HEX
Hex was a brief collaboration between Steve Kilbey and Donnette Thayer, formerly of Game Theory. They released 2 albums. Read more about Donnette Thayer and Hex on Shadow Cabinet [archived].
HEX (1989)
Tracks (click a title for details) | Media | |
| 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) | |
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
All songs published by Funzalo Music/First Warning Music (BMI)
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
Photography by Carol Fondé
Art Direction by John Foy
Releases
- LP - First Warning Records FW 001-1 (USA)
- LP - Demon Records FIEND 156 (UK) - 1990
- CASS - First Warning Records FW 001-4 (USA)
- CD - First Warning Records FW 001-2 (USA)
- CD - Demon Records FIENDCD 156 (UK) - 1990
- CD - Rykodisc RCD 10184 (USA) - 1990
- Digital Download - Available at Bandcamp
Vinyl Run-Out 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 (roll over or tap a title to see the poem):
- Steve Kilbey Hex Poem
ONCE THERE WAS A FOURTH PLANET WHICH
EXISTED BETWEEN EARTH AND MARS. IT WAS
STRUCK BY A HUGE METEOR WHICH SENT IT
WILDLY OUT OF ORBIT WHERE IT COLLIDED WITH
OUR OWN WORLD, CAUSING GREAT FLOODS AND
STORMS TO RAGE AND FIERY RAIN BURNING DEEP
IN THE OCEANS. THE MOUNTAINS SANK AND
LAKES OF ASHES AND DIAMONDS APPEARED ON
THE CONTINENTS, VAST SWAMPS SEETHING WITH
GREEN CLOUDY GASES, PERFORATED WITH THE
TINY SHADOWS OF LIFE. UPHEAVAL AND
STRUGGLE IN THE SENTIENT KINGDOMS WHICH
SWAM THROUGH THE SOFT MUD UNIVERSE OF
EACH DROP. THIS WAS AFTER OUR TIME BUT
BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF MEN. THE EARTH
BECAME AMBIGUOUS, NOTHING COULD BE
ASCERTAINED, NO SENSE COULD BE TRUSTED,
THINGS CAME INTO EXISTENCE WHICH MAY NOT
HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE; HENCEFORTH EVERYTHING
CONTAINED WITHIN ITSELF ITS OWN
CONTRADICTION. THE MANIPULATION OF THESE
CONTRADICTIONS IS CALLED MAGIC. FRAGMENTS
OF THE FOURTH PLANET WERE USED FOR BOTH
GOOD AND EVIL PURPOSES ALTHOUGH NO
KNOWLEDGE REMAINS OF THE RACES WHICH
UTILISED THESE POWERS, ALL TRACE OF THEM IS
GONE. BUT STILL THEIR ECHOES, THEIR
PREMONITIONS PERSIST IN CERTAIN RITUALS AND
CAN BE FOUND IN ORDINARY OBJECTS LIKE
MIRRORS, MAGNETS, WANDS AND DIVINING
RODS. IN THE SOUND OF FLAMES WE CAN HEAR
THEIR VOWELS AND CONSONANTS, IN THE
SUDDEN FLASH OF LIGHTNING WE GLIMPSE THEIR
LIFE AND TIMES. ALL WAS TRANSFORMATION
REFLECTION AND NON MANIFEST OBJECT.
OUTSIDE THE REALM OF DENIAL, ORDER AND
CHAOS BEGAT CREATION AND DESTRUCTION, A
NEED FOR WORSHIP WAS ESTABLISHED AND
DEATH WAS SITUATED AS A NECESSARY BORDER
BETWEEN THE DIVINE AND THE UNDIVINE, FEW
HAD THE MEANS TO TRANSGRESS THIS DIVISION.
ONCE BLURRY DISTINCTIONS BECAME TRUE AND
FALSE OR POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE. FOR THE FIRST
TIME ON EARTH CAME MALE AND FEMALE AND
THE POSSIBILITIES WHICH FORMERLY EXISTED
BETWEEN THEM WITHERED AND VANISHED.
SPLINTERS OF THEIR OLD DISCIPLINES EVOLVED
INTO SYSTEMS OF DIMENSIONS AND
MEASUREMENT. OTHERS, UNSTABLE AND NEARLY
IMPERCIEVABLE, DEGENERATED INTO BLESSINGS
AND HEXES, AND THE DELIBERATE STUDY OF THE
UNLIKELY. IN TEMPLES AND NURSERIES THE
VESTIGES OF OUR STRANGE ANCESTORS HIDE
AND FADE AWAY. AT THE SEA SHORE OR AT THE
POLES, SOMETHING OF THEIR FORCE CAN BE
UNDERSTOOD. MUSIC IS MERELY OUR OWN
CRUDE TRANSLATION OF THE PRE-BEINGS LOST
HISTORY, A VAGUE EQUIVALENT OF THEIR DAY TO
DAY CHATTER AND CONVERSATIONS. KNOWING
OUR GREATEST SYMPHONY TO BE ONLY A
CRACKLE OF STATIC COMPARED TO THEIR
ELEMENTAL SONGS, I DABBLE IN MY ART, FOREVER
UNSATISFIED AND ANGRY, CHASING MELODIES
AND WORDS NOBODY WILL EVER HAVE THE
ABILITY TO HEAR.S.K.
- Donnette Thayer Hex Poem
TOMORROW I GROW BIG METAL WINGS. DOWN,
DOWN TO YOU SO PALE AND EVEN THEN
THINNING OUT UP THERE SOMEWHERE IN THE
WHIRL. AND ANOTHER GLASS ENDURANCE
BIGWHITE. RETURN. EMPTY MAKER TOAST ME IN
YOUR SPHERICAL MORE AND MOST AS GRACIOUS
GRECIAN HOST WHITE WINE WAFER FINAL BEFORE
I RISE WHEN LAKES OF ICE CREEP UP MY SPINE,
FLOATING ISLAND WITHOUT A LEGUP MY LOVE IS
MY HORSE IS WARM LIKE THE TALL ONES IN
CENTRAL PARK OR EVEN THE ONES THAT BREATHE
STEAM IN THE NEW ORLEANS HEAT THROUGH THE
FLOWERS AT THEIR NOSES AND YOU DON'T ASK I
WILL IN A STREETFUL OF TERRACE HOUSES WHERE
COMFORT SHOWS THE AGES OF ITS STAINS
FLAPPING THERE IN THE HOT WIND CATCHING
THE SMELL OF THE WIND I WILL I'VE LIVED IT
NOW I'VE LIVED IT FLYING BLIND ASK I WILL I'M
YOURS FROM TIP TO TIP LONG ASH AND ALL I
WILL SEEPING DEEPLY RETURN FEARLESS A
BRANDED BRAIDED BREED DON'T MOVE DON'T
TURN AROUND I'M THERE ALL FINGERS AT THE
BACK OF YOUR NECK A LITTLE TO THE LEFT I WILL
AGAINST THE BROWN AGAINST THE PALE TO KISS
INTO 1000 2345 SEPARATE LIVING LIVES THE ONES
WHO REACH FOR THE EXCHANGE IN YOU I WILL
WHERE WASTING THE EYES CLOSED ARMS SPREAD
PEAKS IN TIME IS A CRIMINAL THING NOW I WILL
I'M THERE IF YOU WANT ME AND YOU WANT ME
AND YOU KNOW IT. ASK. I WILL EASY EASY NOW I
WILL IN THE AIR BETWEEN THE RAIN AND THE
DARK I WILL PRESSING DOWN HARD I WILL JUST
ASK I WILL.D.T.
Photo of Donnette
in the CD booklet
Reviews & Comments
VAST HALOS (1990)
Tracks (click a title for details) | Media | |
| 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) | |
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
Cover photo image by Kim Stringfellow
All songs Steve Kilbey and Donnette Thayer
Published by Funzalo Music/FW Music (BMI)
Releases
- CASS - Rykodisc (USA Promo) - Advance Cassette - plain pink sleeve with black text - Cover
- CASS - Rykodisc RACS 0186 (USA) - Sept. 28, 1990
- CD - Rykodisc RCD 10186 (USA) - Sept. 28, 1990
- Digital Download - Available at Bandcamp
Notes
A press release for Vast Halos was issued by Rykodisc.
Reviews & Comments
MARCH (1990)
Tracks (click a title for details)
Side 1:
Side 2:
Releases
- 12" - Rykodisc RALP Pro 9009 (USA Promo)
COMPILATIONS FEATURING TRACKS BY HEX
TUNE UP ALBUM NETWORK (1989)
Includes Ethereal Message
- CD - ROCK 42 (USA)
NEW ROUTE SAMPLER 2 (1990)
Tracks
- Here's Where the Story Ends - The Sundays
- The Sinister Minister - Béla Fleck & The Flecktones
- U-Li-La-Lu - Poi Dog Pondering
- We Don't Do That Anymore - Sidewinders
- Call Out the Military - Richard X. Heyman
- Monsters of Jazz - Big Dipper
- Sometimes I Feel Like... - Bad Religion
- Hedonist - The House Of Love
- In The Net (Unreleased Dance Mix) - Hex
- Song for Whoever - The Beautiful South
Releases
- CASS - Joseph Fox Communications, Inc. NRS 2 (USA Promo) - April/May 1990
Notes
Includes this paragraph about Hex:
From out of the shadows swoops in a supple combination, the eerie mist of Church bassist and songwriter Steve Kilbey and the supple incantations of Donnette Thayer, formerly of the Game Theory. The union began as an experiment with last year's debut LP—a cohesive venture, drifting through mysterious veils. "In the Net," an unreleased dance mix, subtly fuses funky beats with the Hex spirit. Thayer's vocals sneak out from its underside in sparse echoes that quickly evaporate in the ozone.
CERTAIN DAMAGE! VOLUME 30 (1990)
Tracks
- Merry Go Round (3:29) - Replacements
- Annie's Gone (3:33) - Redd Kross
- Adios Mexico (2:42) - Texas Tornados
- Hippychick (3:14) - Soho
- Been Caught Stealin' (3:33) - Jane's Addiction
- Wartime (5:46) - Wartime
- Commercial Rain (4:43) - Inspiral Carpets
- Celebrate (3:30) - An Emotional Fish
- Night Comes In (4:54) - Oyster Band with June Tabor
- Peppermint Rock (3:40) - French, Frith, Kaiser, Thompson
- PSA: R.E.M.'s Mike Mills for the National Wildlife Federation (0:20)
- Sebebu (5:38) - Aster Aweke
- Never Leaving Eden Again (4:28) - Water Walk
- March (5:26) - Hex
- Heaven (3:29) - Into Paradise
- Voodoo Chile (5:33) - David Torn
- Scratching The Whole (3:18) - Bootsauce
- 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
- Night Comes (4:55) - June Tabor and The Oyster Band
- All Tomorrows Parties (3:58) - June Tabor and The Oyster Band
- March (5:39) - Hex
- Hollywood In Winter (5:25) - Hex
- Growin Up (3:28) - David Bowie
- Lone Wolf #3 (0:20) - Timberwolf
- #4 For Gaia (4:56) - Mickey Hart
- Cougar Run (3:32) - Mickey Hart
- Social Fools (3:41) - Devo
- Mongoloid (3:32) - Devo
- Lone Wolf #1 (0:37) - Timberwolf
- Empty Seat Beside Me (3:28) - Chris Wall
- I Wish John Stetson Made A Heart (3:32) - Chris Wall
- Baby Blue [live] (3:39) - Badfinger
- Day After Day [live] (3:08) - Badfinger
- Leave It (3:41) - McGear
- It Don't Come Easy (3:07) - Ringo Starr
- The Weight (5:48) - Ringo Starr
Releases
- CD - Rykodisc RCDPROGOLF 03 (USA Promo) - plastic sleeve with track list insert
DR. DEATH'S VOL. 4: THE MARVELS OF INSECT LIFE, INSTRUMENTAL COMPANION (1990)
Includes Antelope (Instrumental)
- CASS - C'est La Mort/Cargo CLM 029 (USA) - unknown if this includes the Hex track
- CD - C'est La Mort/Cargo CLM 029-B (USA) /
POST-GROUNDHOG'S DAY SPECTACULAR (1991)
Tracks
- Valentine (4:29) - Nils Lofgren
- Red Wooden Beads (3:00) - John & Mary
- Rags Of Flowers (live) (3:18) - John & Mary
- Mississippi (3:17) - June Tabor & The Oyster Band
- Shelter (Acoustic) (4:17) - Hex
- Seinn Oi (Sing!) (3:51) - Martin Swan
- Bratach Bana (White Banners) (4:52) - Martin Swan
- Breakaway (2:45) - The Barking Tribe
- White Man's Mind (3:07) - The Barking Tribe
- I Fought The Law (4:06) - The Oyster Band
- Navajo Rug (3:02) - Jerry Jeff Walker
- Detour (3:35) - Jerry Jeff Walker
- Superstitious Blues (4:00) - Country Joe McDonald
- Cocaine (Rock) (3:49) - Country Joe McDonald
- Soba Song (2:58) - 3 Mustaphas 3
- a) Burke E Kripe Ne Vater Tone; b) Kalaxhojne (4:08) - 3 Mustaphas 3
- Take Me Back to Jamaica (3:55) - Jolly Boys
- 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
- Seinn O! (Sing!) (3:49) - Mouth Music
- Walkin' Nerve (3:57) - Nils Lofgren
- Love Or Confusion (2:56) - Jimi Hendrix Experience
- Red Wooden Beads (3:03) - John & Mary
- Flowers In The Snow (3:14) - Jerry Jeff Walker
- Grey Skies (edit) (5:01) - Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin
- Croc Gossip (2:14) - Michael Case Kissel
- In France (3:05) - Frank Zappa
- Sometimes (3:02) - Badfinger
- Honey Don't (2:39) - Ringo Starr
- Ripe Tomato (3:23) - The Jolly Boys
- Breakaway (2:45) - Barking Tribe
- Uglatto (2:01) - Devo
- Benga Taxi (3:12) - 3 Mustaphas 3
- To Where I Am Now (3:57) - Marty Willson-Piper
- Centaur (2:42) - Hex
- Something To Shoot (3:37) - Chris Wall
- Cocaine (Rock) (3:50) - Country Joe McDonald
- Meant For You (3:22) - Evan Johns & His H-Bombs
- Norton (2:39) - Mike McGear
- Heroes/Helden (3:41) - David Bowie
- Rattlesnake Round-Up (Reprise) (2:56) - Kaiser & Kuriokhin
- Finisterre (3:43) - 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:
- Interview (0:35)
- In The Net (Dance Mix - Remixed by Bruce Goggin) (4:19)
- Antelope (Instrumental Unreleased) (6:10)
- Ethereal Message (Radio Edit) (3:32)
- Diviner (LP track) (4:43)
Releases
- 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
RYKODISC SUMMER '90 VIDEO REEL (1990)
Tracks
- Fame '90 (3:38) - David Bowie
- Ethereal Message (3:25) - Hex
- Blow, Wind Blow (3:35) - Dzintars
- Questions Without Answers (4:06) - Marty Willson-Piper
- I Feel Like Hank Williams Tonight (4:16) - Jerry Jeff Walker
- Taxi Driver (I Don't Care) (3:41) - 3 Mustaphas 3
- The Jean Genie (4:02) - David Bowie
Releases
- VHS - Rykodisc [no catalog number] (USA Promo) - NTSC
TARNATION (2003)
The Hex track "Diviner" is heard in this Australian documentary by filmmaker Jonathan Caouette about growing up with his schizophrenic mother. On the DVD the song begins at the start of Chapter 8 ("1992"), 43 minutes and 42 seconds into the film, and runs about 3 and 1/2 minutes. It includes snippets of Jonathan singing along to the song.
See full movie details at the Internet Movie Database.