In honor of its 20th anniversary we re-released Spacefolds 6 on Bandcamp! Here's the info on its release and some classic reviews from those days of yore. Tempus fugit!

https://quarkspace.bandcamp.com/album/spacefolds-6

Spacefolds 6 might be our best album, improv or not. Powerful loop-based material. Powerful spacey improv.

It's been sold out for well over a decade, but for its 20th anniversary you can now get the full album on Bandcamp. The digital version available on Apple Music, Spotify, etc. suffers from a four-minute truncated version of The Strangest String. We don't know why it happened, but it's a major reason we decided to make the entire album available here for the first time.

We are also adding two bonus tracks to this release. A single version of Funkpalast at Brian's Wormhole we didn't know existed, and The Soylent Factory, a tripped out piece of Space music previously released on a sci-fi movie compilation box set. That track has been misspelled for its entire existence on CD and digital sources, so here it is spelled properly for the first time ever!


released July 12, 2000

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1. Sheep Farm (8:22)
2. Sturm Und Calm (9:57)
3. Bonzo's G.S.B. (11:15)
4. Guy Evans (4:14)
5. D.O.B.H. #1 (9:55)
6. D.O.B.H. #2 (4:14)
7. Funkpalast at Brian's Wormhole (11:40)
8. The Strangest String (13:23)

Bonus Tracks
9. Funkpalast at Brian's Wormhole (single) (4:36)
10. The Soylent Factory (4:50)

Chet Santia: Bass, Guitar
Jay Swanson: Keyboards, Synth
Paul Williams: Drumming, Synth, Keyboards, Beats, Loops
Stan Lyon: Guitar
Dave Wexler: Guitar

All Music Improvised by Quarkspace
Produced by Lance Starbridge
Cover art by NASA

Copyright 2000, 2020 Eternity's Jest Records, Inc.

Album Reviews

This 2000 release is indisputably the band's most awesome release, featuring 73 minutes of incredibly tight space rock.

With this music, Quarkspace achieve a perfect unity of space rock and techno. The guitar fury is refined and integrated into a soundscape surging with intricate tempos and shimmering electronics. Soaring guitar pyrotechnics seize the listener, elevating the vantage perspective high above a churning ocean of glistening electronics and swooning keyboards. The percussives not only provide engaging platforms, but frequently beguile to enhance the mix with clever diversions. The bass rumbles and oozes with enticing undercurrent joy.

Exciting is the keynote with this release. Space rock trances are infused with vibrant energy, propelling the listener to alien worlds and alternate dimensions, where perception becomes clouded with dizzying ecstasy and intense crescendos refuse to relent.

To say the band's compositional capabilities peak with this music is technically incorrect, for this music is created cold, improvised right on the spot. The tightness and appealing melodies are achieved through the band members' interactive intimacy. The tuneage displays an acute aura of compact cohesion and dynamics. The actual melodies realize a state of extreme tastiness and exhausting satisfaction. - Matt Howarth, Sonic Curiosity

The latest from Quarkspace is yet another in the Spacefolds series of all-improvised instrumentals. And a fine set it is! Quarkspace have created some wonderful composed songs, but excel as a tightly knit improv unit and the Spacefolds series exists to showcase this side of the band.

The disc opens with "Sheep Farm". There's a clear sense of rhythm, and the percussion and bass set a steady and prominent pace while the guitars and synths do their exploratory magic. There's just barely enough here to make this danceable, but trippers can relax, secure in the knowledge that they can sit back, close their eyes, and tag along for the journey. "Sturm Und Calm" is similar though there's some very cool synth lines at the end that sound like an old dark Van Der Graaf Generator bit. "Bonzo's G.S.B." is more danceable, a bit funky, even with a bit of a cosmic lounge feel at times, but is also one of the more deceptively busy tracks on the disc. Multiple keyboards, synths, and guitars occupy themselves seemingly in their own world, yet it all comes together to create a controlled and cohesive whole, the hallmark of any great improvisational unit.

Another highlight track is "D.O.B.H. #1", a cool freaky electronica and guitar tune. The band tosses out the rhythm on this number in favor of freeform space meandering, reminding me of some of the great guitar/electronic combinations Ash Ra Tempel did so well in the 70's, but with the distinct Quarkspace sound. Finally, Quarkspace has several times in the past incorporated techno influences into their music and "Funkpalast At Brian's Wormhole" is probably the most overt example I've heard yet. Now the only reason I never explore techno as a genre is because it's so singly focused on the techno beat. Pound that dance floor! Quarkspace, on the other hand, utilize techno as an influence and make it an element, albeit a strong one on this song, of a larger whole. And the result is a totally funky space groove.

In summary, the Quarkspace trademark sound hasn't changed, but the band continues to evolve as an ensemble of musicians and these are some of their best improvs to date. Quarkspace have major crossover potential as this music would easily appeal to spacerockers, progheads, and all manner of electronica fans. Also note that the production and sound quality of Quarkspace recordings is fantastic and a headphone immersion into this disc will be rewarded many times over. - Jerry Krantiz, Aural Innovations

The sixth installment in Quarkspace's ongoing series of space rock improvs, Spacefolds 6 showcases the best "on the spot" material the band has released yet. The Spacefolds concept consists of capturing the band improvising, keeping the best bits, and releasing them. These CDs (cassettes in the case of the first three) were never treated like full-fledged albums (including very basic packaging) and it was true — prior to number 6, Spacefolds served as a laboratory for the band and the series couldn't be considered on the same level as Quarkspace or The Hidden Moon. However, the trend ends here, with Spacefolds 6. Still totally improvised, this material is very mature and stands on its own. The almost techno feel found on Spacefolds 5 is better integrated and sounds less alienating. Bass and drums are more prominent, giving the band's sound a drive close to Ozric Tentacles at times. Even the disco flooring on "Funkpalast at Brian's Wormhole" works nicely with all the swirling synthesizers and the Moog solo. The sound quality is excellent and the whole album is a lot less ethereal than The Hidden Moon, making it more danceable. "The Strangest String" is one of the band's strongest pieces ever, written or improvised. Strongly recommended. - Francois Couture, All Music Guide