately, this indulgence sometimes militates a trifle, as
in the abrupt fade-out to "Obscured by Perch", where another 10
seconds at the boards would've worked denouementing wonders.

The lads operate well below the radar, sometimes stage space-music fests with kindred damaged souls (F/i, etc.), and cling admirably to a worthy sub-genre. Nonethless, sadly, it's unlikely such fetching ephemera will ever see its due, now or in the future. - Marc S. Tucker, Signal to Noise Magazine