One of the UK’s most admired guitarists, Hillage’s spacey strings are omnipresent throughout ‘Flower of Life,’ hovering between deeply groovy and deeply abstract. Intricate, geometrical textures are married to infectious tech house grooves on title track ‘Flower of Life’, while the pulsating rhythms of ‘I Want More’, featuring Coldcut’s Matt Black, present a fresh new take on the System 7 sound. “The track arose from a discussion with Matt about Miquette’s early pre-Gong work as a movie editor and actress, which included the Ibiza-based underground French film ‘More’. Matt made a demo of the idea which we developed,” says Hillage.
The duo call on old pal Alex Paterson and Michael Rendall from The Orb for the shimmering, ambient manifestations of ‘Beulah,’ which features a sample from 30’s icon Mae West, while the thumping ‘Firewheel’ is a hardened techno track that marries an element of the 90s System 7 track ‘Ring of Fire’ to the infamous ‘Amen’ drum break.
Elsewhere, the hi-energy ‘Transceptor’, originally made for a live collaboration with Eat Static, pushes System 7’s techno wizardry further, resulting in relentless psy trance before dissolving into ‘Bonjour,’ as the album closes in full chillout mode with a remix of ‘Dubby Signal Chain’ by Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society.
Making their names on the underground scene of the 60s and 70s, most notably with the legendary psychedelic space rock collective Gong, the veteran duo formed System 7 in 1989 after immersing themselves in the acid house scene while Hillage worked as an in-demand producer. Initially a collective which included The Orb’s Alex Paterson and Youth before eventually morphing into a duo, their 1993 breakout album ‘777’ became one of the defining records of the era. Collaborators have included a Guy Called Gerald, Laurent Garnier, Paul Oakenfold, Derrick May, and Jam El Mar (of Jam and Spoon), whilst remixes have come from Doc Scott, The Advent, Jacob’s Optical Stairway (4 Hero), Carl Craig, Dubfire (Deep Dish), Ritchie Hawtin (Plastikman), James Holden, Josh Wink, Carl Cox and Moody Boyz.
Born in 1951, Hillage studied at the University of Kent in Canterbury, befriending and jamming with local bands Caravan and Spirogyra. In early 1971, he formed Khan, who released the cult gem ‘Space Shanty’ in 1972.
A stalwart of the Canterbury scene, he contributed to Soft Machine co-founder Kevin Ayers’ 1973 solo album ‘Bananamour’ before meeting Giraudy through Daevid Allen of infamous space rock proggers, Gong. The new couple then joined Gong, both playing on revered albums ‘You’ (1974) and ‘Shamal’ (1975), with Hillage also featuring on ‘Angels Egg’ (1973) and ‘Flying Teapot Radio’ (1973). As well as Gong classics, the couple worked together on seminal Hillage albums including ‘Fish Rising’ (1975), ‘L’ (1976), ‘Motivation Radio’ (1977), ‘Green’ (1978) and the ambient opus ‘Rainbow Dome Musick’ (1979).
Hillage is held in high esteem for his production of Simple Minds’ groundbreaking albums ‘Sons & Fascination’ (1981) and ‘Sister Feelings Call’ (1981), which featured the anthemic instrumental ‘Themes For Great Cities’, which later became a Balearic anthem, championed by Andrew Weatherall, Paul Oakenfold and Danny Rampling.
Miquette Giraudy’s career began in film, with script and assistant editing credits on Barbet Schroeder’s 1969 heroin ‘n’ hippies escapade More. Continuing to work with Schroeder, in 1972 she played the role of Monique in the 1972 trippy journey flick La Vallée. Both movies featured scores by Pink Floyd. Playing a foundational role in the evolution of space rock and ambient music, the pioneering French synthesist, vocalist and composer gained recognition in the 1970s as a member of Gong where she contributed ethereal vocals and synthesizer textures under the stage name Bambaloni Yoni. In 1979, alongside Hillage, she co-composed the seminal album ‘Rainbow Dome Musick,’ widely cited as a cornerstone of the ambient genre.
SYSTEM 7 ‘Flower of Life’
Tracklist
1. ‘Still Wind’
2. ‘Flower of Life’
3. ‘La Catrina’
4. ‘I Want More’
5. ‘Beulah’
6. ‘Firewheel’
7. ‘Atmosphere’
8. ‘Transceptor’
9. ‘Bonjour’
10. ‘Dubby Signal Chain’
SYSTEM 7 Live
14 Mar – Cloud 9 (Tivoli Vredenberg), Utrecht, NL – System 7 Live
20 Mar – La Dame de Canton, Paris, FR – System 7 DJ set, Mirror System DJ set
27 Mar – Neuadd Ogwen, Bethesda, North Wales – System 7 Live (with The Orb)
28 Mar – Kanteena, Lancaster – System 7 Live
02 Apr – MK11, Milton Keynes – System 7 Live
03 Apr – The Brook, Southampton – System 7 Live
04 Apr – Castle and Falcon, Birmingham – System 7 Live
10 Apr – Fox and Firkin, Lewisham, London – System 7 Live (with The Orb)
11 Apr – Thekla, Bristol – System 7 Live (with The Orb)
25 Apr – The Con Club, Lewes – Mirror System Live
01 May – Soundhouse (The Umbrella Centre), Whitstable, Kent – System 7 Live
02 May – Patterns, Brighton – System 7 Live
System 7 About
System 7’s Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy have had a strong influence on the birth of psychedelic dance music and it’s journey up to the present, forging a unique and bang up-to-date identity on the genre map, in a space where techno, ambient and trance meet.
With the added ingredient of Steve’s celebrated psychedelic techno guitar, System 7, and their downtempo sister project Mirror System reach into their rich ambient and dance catalogue, blended with some new tunes, to create a powerful and exhilarating live set that will take everyone to a higher level. Prepare for lift-off to Planet 7!
Forming in 1989, System 7 began as a collective, also featuring The Orb’s Alex Paterson and Youth. Based on the central core of Steve and Miquette, System 7’s success been marked by a series of high powered collaborations, working with Detroit luminaries Derrick May and Carl Craig, Laurent Garnier, Jam El Mar, Josh Wink, Son Kite and Rovo among others.
And System 7’s revered club singles have featured outstanding remixes from the likes of Ritchie Hawtin (Plastikman), James Holden, Liquid Soul and Dubfire (whose mix of System 7’s ‘Space Bird’ was number one on Beatport’s main chart for 2 weeks in 2008).
After their first album on Virgin in 1991, System 7 moved to Youth’s Butterfly label for the landmark 777 release in 1993, and a string of other albums and 12inches through the 90s.
Starting their own label A-Wave in 2000 they re-released their back catalogue and have continued to release successful new albums, most recently Café Seven – released in June 2018, which also includes tracks by their chill-out project Mirror System – and Field of Dreams, a Japan orientated DJ mix album featuring many of their top live tracks, released in Sept 2020.
As one of the first techno groups to play live System 7 are equally at home in a club, or a festival. Starting with The Orb, and then with Orbital and Underworld at the legendary London club Megadog in the early 90s, they are renowned veterans of the festival scene.
They were involved in setting up the first official dance stage at Glastonbury Festival, where they have played 18 times since 1995. They have also regularly performed at Boom, Ozora, Fuji Rock (Japan), Bearded Theory and Beautiful Days as well as Roskilde, Pink Pop, Universo Paralello, Earthcore and the Oregon 2017 Eclipse Festival in the USA.
With their unique and constantly evolving sound System 7 live is an experience not to be missed!
Stay tuned for Electronic ConnectFM Tracks of the Month selection and listen to SYSTEM 7’s new music first
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