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Peter Hammill - Typical
| Artist: | Peter Hammill |
| Title: | Typical |
| Label: | Fie! FIE 9119 |
| Length(s): | 64+71 minutes |
| Year(s) of release: | 1999 |
| Month of review: | 03/1999 |
Line up
Peter Hammill - almost everything
Tracks
Disc 1:
| 1) | My Room | 7.30
|
| 2) | Curtains | 6.06
|
| 3) | Just Good Friends | 4.55 r
|
| 4) | Too Many Of My Yesterdays | 4.23
|
| 5) | Vision | 4.31 r
|
| 6) | Time To Burn | 5.08 r
|
| 7) | The Comet, The Course, The Tail | 9.13 r
|
| 8) | I Will Find You | 3.55
|
| 9) | Ophelia | 4.13 r
|
| 10) | Given Time | 4.46
|
| 11) | Modern | 9.30 r
|
Disc 2:
| 1) | Time For A Change | 4.14
|
| 2) | Patient | 8.43 r
|
| 3) | Stranger Still | 5.51
|
| 4) | Our Oyster | 5.46 r
|
| 5) | Shell | 4.44
|
| 6) | A Way Out | 9.06 r
|
| 7) | Traintime | 6.09 r
|
| 8) | The Future Now + See Below | 26.33 r
|
Summary
Typical? Yes, typical of Hammill to release an album of his solo material
even saying that The Future Now is an encore, but having it harbour
much more: Van der Graaf Generators' Afterwards, Darkness 11/11 and
Central Hotel from Sitting Targets. Never one to publicize his Van der Graaf
Generator he did put something on, but so that you only notice back
in your room while playing. Still, if you read the booklet THOROUGHLY
you can see that it does contain some of the lyrics to these songs which
at least shows that them being there is not an afterthought.
The music
My Room is a song that is often played live by PH. The solo performance
is piano and vocals. I'm used to hearing it with violin, since the last
performances I saw featured Stuart Gordon. I think I like it better without
the violin, one can concentrate better on the song. Many of the tracks here
available could also be found on Roomtemperaturelive, eleven in fact,
but because the version are different (here solo, there featuring Gordon and
Potter on bass), I think this is warranted. Unlike Roomtemperaturelive the
album does not contain a full concert, but is compiled out of the tour.
A song that could not be on RTL since this is the first Fireships tour, is
Curtains. On record an emotive, somewhat desperate track, this is also
reflected by the live version. What also strikes me is that the live playing
of Hammill on the keyboards is never really fluent. This probably is largely
due to the fact that these are not easy songs to play and also the way he
tries to fill up the melodies with extra motives. Just Good Friends is an
older track, a very melodic, but not happy one. This version is quite
introverted. It seems that at least partly I have heard this since it was
recorded in Utrecht during my first Hammill concert. Too Many Of My Yesterdays
is again a rather slow song with percussive piano and as always a slightly
uncontrolled performance. After Vision, wonderfully melodic and from his
first solo album, we come to the last piano song for some time, Time To Burn.
During these first tracks, the mood is often quite sad and the music is
in mood comparable to sad gypsy music.
Approximately halfway through the first disc we come now to the first guitar
session opening with the longish The Comet, The Course, The Tail. These
songs are more physical (as PH says himself). This particular one is a rather
declamatory spacey song which sees an up and down movement in activity.
I Will Find You is one the track I like least in Hammills oeuvre. Again that
open guitar sound, but I'm just not fond of the melody, though the tense
bridge is usually nice. This time, the intermezzo is a bit too relaxed.
Ophelia is a track that I was never sure about. An acoustic guitar is probably
more fitting here, but actually it doesn't really matter. Given Time is one
of the tracks new during this time. It has a slide guitar feel to it and as
such has quite a spaceous sound. We close the first disc with Modern, as
you might know, a rather hectic piece, which is nice after the previous
rather quiet tracks. One might also say that Modern is one of the more
"progressive" tracks, with plenty of variation. The vocals are quite
different from what I am used to, more spoken than sung. After the first
verse this changes however. A very good version with some experimental parts
in the middle where the keyboards are played through the guitar. Then however
the distorted guitar takes control bringing menace into the song. This tone
of menace is more or less kept till the end.
Disc 2 continues with guitar with the Chris Judge Smith song Time For A Change.
A moody song, on the bluesy side. One of the best songs he ever made was
Patient and luckily he also plays it a lot. As he says: "There's a lot of
space to roam in this tune...". Like Modern it becomes quite aggressive towards
the end. We are now back for another keyboard session with Stranger Still.
Like many of the piano songs the music quickly has a somewhat romantic
feel to it. Not happy, but more reflecting or observant and of course in
Hammills case, romantic does not mean trite or sweet. In fact also this song
has its share of rather adverse parts. After such a part the music builds up
again (somewhat similar to Patient's build up). Our Oyster is a nice one,
but the melody of Shell has something of a musical. A Way Out is one of those
songs that could be extended almost indefinitely. Here it is extended to
nine minutes and six seconds ranging from full-out vocals to soft whisperings.
The regular set closes with Traintime, which is like Patient full of tension
and has a strong build-up. Hammill goes all-out vocally on this one.
The (first) encore is The Future Now, a mobilizing track with a strong chorus.
Now we come the further encores. First there is Afterwards from VDGG's
first album. A great track this and in my opinion the best of that first
album. Not something you would expect here, but we are here to be surprised
I would think. On the other hand the song fits in well within Hammills not
so typical singersongwriter songs. The song is followed directly by
Darkness 11/11. The opening is quiet, but dark and quickly gets to be
alternately desperate and rumbling. The really last track is Central Hotel
where the guitar is quite loud.
The CDs are accompanied by a rather lengthy exposition from PH about the songs
in question, describing this Typical but nonexistent performance.
Conclusion
Recorded in 1992, this album is a rather naked introduction to the music
of Peter Hammill. Although this is the Fireships tour, there are not
particularly many songs from that album present making it serve more as
an introduction to the man, than to the album. Unfortunately the album
does not contain Usher's Suite and are there no recordings from the very
good solo concert given in Haarlem somewhat later. Like most of his live
records this one could too function well as an introduction to his music,
but it has to be said that live the music is both more intense, but also
less smoothly played. Do not expect full blast rock, since these are solo
performances, but you can also forget about hearing only soothing songs
and subdued instrumentation.
© Jurriaan Hage