DESCRIPTION:
"On zero you go twice as deep."

Part guided meditation, part techno-rock anthem, Lothar and the Hand Peoples' underground classic Space Hymn (Capitol Records, 1969) conflates the political and the psychedelic. LATHP were the first artists to perform and record with the theremin and Moog synthesizer. Capitol Records released two albums by this short-lived band: "Presenting ... Lothar & the Hand People" (1968, produced by Robert Margouleff) and "Space Hymn" (1969, produced by Nick Venet).

Their gig list includes venues with Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Byrds, Lovin Spoonful, Canned Heat, and others. Recent collaborators include the Chemical Brothers who sampled a Lothar track on their platinum-selling album Dig Your Own Hole. Lothar and the Hand People played music for Sam Shepard's play The Unseen Hand, and was the opening act at the Atlantic City Pop Festival in 1969.

The music video incorporates found footage from the 1930s & 40s including 16mm family movies and Castle Film newsreel clips of World War II. Official selection at the ION International Animation, Games, and Short Film Festival, Los Angeles, and the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival. Directed/Produced by Hoag Holmgren. 2004. Thanks to John Emelin and the rest of Lothar and the Hand People for permission to make this video.

A Rolling Stone review described Lothar and the Hand People's music: "It is electronic country, a kind of good-time music played by mad dwarfs, and it is really good to listen to. There is no tension here, no jarring forces at war with each other. It may be strange that New York, the city which deifies speed and insanity, could produce this music, but it is as if Lothar and the Hand People have gone through this madness and come out on the other side, smiling."

"The song Space Hymn is the greatest. During one of the many times I took acid (30 years ago) we listened to it over and over without bumming out." -Robert j Rowe from Hackettstown, NJ on Amazon.com.