Hammill, Peter - 1998 - This

Even if the gang of the pH quartet are supporting Peter, he wanted this album to be a very much personal matter (at least he said so).

But, as usual, it is the more band oriented songs that I will prefer. "Unrehearsed" has the indefinite Graaf feeling I like so much. Mighty Jackson is as great as ever and Stuart's violin is just remarkable. When you would combine these elements with a passionate vocal part, you just have to acknowledge that this song is outstanding.

Same perspective for "Since the Kids" which is another highlight from "This". More tranquil but same passion. These moments are pure joy. During his long and (too) prolific career, Peter has dotted his albums with such wonderful songs.

I wasn't really enthusiast about Peter's output in the nineties and "This" might well be his best work since "Roaring Forties" or "Out Of Water". The delicacy of "Nightman" or "Fallen" is so moving. Hammill at his best. Like he should have always been. Stuart being a very good add-on of course.

Some less inspired songs here and there ("Stupid", "Always Is next") bring the listener back on earth again. The long and closing epic is more on the experimental and atmospheric side.

About this song, Peter said: "This was entirely improvised as far as music is concerned. I began playing one morning in a completely open - if somewhat anxiously reflective and somber - frame of mind. Just I'm making music, in a free sense. I played my parts...my performance...in one continuous pass, adjusting the various sound sources I was using as I went.

Again, a process of editing brought the piece into (admittedly long) shape. By this time the vocal line, theme and lyrics were well under way. David and Stuart's contributions were made under strict rules: they were allowed only two passes each. The first was without having heard the music at all; the only reference points I gave them were It's 14 minutes long and it's Antarctic. I remain really happy with this piece".

My feeling is probably more mixed, but "This" remains a good album in the man's discography. Three stars.

1 Frozen In Place [Fragment] Hammill 0:47
2 Unrehearsed Hammill 7:01
3 Stupid Hammill 4:26
4 Since the Kids Hammill 5:57
5 Nightman Hammill 6:16
6 Fallen (The City of Night) Hammill 5:36
7 Unready [Fragment] Hammill 0:42
8 Always Is Next Hammill 3:58
9 Unsteady [Fragment] Hammill 1:02
10 The Light Continent Hammill 14:00

¡Aquí!

Eider Stellaire - 1981 - Eider Stellaire I

This album is, along with Eskaton's 4-Vision, the most eagerly sought-after Zeuhl disc around the planet beit Kobaia or Earth. However contrarily to Eskaton, Eider Stellaire has no wish to reissue their three albums, so most likely unless there are bootleggers around, ES will remain out of most proghead's ears for quite a while. So I set out on a hunt and finally caught a vinyl of this first album, issued in 81 on a private label and see what the fuss was all about, as I had for 4-Vision. Maybe I'll pierce a bit the speculation bubble around this, but what you get is nothing extraordinary: just good Zeuhl music with an extra little edge to give it something a tad different, but then again isn't this just about the same as all Zeuhl groups? Take Magma's music as a base or blueprint and work your own version. But in the end, it still sounds like typical Zeuhl, which there is nothing wrong in the first place.

ES is a sextet fronted by two women on vocals, one also playing the odd flute, but for the rest, it's the standard prog quartet with a guest blowing some sax in one tune. On the opening side, the 8-mins+ Onde is a terrific mainly instrumental showcase for everyone, but especially for Delachat's searing guitar. After a piano solo for intro, Arctis is certainly THE typical Zeuhl track of the album with Singery's throbbing bass as the main feature, although there is an out-of-place (or ill-advised) flute intervention, but aside that flaw, the track is outstanding and manages to hold your breath, sustain the suspense, holding the high tension until the final bass throb explosion.

The flipside opens on the aerial Légende where Delachat's saturated guitar is again holding the fore front, but Hirne's keyboards are holding the 100 MPH cruise-speed alive. Tetra is somewhat slower and takes a funkier twist, but it slows down to allow the sax's quiet solo to happen. The final Nihil track is probably the hardest and trashiest track of them all, showing a nihilistic attitude

Well, just like for Eskaton's debut album, you might be tempted to pay fortunes for the vinyls and in both case, I can't really tell you that it would be worth it. I have borrowed both of them from a friend and while I wish I had both wax slices, I'm just not prepared to dish out big amounts, even for above average Zeuhl albums. Because after all it does remain Zeuhl and sonically it brings almost nothing new to the Kobaian debate.

1. Onde (1. LP Seite) (8:35)
2. Arctis 6eme éphéméride (7:04)
3. Légende (2. LP Seite) (5:37)
4. Tétra (6:32)
5. Nihil (7:26)

¡Aquí!

Can - 1971 - Tago Mago

With the band in full artistic flower and Suzuki's sometimes moody, sometimes frenetic speak/sing/shrieking in full effect, Can released not merely one of the best Krautrock albums of all time, but one of the best albums ever, period. Tago Mago is that rarity of the early '70s, a double album without a wasted note, ranging from sweetly gentle float to full-on monster grooves. "Paperhouse" starts things brilliantly, beginning with a low-key chime and beat, before amping up into a rumbling roll in the midsection, then calming down again before one last blast. Both "Mushroom" and "Oh Yeah," the latter with Schmidt filling out the quicker pace with nicely spooky keyboards, continue the fine vibe. After that, though, come the huge highlights -- three long examples of Can at its absolute best. "Halleluwah" -- featuring the Liebezeit/Czukay rhythm section pounding out a monster trance/funk beat; Karoli's and Schmidt's always impressive fills and leads; and Suzuki's slow-building ranting above everything -- is 19 minutes of pure genius. The near-rhythmless flow of "Aumgn" is equally mind-blowing, with swaths of sound from all the members floating from speaker to speaker in an ever-evolving wash, leading up to a final jam. "Peking O" continues that same sort of feeling, but with a touch more focus, throwing in everything from Chinese-inspired melodies and jazzy piano breaks to cheap organ rhythm boxes and near babbling from Suzuki along the way. "Bring Me Coffee or Tea" wraps things up as a fine, fun little coda to a landmark record.

		1		Paperhouse	Can, Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit ...	7:28
Composed by: Can, Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki
		2		Mushroom	Can, Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit ...	4:03
Composed by: Can, Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki
		3		Oh Yeah	Can, Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit ...	7:23
Composed by: Can, Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki
		4		Halleluhwah	Can, Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit ...	18:32
Composed by: Can, Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki
		5		Aumgn	Can, Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit ...	17:37
Composed by: Can, Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki
		6		Peking O	Can, Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit ...	11:37
Composed by: Can, Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki
		7		Bring Me Coffee or Tea	Can, Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit ...	6:47

¡Aquí!

Bee Gees - 1971 - Trafalgar

The Bee Gees had entered the early '70s with a roaring success in the guise of "Lonely Days" and its accompanying album, which established their sound as a softer pop variant on the Moody Blues' brand of progressive rock. Trafalgar, which followed, carried the process further on what was their longest single LP release, clocking in at 47 minutes. The music all sounded meaningful, much of it displaying the same kind of faux-grandeur that the Moody Blues affected on their music of this era, the core group (playing pretty hard) acompanied by either Mellotron-generated orchestra or the real thing, with the group's soaring harmonies and Robin Gibb's quavaring lead vocals all over the place. As with 2 Years On's "Man for All Seasons," there was also one title ("Lion in Winter," featuring a startling falsetto performance) lifted from a recently popular film and play having to do with English history. It was all very beautifully produced and, propelled into record-store racks by the presence of "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart," the group's first No. 1 single, Trafalgar shipped very well initially. Nothing else on the record was remotely as memorable as the single, however, and its sales were limited. Trafalgar was also the handsomest and most elaborately designed of their albums, its cover reprinting Pocock's painting "The Battle of Trafalgar" and the interior gatefold containing a shot of the brothers enacting the scene of the death of Lord Nelson. It all imparted the sense of a concept album, though nothing in the music said so, except perhaps the finale, "Walking Back to Waterloo." Despite the hit single, the album showed the limits of the Bee Gees' talents as songwriters and of their appeal as album artists.

		1		How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?	Gibb, Gibb	3:58
		2		Israel	Gibb	3:44
		3		The Greatest Man in the World	Gibb	4:17
		4		It's Just the Way	Gibb	2:33
		5		Remembering	Gibb, Gibb	4:01
		6		Somebody Stop the Music	Gibb, Gibb	3:31
		7		Trafalgar	Gibb	3:53
		8		Don't Wanna Live Inside Myself	Gibb	5:24
		9		When Do I	Gibb, Gibb	3:57
		10		Dearest	Gibb, Gibb	3:52
		11		Lion in Winter	Gibb, Gibb	3:59
		12		Walking Back to Waterloo	Gibb, Gibb, Gibb	3:51

¡Aquí!

Spirit - 1970 - Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus

Although Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus has the reputation of being Spirit's most far-out album, it actually contains the most disciplined songwriting and playing of the original lineup, cutting back on some of the drifting and offering some of their more melodic tunes. The lilting "Nature's Way" was the most endearing FM standard on the album, which also included some of Spirit's best songs in "Animal Zoo" and "Mr. Skin." [The 1996 CD reissue has four bonus tracks, though these are on the nonessential side: mono versions of "Animal Zoo" and "Morning Will Come," the 1970 single "Red Light Roll On," and the previously unissued "Rougher Road."]

		1		Prelude - Nothin' to Hide	California	3:43
		2		Nature's Way	California	2:40
		3		Animal Zoo	Ferguson	3:10
		4		Love Has Found a Way	California, Locke	2:42
		5		Why Can't I Be Free	California	1:05
		6		Mr. Skin	Ferguson, Spirit	4:01
		7		Space Child	Locke	3:25
		8		When I Touch You	Ferguson	5:37
		9		Street Worm	Ferguson	3:43
		10		Life Has Just Begun	California	3:29
		11		Morning Will Come	California	2:50
		12		Soldier	California	2:50
		13		Rougher Road [#/*]		3:17
		14		Animal Zoo [*]	Ferguson	3:10
		15		Morning Will Come [#/*]		2:50
		16		Red Light Roll On [*]		5:41

¡Aquí!