By Paul Margach
Poor Valentina Tereshkova. Despite being the first woman in space, she remains even more obscure than Laika, the first canine to orbit the Earth. Vostok 6 deftly combines folk music with ’70s synth-pop in order to tell her extraordinary tale. The dark overtones of Pink Floyd’s Meddle and David Bowie’s Low resonate and the chill of the Cold War is given an extra boost from Kurt Swinghammer’s rich voice. But there are humorous moments. The title-track, the Beach Boys’ "I Get Around" as sung by robots, is straight out of a ’50s B-movie.
A bizarre, yet strangely triumphant ride.