* En anglais uniquement
The only direct link from the '90s ambient house community to its space rocking forebear of the '70s,
Steve Hillage played in the prog rock band
Gong, released several solo albums during the late '70s and early '80s on Virgin, and later returned to music in the '90s to form
System 7, more of a recording collective than an actual band.
Hillage was recruited back to the music scene by
Dr. Alex Paterson of
the Orb, who spun
Hillage's
Rainbow Dome Musick at London's Heaven one night while
Hillage was there himself. The two became friends, and
Paterson encouraged him to begin recording ambient house -- with
Hillage's guitar explorations just as prominent in the mix as on his solo work. With collaborator
Miquette Giraudy (an old friend from his days in
Gong),
Hillage released the single "Sunburst" in late 1990, and followed with a self-titled album in September 1991, produced with the help of a varied cast of techno heavyweights (including
Paterson and
Derrick May). Soon after,
System 7 was signed to an American contract by Astralwerks, though the existence of a similarly named band caused
Hillage to name his outfit 777. The System 7 album was finally given a U.S. release in 1992 as
777.
During 1992,
Hillage and
Giraudy released the British-only singles "Freedom Fighters" and "Altitude" -- as
System 7, since the restriction applied only in America -- and prepared their second album. Given the confusing title of
777, it was nonetheless a completely different work than the earlier LP, and featured additional production by
Dr. Alex Paterson. Though it wasn't given an American release,
System 7's next project, a techno album and an ambient one released on the same day in late 1994, was issued in America as a two-disc set (again as 777). Signed to Britain's Butterfly label by producer
Youth (who had engineered several sessions), the group worked with
Derrick May and
Carl Craig plus
Paterson to record 1996's
Power of Seven. Though the album was not released in America, later that year the industrial label Cleopatra signed
System 7 -- finally allowed to use their real name in the U.S. as well -- and released the remix LP
System Express in early 1997.
System 7 returned later in 1997 with
Golden Section. 2002's
Seventh Wave and
Mysterious Traveller followed, as well as 2006's
Encantado and
Live Transmissions.
Released in January of 2008, the conceptual album Phoenix was based on the manga graphic novels series of the same name by Osamu Tezuka, one the founders of Japanese manga culture. Each track corresponded to a character or image in the book series and featured an array of collaborators including Mito, bassist from Art rock cum J-Pop band
Clammbon,
Son Kite,
Jam El Mar,
Eat Static, Slack Baba, and
Daevid Allen. It was followed a year later by Live @ Shinjuku Face 11.4.2009.
Hillage and
Giraudy also took the opportunity to reunite with
Allen and
Gong for the album
2032 that year.
System 7's next studio offering was 2011's Up; it featured collaborations with
A Guy Called Gerald,
Josh Wink and Funky Gong Minoru (a.k.a. guitarist Minoru Tsunoda). The EPs
Positive Noise and Passion followed.
2013 saw
System 7 in a landmark collaboration with vanguard Japanese band Rovo for Phoenix Rising (as
Rovo System 7) that also netted the
Hinotori EP.
2015's
X Port featured Rovo on the track "Love For The Phoenix. The album also included collaboratives with
Paterson and James Munro. It was almost immediately followed by
N Port from
Mirror System (System 7's downtempo alterego) and the mini-album N + X System, jointly credited to
System 7 and
Mirror System. ~ John Bush