HEX

HEX (1989)

Tracks

1. Diviner (4:43)
2. Hermaphrodite (2:14)
3. Ethereal Message (5:43)
4. Mercury Towers (5:03)
5. Out Of The Pink Sky (2:48)
6. Fire Island (5:11)
7. In The Net (6:43)
8. Silvermine (2:09)
9. Elizabeth Green (5:10)
10. An Arrangement (1:12)

» Lyrics «

Credits

Donnette Thayer - Voice and a few instruments
Steve Kilbey - All other instruments

Produced by Steve Kilbey.
All songs written by S. Kilbey and D. Thayer except tracks 2, 5, 8 & 10 by S. Kilbey.
Recorded Winter 1988/89.
Some of this album was engineered at New Breed Studios, N.Y., by Andy Ebbenbach.
The rest was engineered at Gambit Studios, N.Y., by Bryce Goggin.
Drums on 'Elizabeth Green' played by Andy.

Releases

• LP First Warning FW 001-1 (USA) Inner Sleeve
• LP Demon FIEND 156 (UK)
• CD First Warning FW 001-2 (USA)
• CD Demon FIEND CD 156 (UK)
• CD Rykodisc RCD-10184 (USA)

Vinyl Inner Groove Messages:
   First Warning FW 001-1
      Both Sides) "SNOW ANGEL VS THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS"
   Demon FIEND 156
      Side 1) ORDINARY OBJECTS LIKE ...
      Side 2) ... WANDS AND DIVINING RODS

Notes

First Warning LP inner sleeve includes this Hex write-up:

Hex is neither a group nor an album, but rather the dynamic union of singer/songwriter Donnette Thayer (formerly of Game Theory) and producer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Steve Kilbey (bassist and principal vocalist for The Church). The music is rich and seductive, a bewitching mix of acoustic, electric and electronic instruments, capped with alluring lyrics. Call it post-psychedelic rock 'n' roll, future-folk, melodic prose and poetry or musical moods for ultra-moderns, Hex is an indescribably enticing album that will enchant you.

LP promo copies included a press kit. LP inner sleeve/CD booklet includes two prose/poems, one by Steve Kilbey, the other by Donnette Thayer.

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Tracks

1. Monarch (3:23)
2. Shelter (4:42)
3. March (5:26)
4. Centaur (2:26)
5. Antelope (6:00)
6. Hollywood In Winter (5:12)
7. Orpheus Circuit (3:40)
8. Aquamarine (4:44)
9. Hell (4:04)
10. Vast Halos (4:09)

» Lyrics «

Credits

Donnette Thayer - organic sounds
Steve Kilbey - electrical impulse control
Jim McGrath - pounding, shaking and apple eating

Produced by Steve Kilbey.
Recorded in the fifth sleeper, Winter 1989/90.
All songs Steve Kilbey and Donnette Thayer.

Releases

• CD Rykodisc RCD-10186 (USA, Canada)

Notes

A press release for Vast Halos was issued by Rykodisc.

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The following promo was also released:

MARCH (1990)

March (Fort Apache Version) (4:32)
March (Fifth Sleeper Mix) (5:40)
March (Album Version) (5:42)
Antelope (Album Version) (6:00)
Antelope (Unreleased Instrumental) (6:08)

• 12" Rykodisc RALP Pro 9009 (USA Promo)

COMPILATIONS FEATURING TRACKS BY HEX

TUNE UP ALBUM NETWORK (1989)

Includes Ethereal Message

• CD ROCK 42 (USA)

CERTAIN DAMAGE! VOLUME 30 (1990)

Tracks

1. Merry Go Round (3:29) - Replacements
2. Annie's Gone (3:33) - Redd Kross
3. Adios Mexico (2:42) - Texas Tornados
4. Hippychick (3:14) - Soho
5. Been Caught Stealin' (3:33) - Jane's Addiction
6. Wartime (5:46) - Wartime
7. Commercial Rain (4:43) - Inspiral Carpets
8. Celebrate (3:30) - An Emotional Fish
9. Night Comes In (4:54) - Oyster Band with June Tabor
10. Peppermint Rock (3:40) - French, Frith, Kaiser, Thompson
11. PSA: R.E.M.'s Mike Mills for the National Wildlife Federation (0:20)
12. Sebebu (5:38) - Aster Aweke
13. Never Leaving Eden Again (4:28) - Water Walk
14. March (5:26) - Hex
15. Heaven (3:29) - Into Paradise
16. Voodoo Chile (5:33) - David Torn
17. Scratching The Whole (3:18) - Bootsauce
18. Insane (4:01) - Criminal Nation

Releases

• CD CMJ CD-030 (USA) September, 1990

Notes

Includes this paragraph about Hex:

For those who escaped the spell that was Hex's debut LP, Steve Kilbey (Church vocalist/bassist) and Donnette Thayer (formerly of Game Theory) have reunited to produce a second LP, Vast Halos. If "March" is indicative of what we have to look forward to, prepare for the never-ending wonderment of Thayer's silken voice swirling atop Kilbey's lush arrangements, all sewed seamlessly together with a beautiful chorus and a velvet-crushing drum beat. Surely a magical union made in Old Salem witch country.

RYKODISC: SEPTEMBER SONGS - 1990 (1990)

Tracks

1. Night Comes (4:55) - June Tabor and The Oyster Band
2. All Tomorrows Parties (3:58) - June Tabor and The Oyster Band
3. March (5:39) - Hex
4. Hollywood In Winter (5:25) - Hex
5. Growin Up (3:28) - David Bowie
6. Lone Wolf #3 (0:20) - Timberwolf
7. #4 For Gaia (4:56) - Mickey Hart
8. Cougar Run (3:32) - Mickey Hart
9. Social Fools (3:41) - Devo
10. Mongoloid (3:32) - Devo
11. Lone Wolf #1 (0:37) - Timberwolf
12. Empty Seat Beside Me (3:28) - Chris Wall
13. I Wish John Stetson Made A Heart (3:32) - Chris Wall
14. Baby Blue [live] (3:39) - Badfinger
15. Day After Day [live] (3:08) - Badfinger
16. Leave It (3:41) - McGear
17. It Don't Come Easy (3:07) - Ringo Starr
18. The Weight (5:48) - Ringo Starr

Releases

• CD Rykodisc RCDPROGOLF 03 (USA Promo) in plastic sleeve with track list insert

DR. DEATH'S VOL. 4: THE MARVELS OF INSECT LIFE, INSTRUMENTAL COMPANION (1990)

Includes Antelope (Instrumental)

• LP C'est La Mort/Cargo CLM-029 (USA)
• CASS C'est La Mort/Cargo CLM-029 (USA)
• CD C'est La Mort/Cargo CLM-029 (USA)

POST-GROUNDHOG'S DAY SPECTACULAR (1991)

Tracks

1. Valentine (4:29) - Nils Lofgren
2. Red Wooden Beads (3:00) - John & Mary
3. Rags Of Flowers (live) (3:18) - John & Mary
4. Mississippi (3:17) - June Tabor & The Oyster Band
5. Shelter (Acoustic) (4:17) - Hex
6. Seinn Oi (Sing!) (3:51) - Martin Swan
7. Bratach Bana (White Banners) (4:52) - Martin Swan
8. Breakaway (2:45) - The Barking Tribe
9. White Man's Mind (3:07) - The Barking Tribe
10. I Fought The Law (4:06) - The Oyster Band
11. Navajo Rug (3:02) - Jerry Jeff Walker
12. Detour (3:35) - Jerry Jeff Walker
13. Superstitious Blues (4:00) - Country Joe McDonald
14. Cocaine (Rock) (3:49) - Country Joe McDonald
15. Soba Song (2:58) - 3 Mustaphas 3
16. a) Burke E Kripe Ne Vater Tone; b) Kalaxhojne (4:08) - 3 Mustaphas 3
17. Take Me Back to Jamaica (3:55) - Jolly Boys
18. Woman Smarter (3:09) - Jolly Boys

Releases

• CD Rykodisc RCD PROGOLF2 (USA Promo) February, 1991

Notes

Includes this brief paragraph about the Hex song:

The original version of this song appears on Vast Halos, studio crafted by Donnette Thayer and Steve Kilbey. This exclusive acoustic version was recorded with Hex, the seven piece band.

STEAL THIS DISC 3 (1991)

Tracks

1. Seinn O! (Sing!) (3:46) - Mouth Music
2. Walkin' Nerve (4:02) - Nils Lofgren
3. Love Or Confusion (2:52) - Jimi Hendrix Experience
4. Red Wooden Beads (2:53) - John & Mary
5. Flowers In The Snow (3:11) - Jerry Jeff Walker
6. Grey Skies (edit) (4:57) - Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin
7. Croc Gossip (2:10) - Michael Case Kissel
8. In France (3:01) - Frank Zappa
9. Sometimes (2:58) - Badfinger
10. Honey Don't (2:36) - Ringo Starr
11. Ripe Tomato (3:19) - The Jolly Boys
12. Breakaway (2:42) - Barking Tribe
13. Uglatto (1:58) - Devo
14. Benga Taxi (3:09) - 3 Mustaphas 3
15. To Where I Am Now (3:53) - Marty Willson-Piper
16. Centaur (2:38) - Hex
17. Something To Shoot (3:33) - Chris Wall
18. Cocaine (Rock) (3:46) - Country Joe McDonald
19. Meant For You (3:20) - Evan Johns & His H-Bombs
20. Norton (2:35) - Mike McGear
21. Heroes/Helden (3:37) - David Bowie
22. Rattlesnake Round-Up (Reprise) (2:52) - Kaiser & Kuriokhin
23. Finisterre (3:45) - June Tabor & The Oyster Band

Releases

• CD Rykodisc RCD 00205 (USA) July 23, 1991

Notes

Includes this write-up on Hex:

Yet another effort from yet another member of The Church. Those lads must never sleep without having at least one new song run through their dreams. Wherever Steve Kilbey and his Hexmate Donnette Thayer find their inspiration, it is sure to be a guarded place, dappled in moonlight, mists swirling around the spiny rock-hard truths. Vast Halos is the second outing for Hex, a tantalizing and mesmerizing mix of ethereal music, eastern influences, along with the "rock and roll thing."

AFTERSHOCKS (1991?)

Includes:

1. Interview (0:35) [MP3 - 280 K]
2. In The Net (Dance Mix - Remixed by Bruce Goggin) (4:19)
3. Antelope (Instrumental Unreleased) (6:10)
4. Ethereal Message (Radio Edit) (3:32)
5. Diviner (LP track) (4:43)

• LP First Warning HEX-FW 001/THE JOLLY BOYS-FW 002 (USA)
• CD First Warning HEX-FW 001/THE JOLLY BOYS-FW 002 (USA)

Notes

Donnette's comments are from an interview with Michael Thurston, courtesy of "OFF THE BEATEN TRACK."

Contains this quote from The Hard Report by Steve Kilbey about Donnette Thayer: "If I was a woman, I'd like to sing like that."

OTHER MEDIA FEATURING TRACKS BY HEX

TARNATION (2003)

The Hex track "Diviner" is heard in this Australian documentary by filmmaker Jonathan Caouette about growing up with his schizophrenic mother. See full movie details at the Internet Movie Database.