C O M P I L A T I O N S
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Row 1 left: Let your freak flag fly. Garageland records 1993.
After the Darker release, Garageland wanted a track for a psychedelic/progressive compilation with Swedish bands only. Fittingly, darXtar was expanding their line-up and was keen to try this constellation out in the studio. A brand new track, UFO (lyrics by Nurmenniemi, music by Bengtsson), was picked in favour of Voices of my dreams, as the latter was better suited to be included on Daybreak. At the studio they met violinist Fredrik Sundqvist, a friend of Patric, for the first time. He was more into ethnic music but was nevertheless willing to jam along. This added a flavour of eastern mystique to the darXtar sound and this was to be further explored on Daybreak, on which Sundqvist was a full time member of the band. A quite sloppy production by Gurra at Studio Workstation on an otherwise excellent example of darXtar space rock. A favourite on live gigs. Back to top.

Row 1 center: Revenge of the orange. Briskeby records 1996.
A limited edition compilation of Scandinavian progressive music. So when on earth did darXtar become progressive? Well, if you ask the band, never! However, if the opening track on Sju, Obstakel, had to be categorized (as they always are) it was without doubt more related to progressive music than space rock. What the prog community didn't know was that this was only a freak jam by the band, with no intention to flirt with the proggers. Anyway, this led to the participation on this CD. The track 6½ is a cut down version of 7 as they were too busy with the Tombola project to come up with a unique recording. Back to top.

Row 1 right: Space Box. Cleopatra records 1996.
USA based Cleopatra was one of the labels darXtar had tried to land a deal with for a long time. Mainly for its excellent distribution and partly because their founder was a Hawkwind fan. This has so far only lead to their participation on a number of compilations, of which the ambitious triple CD Space Box was first out. For this strange mix of "space, krautrock & acid trips" they remixed This Alien Nation from Sju with a shipload of space synths and feedback guitars, more reminiscent of the Darker era. The band consider this version to be superior to the original. Back to top.

Row 2 left: A tribute to the music & works of Brian Eno. Cleopatra records 1997.
So if darXtar is a space rock band, why are they included on this compilation? Brian Eno surely can't be described as a space rocker, rather the popular face of art music! Well, space rock was always only one of the sides of darXtar, up until Sju definitely the main one. But nevertheless they were inspired by a wide range of musicians and composers. Here they found a nice break in the more complex recording sessions of Tombola, and as they figured the other acts would probably be racking up their complete arsenal of synthesisers, they did the opposite and recorded an unplugged ambient version of The Secret Place with an extremely detuned 12-string guitar as base, topped off with the eerie sound of the primitive ocarina, various voices and percussion. All embedded in a dreamy mix. A popular track within the band, more space than art. Back to top.

Row 2 center: The fox lies down - a tribute to Genesis. Cleopatra records 1998.
This is getting worse by the minute - from Hawkwind to Eno, and now Genesis! Surely this band did nothing that can be incorporated in the darXtar sound. Sure they did! Anything can be incorporated if you ask the band, and early Genesis happened to be one of Jacobson and Martensson's favourite acts. So they were declared in charge of this recording, actually a cassette/computer production like the early darXtar stuff. It is a version of Dancing With The Moonlit Knight, with some proof to Bjorn's abilities as a guitar player. A tender interpretation of the original. Back to top.

Row 2 right: Copenhagen Space Rock Festival Compilation 2002.
Burnt Hippie Recordings 2003.
In 2001 a friend from the States who now lives in Denmark asked if darXtar would care to join a Space Rock Festival to be held in Copenhagen. Needless to say the band agreed and as part of the plan a compilation CD with tracks from each of the participating band would be released on Burnt Hippie Recordings. For all sorts of reasons the festival sadly never became a reality but it was decided that the CD should be released anyway. darXtar decided to dig up some old live stuff that never came to use and cleaned the tapes up a bit. The first track is Magicians from the Daybreak album, recorded in Berlin at a quite good gig in january 1995 that was partly destroyed by some strange woofing bass sound. The line up on it is K.Soren Bengtsson on guitar and vocals, Marcus Pehrsson on bass, Patric Danielsson on drums and Sören Mårtensson on keyboards. The second track, Aberrant Station from the first album, was recorded in Belgium in september 1994. Here the line up is K.Soren Bengtsson on guitar and vocals, Juba Nurmenniemi on vocals and bass, Patric Danielsson on drums and Sören Mårtensson on keyboards. The recordings are basic and raw but shows some of the potential of the band as a live act. Back to top.

Row 3 left: Daze of the underground - A tribute to Hawkwind. Godreah records 2003.
And so the inevitable Hawkwind tribute...This should be the most obvious tribute for darXtar, still it didn't come around until they finally got rid of that old Hawkwind ghost. There was no doubt though that they were going to participate, and The Watcher, from the 'glory days' (1970-75) was chosen. As usual they had to do everything backwards and, since it was released on a Heavy Metal label, it had to be something acoustic. Recorded over a day at studio terra, they went back to the ideas of the Eno tribute i.e. no electronics or drums, just weird instruments and oral spacesounds behind the repetitive guitar and bass to create that special raw feeling. Performing on the track is K.Soren on guitar and vocals, Marcus on bass and vocals, Patric on Russian harmonica and other bizarre instruments and noises, and Fredrik on the hypnotic violin. A good version of a favourite track. Lemmy rules! Back to top.

Row 3 center: Daze of the underground - A tribute to Hawkwind. Black Widow records 2004.
Same as the above only released in a 3-LP box set with poster and sticker. Back to top.

Row 3 right: Higher and Higher - A tribute to the Moody Blues. Mellow Records 2006.
For the Moody Blues tribute, darXtar choose to take on "The Dream", a poem from the "On the Threshold of a Dream" album. A clear step away from the original version! This is another experimental interpretation that the band themselves are very fond of. Visit Mellow Records for info. Back to top.

Row 4 left: Rökstenen - A tribute to Swedish progressive rock of the 70's. Musea Records 2009.
For this compilation DARXTAR picked one of world renowned Swedish composer Ralph Lundstens earlier works from his "Ölskog" album released in 1968. Cosmic Love received the usual treatment from the band and is a very psychedelic interpretation indeed. Lundsten himself acknowledged the DARXTAR version and wished them the best of luck! Visit Musea Records for info. Back to top.