Hammill, Pater - 1997 - The Union Chapel Concert

A one-time event stemming from an offer to percussionist Guy Evans to do anything he wanted at the Union Chapel in London. An idea to collaborate with Peter Hammill on a variety of semi- improvisational material partly built on samples of Hammill's music soon expanded to incorporate more traditional performance ideas as well as connections to Evans' own colleagues in the Echo City troupe. By the time the planning stage was over, Hammill and Evans had decided to bring in members of Echo City, regular Hammill collaborator Stuart Gordon, drummer Manny Elias, and, to cap things off, longtime Van Der Graaf members Hugh Banton (who had retired to a life of organ-building) and David Jackson, who not only turned up with sax and flute in hand, but with his Soundbeam rig as well.

The resulting live album, spread over two discs, is an impressive document. It is certainly Evans' show all the way, with some of the best drumming Evans has ever captured on record, though Hammill gives a good account of himself -- as Evans says in his sleeve notes, Hammill instantly took up the gauntlet that Evans threw down. As a result, the album includes some of Hammill's best live playing, including a ferocious reading of "Accidents." For some, though, the highlight will most likely be the rousing, 15-minute performance of "Lemmings," which amounts to a Van Der Graaf Generator reunion. There is, however, far more to recommend this two-CD set. By far one of the most powerful Hammill showings to date.

Disc 1
1 Introduction
2 Fireworks
3 A Forest of Pronouns
4 Anatol's Proposal
5 After the Show
6 Roger and Out
7 Accidents
8 Four Kinds of Rice/Hello/Resolution
9 Women of Ireland
10 Ship of Fools

Disc 2
1 Hamburg Station
2 Seven Wonders
3 Adagio for Strings
4 Red Shift
5 Lemmings
6 Outroduction
7 Traintime

¡Aquí!

Hammill, Peter - 1997 - Sonix

1 Emmene-Moi Bare Theme
2 A Walk in the Dark
3 In the Polish House
4 Dark Matter
5 Hospital Silence
6 Four to the Floor
7 Exercise for Louis
8 Labyrinthine Dreams
9 Emmene-Moi Full Theme

¡Aquí!

Hammill, Peter - 1997 - Everyone You Hold

Everyone You Hold is one of Peter Hammill's better latter-day albums. Although he hasn't changed his style much to speak of, the washes of keyboards, expansive tempos, clattering percusssion and loud, processed guitars are filtered through better compositions this time around, resulting in his most focused and engaging album in years.

1 Everyone You Hold Hammill 5:59
2 Personality Hammill, Hammill, Heusen 6:04
3 Nothing Comes Hammill 3:56
4 From the Safe House Hammill 6:13
5 Phophorescence Cosentino, Hammill 5:12
6 Falling Open Hammill 6:14
7 Bubble Hammill 6:30
8 Can Do Hammill 6:49
9 Tenderness Hammill 4:51

¡Aquí!

VA - 1997 - May Your Songs Always Be Sung: The Songs Of Bob Dylan

With only a pair of exceptions (think Hendrix and the Byrds), Bob Dylan's compositions are associated most with and recorded or performed best by Dylan himself. Tribute albums or collections of covers can never possess the grit and fire of his best material, especially those songs either intensely personal ("Positively 4th Street," "My Back Pages") or polemical ("Masters of War," "Talking World War III Blues"). Still, especially for great fans of Dylan's songs, hearing them in unfamiliar versions can often add meaning to lyrics or themes. May Your Song Always Be Sung: The Songs of Bob Dylan, a collection from German BMG Ariola, compiles versions separated by over three decades, most of them quite far afield from the originals but many of them performed by distinctive artists with something to add to the originals. Two of the best open the collection: Michael Hedges' atmospheric "All Along the Watchtower" and a mournful "Masters of War" from José Feliciano. The Box Tops' 1969 version of "I Shall Be Released" is a splendid fusion of country and soul, though Harry Nilsson's contribution is a ragged "Subterranean Homesick Blues" from 1974. At least half a dozen of the songs come from artists with far too much Dylan influence to make it on their own, including the Zimmermen, "Europe's number one Bob Dylan tribute band."

1. All Along The Watchtower-Michael Hedges
2. Blowin' In The Wind-Bobby Bare
3. Chimes Of Freedom-Phil Carmen
4. Never Say Goodbye('97 Version)-Steven Keene
5. Series Of Dreams-Zimmerman
6. Memphis Blues Again-Thomas Helmig
7. When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky-Jeff Healey Band
8. Seven Days-Jimmy Barnes
9. Trust Yourself-Carlene Carter
10. Highway 61 Revisited-Rita Chiarelli
11. Masters Of War-Jose Feliciano
12. Subteranean Homesick Blues-Nilsson
13. Ballad Of A Thin Man-The Sports
14. All I Really Want To Do-The Hooters
15. Sign On The Window-Jennifer Warnes
16. I Shall Be Released-The Box Tops
17. Blind Willie McTell-Dream Syndicate
18. Mighty Quinn-Gotthard
19. Knockin' On Heaven's Door-Leningrad Cowboy's

¡Aquí!

Komputer - 1997 - The World Of Tomorrow

Consciously retro in an electro-pop kind of way, The World of Tomorrow succeeds because the group doesn't try to sidestep their obvious debt to Kraftwerk. The analog synthesizers, vocoderized singing, and lockstep beats all point to the godfathers of techno, and Komputer does a good job of it. They even manage to push the envelope a bit farther, with commentary -- albeit superficial -- on tracks like "Bill Gates" and "More Automation." As a tribute LP, The World of Tomorrow is delicious fun; as a standalone work, however, it fails to add much to the Kraftwerk legacy.

1 The World of Tomorrow Komputer 4:11
2 More Automation Komputer 5:07
3 Bill Gates Komputer 4:26
4 Valentina Komputer 4:53
5 Looking Down on London Komputer 4:14
6 Terminus Interminus Komputer 7:40
7 Singapore Komputer 4:50
8 The Perfect Pop Band Komputer 4:09
9 Komputer Pop Komputer 5:17
10 Motopia Komputer 3:04
11 Valentina [Phobos Mix] Komputer 7:15
12 Valentina [Probe Mix] Komputer 6:03
13 Looking Down on London [Metroland Mix] Komputer 8:19

¡Aquí!

Tobin, Amon - 1997 - Bricolage

Amon Tobin's jazz-jungle fusions as Cujo (for upstart label Ninebar) earned him many props, but that began to change with his debut for Ninja Tune. Blurring the already vague line that separates jungle's rhythmic meditations from those of the hottest jazz (Elvin Jones, say, or Jaco Pastorius), Bricolage manages a difficult hybrid of heart, soul, atmosphere, and brain-bending plunderphonics that loses neither perspective nor direction over the course of the albums. Like his preceding EPs Creatures and Chomp Samba (from which a few of Bricolage's cuts derive), the album mixes fast and slow but maintains a solid focus on innovation without sacrificing a sense of purpose. Somehow, Bricolage manages to be both consistent and consistently engaging, a feat few drum'n'bass LPs seem able to manage.

		1		Stoney Street	Tobin	5:53
		2		Easy Muffin	Tobin	5:02
		3		Yasawas	Tobin	5:24
		4		Creatures	Tobin	5:21
		5		Chomp Samba	Tobin	6:07
		6		The New York Editor	Tobin	4:56
		7		Defocus	Tobin	5:10
		8		The Nasty	Tobin	4:35
		9		Bitter and Twisted	Tobin	5:05
		10		Wires and Snakes	Tobin	5:27
		11		One Day in My Garden	Tobin	5:43
		12		Dream Sequence	Tobin	7:19
		13		One Small Step	Tobin	6:11
		14		Mission	Tobin	7:08

¡Aquí!

Immortal - 1997 - Blizzard Beasts

Blizzard Beasts, Immortal's third album, sounds like a rush job when compared to the rest of the band's triumphant catalog. The majesty of the group's songwriting is buried in the album's subpar production values, which render the potentially brilliant hyperspeed riffing and drum battery gutless and ineffectual. "Nebular Ravens Winter," "Suns That Sank Below," and "Frostdemonstorm" offer a few decent riffs and solid arrangements, and six-minute epic "Mountains of Might" leans toward the black-metal-by-way-of-German-thrash genius of subsequent albums -- but the rest of the record shows little progression from predecessor Battles in the North. Ultimately, Blizzard Beasts should be chalked up as a transitional album in Immortal's mighty career, being the last to feature guitarist and founding member Demonaz (he quit after a bout with tendonitis); bassist/vocalist Abbath would take over six-string and songwriting duties, ultimately leading the band out of blastbeat hell and across more broad-scoped, epic terrain. Still, it's hard to write off Blizzard Beasts as a failure; the record is brilliant when compared to similar Norwegian black metal acts mired in ludicrous "necro" aesthetics, but it just doesn't match up with Immortal's usual balance of underground credibility with high production and songwriting standards.

		1		Blizzard Beasts	Occulta, Occulta
		2		Nebular Ravens Winter	Occulta, Occulta
		3		Suns That Sank Below	Occulta, Occulta
		4		Battlefields	Occulta, Occulta
		5		Mountains of Might	Occulta, Occulta
		6		Noctambulant	Occulta, Occulta
		7		Winter of the Ages	Occulta, Occulta
		8		Frostdemonstorm	Occulta, Occulta

¡Aquí!

VA - 1997 - Joyas De La Música, Vol. 2

¡Aquí!

Cornershop - 1997 - When I Was Born For The 7th Time

When I Was Born for the 7th Time is a remarkable leap forward for Cornershop, the place where the group blends all of their diverse influences into a seamless whole. Cornershop uses Indian music as a foundation, finding its droning repetition similar to the trancier elements of electronica, the cut-and-paste collages of hip-hop, and the skeletal melodicism of indie pop. Tying all of these strands together, the band creates a multicultural music that is utterly modern; it is conscious of its heritage, but instead of being enslaved to tradition, it pushes into the future and finds a common ground between different cultures and musics. Like Woman's Gotta Have It, large portions of When I Was Born for the 7th Time are devoted to hypnotic instrumentals, but the music here is funkier and fully realized. Cornershop hits an appealing compromise between detailed arrangements and lo-fi technology. There may be cheap keyboards and drum machines scattered throughout the album, but they are used as sonic texturing, similar to the turntables, synthesizers, samplers, sitars, and guitars that drive the instrumentals punctuating the full-fledged songs. When it chooses, Cornershop can write hooky, immediate pop songs -- "Sleep on the Left Side" and "Brimful of Asha" are wonderful pop singles, and "Good to Be on the Road Back Home" is an impressive, country-tinged tale -- but what makes When I Was Born for the 7th Time such a rich, intoxicating listen is that it balances these melodic tendencies with deceptively complex arrangements, chants, drones, electronic instrumentals, and funky rhythms, resulting in an album that becomes better with each listen.

		1		Sleep on the Left Side	Singh	4:06
		2		Brimful of Asha	Singh	5:17
		3		Butter the Soul	Singh	3:19
		4		Chocolat	Singh	1:24
		5		We're in Yr Corner	Singh	5:47
		6		Funky Days Are Back Again	Singh	3:41
		7		What Is Happening?	Ayres, Singh	2:15
		8		When the Light Appears Boy	Ginsberg	2:41
Composed by: Ginsberg Performed by: Cornershop, Allen Ginsberg
		9		Coming Up	Singh	1:03
		10		Good Shit	Singh	4:40
		11		Good to Be on the Road Back Home	Singh	5:45
		12		It's Indian Tobacco My Friend	Singh	4:51
		13		Candy Man	Singh	3:49
		14		State Troopers, Pt. 1	Singh	3:07
		15		Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)	Lennon, McCartney	2:27

¡Aquí!

Pungent Stench - 1997 - Praise The Names Of The Musical Assasins

This compilation of rare and unreleased material appeared four years after Club Mondo Bizarre, Pungent Stench's final album. Well packaged, Praise the Names of the Musical Assasins effectively sums up the group's early days when they were strictly a brutal splatter metal group, before they would eventually slow down their music and write songs about sex rather than gore. Not a greatest-hits album by any means, this release is strictly for hardcore fans of the group.

		1		Protoplasma		2:51
		2		Dead Body Love		3:59
		3		Miscarriage		2:20
		4		In the Vault		2:59
		5		Rip You Without Care		3:39
		6		Festered Offals		2:54
		7		Pungent Stench		2:20
		8		Extreme Deformity		4:04
		9		Mucous Secretion		2:52
		10		Molecular Disembowelment		5:26
		11		Ballad of Mangled Homeboys		3:29
		12		Daddy Cruel		3:31
		13		Tony		4:04
		14		Madcatmachopsychrormantik		9:14
		15		Extreme Deformity		5:15
		16		Festered Offals		2:59
		17		Pulsating Protoplasma		2:41
		18		Pungent Stench		2:27
		19		Embalmed in Sulphuric Acid		1:58

¡Aquí!