SpaceGoats

SpaceGoats are an English group formed in Devon in August 1992, with the project emerging on the twenty-third anniversary of the Woodstock festival inside a crop circle. The group develops from the idea of testing what happens when acoustic music is played within such a setting, and their work is closely linked to environmental demonstration, direct action and counter-culture activity in the 1990s.

Style and context

The group is associated with psychedelic, acoustic and psychedelic folk music, with a folk sensibility. Their material is described as more concerned with psychedelic pagan invocations of the earth than with straightforward political messaging, although their audience extends across activists, children, grandmothers and environmental supporters.

Live activity and events

During the 1990s, SpaceGoats play extensively at festivals, protest sites and actions, as well as busking and performing at gigs in England, Ireland and parts of Europe. Their performances take place at stone circles, squats, sites, gatherings, campfires and raves. Notable appearances include the anti-Criminal Justice Act Velvet Revolution Tour of England in 1994, the Cooltan venue in Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, Frazer Clarke’s Megatripolis, Parallel University, Den of Enlightenment, and a series of nine 24-hour millennium run-up parties. They also feature at The Warp, a festival under the City linked to Neil Oram’s play of the same name.

Recordings

The group has four “proper” albums, and its recorded output is available through streaming, downloading and purchase via archival and independent outlets. The project maintains a substantial recorded catalogue beyond the core album releases.