This | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 1998 | |||
Recorded | January – July 1998 | |||
Studio | Terra Incognita, Bath | |||
Genre | Art rock | |||
Length | 49:47 | |||
Label | Fie! | |||
Producer | Peter Hammill | |||
Peter Hammill chronology | ||||
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This is the 25th studio album by Peter Hammill, released on his Fie! label in 1998. There is a large variety in the compositions, ranging from the minimalism of the final song, "The Light Continent", to the rough, almost Nadir-like sound of "Always is Next", the complex "Unrehearsed" and the ballad "Since the Kids". Peter Hammill performed the song "Unrehearsed" live many times. "Nightman" can be heard on the live-album Veracious (2006).
The album was recorded, mixed and mastered at Peter Hammill's own studio, Terra Incognita in Bath, between January and July 1998. All instruments were played and all voices sung by Hammill, except for violin and viola by Stuart Gordon, saxophones and flute by David Jackson, and drums and percussion by Manny Elias. Hammill himself regards the album as "not in any sense a 'band' disc", and considers "the unifying factors [to be] song and voice rather than instrumentation". [1] The songs are interspersed with small instrumental fragments (according to Hammill, "their presence is essential in order to glue the whole thing together" [1] ).
The cover shows a tree stump and a collection of objects, signifying the passing of time. There is a tachograph disc, ripped out of the machine at high speed on one of the tours, and a picture of a wristwatch that used to belong to Hammill's father. [1] The design was done by RidArt (Paul Ridout).
All songs written by Peter Hammill.
All instruments and voices by Peter Hammill except:
Alan Ridout was a British composer and teacher.
Out of Water is the 17th studio album by Peter Hammill, originally released on Enigma Records in 1990 and subsequently re-released on Hammill's own Fie! label. Hammill himself considers this album to be a turning point from his mid-eighties style.
Skin is the 14th studio album by Peter Hammill, originally released on vinyl on Foundry Records in 1986 and later re-released on CD on Virgin Records. It was also released on CD by DaTE.
Incoherence is the 30th studio album by Peter Hammill, released on his Fie! label in March 2004. Incoherence is a concept album about language, containing 14 tracks with soft transitions between them. The album was produced and played by Hammill himself, with contributions from Stuart Gordon on violin and David Jackson on flute and saxophones. Incoherence is recognized by critics as ambitious and one of Hammill's major works.
Roaring Forties is the 21st studio album by Peter Hammill, released on his own Fie! label in 1994. It, and the following album, X My Heart, are Hammill's most recent albums that primarily contain an organic, full-band rock style. While there are occasional tracks on later albums in this style, Hammill's principal mode has moved since this album towards a more intimate, chamber-music style. The Roaring Forties is a name given, especially by sailors, to the latitudes between 40°S and 50°S, so called because of the boisterous and prevailing westerly winds.
The Fall of the House of Usher is an opera by Peter Hammill (music) and Chris Judge Smith (libretto). It is based on the 1839 short story of the same name by Edgar Allan Poe.
Fireships is the 19th studio album by English singer and songwriter Peter Hammill. Originally released in 1992, it was the first release on Hammill's own Fie! Records label. It was reissued in remastered form in 2006.
The Love Songs is an album by Peter Hammill, originally released on Charisma Records in 1984.
In a Foreign Town is the 16th studio album by the English singer-songwriter Peter Hammill. It was originally released in 1988 on Enigma Records, and was subsequently reissued on Hammill's own Fie! label.
The Noise is the 20th studio album by the English singer and songwriter Peter Hammill. It was released in March 1993.
Singularity is the 31st studio album by Peter Hammill, released on his own Fie! Records label in December 2006.
None of the Above is the 26th studio album by Peter Hammill, released on his Fie! label in 2000.
Clutch is the 29th studio album by Peter Hammill, released on his Fie! label in 2002. Clutch contains nine tracks played exclusively on acoustic guitar with accompaniments on saxophones and other instruments. The album was produced and played by Hammill himself, with contributions from Stuart Gordon on violin and David Jackson on flute and saxes. In the liner notes he states that even though the instrumentation is mostly acoustic, it is not a "folk" album. As usual a lot of the songs deal with dark subject matter and his vocals are quite intense in places. The liner notes say "the palette is restricted but the canvas is broad".
X My Heart is the 22nd studio album by Peter Hammill, originally released on Hammill's own Fie! Records in 1996. It is the last of Hammill's albums to date performed in what might be described as a full band style; the later albums have been more solo and intimate in style.
The Union Chapel Concert is a live album by Guy Evans and Peter Hammill, recorded in the Union Chapel in London, 3 November 1996, and released as a double CD in March 1997. The album is noteworthy because it is the first time the four ex-members of Van der Graaf Generator, Hammill, Evans, Hugh Banton and David Jackson, played together in front of a paying audience since the band had broken up in 1978. The subtitle on the front of the album reads: "featuring a one song, one-off reformation of Van der Graaf Generator." David Jackson and Hugh Banton were unannounced guests and played a Soundbeam-medley and a Samuel Barber Adagio for strings on the church organ respectively. All songs that evening were played in varying line-ups. Only "Lemmings" was played by Hammill, Evans, Banton and Jackson.
What, Now? is the 27th studio album by singer-songwriter Peter Hammill, released on his Fie! label in June 2001. According to the booklet it was "recorded, mixed and mastered at Terra Incognita, Bath between, oh, sometime in the late XXth Century and 11:23 (GMT) March 23rd 2001." It was produced by Peter Hammill.
Thin Air is British singer-songwriter Peter Hammill's 32nd solo album, released on his own Fie! Records label in June 2009. It was additionally made available as digital download through Burning Shed Records.
Everyone You Hold is the 24th studio album by Peter Hammill, released in 1997.
Consequences is British singer-songwriter Peter Hammill's 33rd solo album, released on his own Fie! Records label in April 2012. As on his previous release, Thin Air, Hammill played all instruments, wrote all the songs and produced the album.
Past Go: Collected is an album by Peter Hammill, originally released on Fie! Records in 1996.