Since bailing out of his Liberal Studies in Science course at Manchester University in 1968, Peter Hammill has pursued an idiosyncratic career as songwriter, singer and musician. Until the late 70's he worked in the group Van der Graaf Generator. Their complex music, as often brutal as it was lyrical, fitted somewhat uneasily into the once and then niche of Progressive Rock. In the ethos of the group - one to which Peter has continued to subscribe since its demise - there was a marked aversion to the categorization of any sort; barely controlled chaos and a sense of adventure, rather than pomp, were the primary characteristics of their chequered nine album career.
By the time the group finally folded Peter had already recorded seven solo albums, covering many lyrical and musical bases in the process. If one did not know otherwise, the proto-punk of Nadir's Big Chance, the full blown emotion of Over and the scatter-gun arrangements of The Silent Corner could well have been the work of three entirely different artists: it is Hammill's voice, both artistic and physical, which unifies them. It is this diversity that the major labels absolutely dread and want nothing to do with. Small wonder that Peter chose the independent route.
Van der Graaf Generator/Godbluff (Japanese LP Sleeve Edition)
....CD $24.99
Van der Graaf Generator/H to He Who am the Only One (Japanese LP Sleeve Edition)
....CD $24.99
Van der Graaf Generator/The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other (Japanese LP
Sleeve Edition) ....CD $24.99
Van der Graaf Generator/Pawnhearts (Japanese LP Sleeve Edition) ....CD
$24.99
 |
 |
 |
 |
| (excerpt from 'Scorched Earth') Download Stream |
(excerpt from 'Pioneers Over C') Download Stream |
(excerpt from 'Refugees') Download Stream |
(excerpt from 'A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers') Download Stream |
Van der Graaf Generator/The Quiet Zone-The Pleasure Dome
(Japanese LP Sleeve Edition) ....CD $24.99
Van der Graaf Generator/Still Life (Japanese LP Sleeve Edition) ....CD
$24.99
Van der Graaf Generator/Vital (Japanese LP Sleeve Edition) ....double CD
$27.99
Van der Graaf Generator/World Record (Japanese LP Sleeve Edition) ....CD
$24.99
 |
 |
 |
 |
| (excerpt from 'Lizard Play') Download Stream |
(excerpt from 'My Room') Download Stream |
(excerpt from 'Sci-Finance') Download Stream |
(excerpt from 'Meurglys III') Download Stream |
Eight classic albums from British progressive rock legends Van der Graaf Generator reproduced as mini LP sleeve editions - each title faithfully reproduced using original LP artwork including the inside sleeve. All titles feature the most recently mastered audio versions and include bonus tracks where applicable. Ltd. Editions specially imported from Japan.
Van der Graaf Generator/Trisector ....CD $14.99
(excerpt from 'Interference Patterns')
Download Stream
Following on from the 2005 album 'Present,' Van Der Graaf Generator have put together a brand new album titled 'Trisector.' Van Der Graaf Generator now a stripped-down trio of members Hugh Banton (organ), Guy Evans (drums) and Peter Hammill (vox, guitar, piano), made a storming return to live performance in the spring of 2007. The band started recording their new album in July 2007 and after a period of mixing and overdubbing 'Trisector' is now ready for release. There are nine pieces on the album, one of them instrumental. Unusually for VDGG, only one of these is more than ten minutes long - indeed, five come in at under five minutes. There are, of course, passages of great complexity but there's also a confidence about the group which allows them to leave some simple things as they are. These are songs which dictate their own terms, often with a healthy dose of gallows humour, always with a measure of invention.
Peter Hammill/And Close As This (Japanese Paper Sleeve Edition)
....import CD $42.95
Peter Hammill/Love Songs (Japanese Paper Sleeve Edition) ....import CD
$41.95
Peter Hammill/Sitting Targets (Japanese Paper Sleeve Edition) ....import
CD $41.95
Peter Hammill/Skin (Japanese Paper Sleeve Edition) ....import CD $41.95
Japanese paper sleeve editions of these classic Peter Hammill titles!
Van der Graaf Generator/Real Time: Royal Festival Hall (Japanese LP Sleeve + Bonus CD) ....import CD $54.95
Japanese limited edition issue of the album in a deluxe, miniaturized LP sleeve. "This version of 'Real Time' will be a 3-cd set, as it includes some bonus material taken from the VdGG tour of summer 2005. 'When She Comes,' 'Still Life' and 'Pilgrims' give a fuller picture of the repertoire we went through on this tour and also included is 'Gibberish,' taken from the soundcheck at Amsterdam; this bears some relation to Disc 2 of Present!" ~ Peter Hammill
Peter Hammill/Singularity (Japanese LP Sleeve) ....import CD $34.95
Japanese limited edition issue of Peter Hammill's latest solo album in a deluxe, miniaturized LP sleeve. Perhaps inspired by the early Charisma recordings, "Singularity" is absolutely a solo record on which Peter sings and plays all instruments alone. This is not, though, a folksy singer-songwriter effort. Experimentation and change have always been important to Peter and some of the sonic landscapes encountered here are strangely new. Warped electric guitars and vocals crushed into slabs of noise are as likely to appear as grand pianos or acoustic guitars. Many definitions of singularity exist and though several of them have some bearing on and resonance in this work the principle ones with which Peter identifies here are the personal (unusual, strange) and gravitational (Black Hole). So...it's serious but it's not devoid of humour, though where this occurs it's often of a black variety...and often directed back at the singer himself. After all, we are all circling just outside the gravitational pull of our personal black holes...that's where we're heading. Meanwhile, though, we can whistle a tune, albeit a strange and singular one.
Peter Hammill/Paper Sleeve Box 1 (Japanese paper sleeves) ....4 CD box set $165.95
Limited box that includes the LP paper sleeve editions of "Chameleon In the Shadow Of the Night", In Camera", "Silent Corner and the Empty Stage", and "Nadir's Big Chance".
Peter Hammill/Sitting Targets ....CD $14.99
Peter Hammill/The Love Songs ....CD $14.99
Peter Hammill/And Close as This ....CD $14.99
Peter Hammill/Skin ....CD $14.99
Four classic albums from progressive rock icon and Van der Graaf Generator founder Peter Hammill covering his prolific 1980's period. All albums are digitally remastered with Hammill's involvement. Sitting Targets - "...often overlooked because of its cold, very early '80s production, but it has yielded many classic songs that would grow out of their rather square studio arrangements and go on to provide fans with many memorable live moments." The Love Songs - "This odd collection delves, seemingly at random, into the corpus of Peter Hammill songs that, inasmuch as they discuss the fraught path of romantic entanglements, can be construed as 'love songs' - although anybody picking up a copy as a Valentine's gift for his or her own significant other might well regret it. And not only because the sentiments and emotions expressed are often a long way from love itself." And Close as This - "Peter Hammill seems to alternate between releasing unpredictable work and his trademark style (straight-ahead arrangements for voice and one other instrument, usually guitar). And Close as This would fall into the former category, since it's comprised exclusively of pure arrangements (in this case voice and keyboards). It's hard not to be impressed by the emotion in Hammill's voice on the songs, 'Other Old Cliches' and 'Besides the One You Love' ...one of Hammill's finest." Skin - "All but a reunion of Van der Graaf Generator in terms of personnel, and harkening to the latter-day spirit in terms of some of the tone. Skin is nonetheless Peter Hammill continuing to declare his own direction minute by minute, rather than plotting overarching career goals. There is more of a dependence on MIDI on this album, and a lot of obvious keyboard support, but the core human players come through loud an dclear, expecially Guy Evans on drums and David Jackson on saxes." ~ All Music Guide
Van der Graaf Generator/Real Time ....import double CD $19.99
(excerpt from 'Scorched Earth')
Download Stream
On 6th May 2005 Van der Graaf Generator staged their reunion concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London. The event had sold out within days of its announcement and over twenty five different nationalities were represented among the ticket holders, none of whom believed that they would ever see Banton, Evans, Jackson and Hammill perform again as VdGG. After all, the last time they had done so had been twenty nine years previously. Expectations and stakes were high. Collective breath was held as they advanced on stage. What would they play? How would it sound? Would it be worth risking the reputation of the past with these present efforts? With suprises as well as old favourities, new songs as well as recovered classics, the event was, in the end, a triumph for critics and public alike. This double CD contains every note from first to last in real time as a true document of a unique occasion. This is very exciting stuff indeed.
Peter Hammill/A Black Box (Japanese mini-LP sleeve edition)
....import CD $33.95
Peter Hammill/Future Now +2 (Japanese mini-LP sleeve edition) ....import
CD $33.95
Peter Hammill/Over +3 (Japanese mini-LP sleeve edition) ....import CD
$33.95
Peter Hammill/PH7 + 2 (Japanese mini-LP sleeve edition) ....import CD
$33.95
Japanese limited edition issues of the album classics in deluxe,
miniaturized LP sleeve replica of the original vinyl album artwork.
Peter Hammill/Singularity ....import CD $17.99
(excerpt from 'Famous Last Words')
Download Stream
Peter's last solo studio recording, 'Incoherence," was released in
2004, having been completed a day before he had a heart attack. Since then he's been
occupied with the Van der Graaf Generator reunion, first in recording "Present"
and then in the run of live shows undertaken in 2005; he was also responsible for
remastering the VdGG catalogue. In 2006 "Veracious," a set of live duo
performances with Stuart Gordon, was released and Peter also remastered the solo CDs which
he had recorded for Charisma in the 70s. Little wonder, then, that when he came to
write and record "Singularity" intimations of mortality and considerations of
history both public and personal were uppermost in his mind. The main theme here is the
long dive down into not being who we were....
Perhaps inspired by the early Charisma recordings, "Singularity" is absolutely a
solo record on which Peter sings and plays all instruments alone. This is not, though, a
folksy singer-songwriter effort. Experimentation and change have always been important to
Peter and some of the sonic landscapes encountered here are strangely new. Warped electric
guitars and vocals crushed into slabs of noise are as likely to appear as grand pianos or
acoustic guitars. Many definitions of singularity exist and though several of them
have some bearing on and resonance in this work the principle ones with which Peter
identifies here are the personal (unusual, strange) and gravitational (Black Hole).
So...it's serious but it's not devoid of humour, though where this occurs it's often of a
black variety...and often directed back at the singer himself. After all, we are all
circling just outside the gravitational pull of our personal black holes...that's where
we're heading. Meanwhile, though, we can whistle a tune, albeit a strange and singular
one.
| Peter Hammill/Over (remastered) ....CD $14.99 | Peter Hammill/The Future Now (remastered) ....CD $14.99 | Peter Hammill/pH7 (remastered) ....CD $14.99 | Peter Hammill/A Black Box (remastered) ....CD $14.99 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
"...moving right along on the remastering production line...following on from their release of all the VdGG stuff (and, indeed, "Fool's Mate") Virgin have now decided to put out the next eight solo albums which fall within their compass. I've been hard at work at the desk sprucing, buffing, polishing and shining them to present them in the best possible light. The earliest ones of these sounded decidedly odd from whichever standpoint you want to take, and were quite a handful to deal with in a sonic sense. But they all have their fascinations and there's some cracking content, of course. The first four to emerge will be "Chameleon", "Silent Corner", "In Camera" and "Nadir"; they're due in September. They'll be followed by "Over", "The Future Now", "pH7" and "A Black Box." There are odd extra tracks, sourced either from BBC tapes or (as in the VdGG issues) from bootlegs, on all the CDs except "Nadir" and "A Black Box", which remain in their original form; it didn't seem right to add anything else to these two. I've written liner notes, of a sort, for all the releases...." - Peter Hammill
Peter Hammill/Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night (remastered)
....CD $14.99
Peter Hammill/Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night (Japanese mini-LP sleeve edition)
....import CD $33.95
2006 issued digitally remastered edtion of Hammill's second solo album that was originally released in 1973. The original 8 tracks have been augmented with three more that didn't appear on the original LP issue: "Rain 3AM", "Easy To Slip Away (Kansas)" and "In The End (Kansas)".
Peter Hammill/In Camera (remastered) ....CD $14.99
Peter Hammill/In Camera (Japanese mini-LP sleeve edition) ....import CD
$33.95
2006 issued digitally remastered edtion of Hammill's third solo album that was originally released in 1974. The original 7 tracks have been augmented with three more that didn't appear on the original LP issue: "Emperor In His War Room", "Faint Heart & The Sermon" and "(No More) The Sub Mariner."
Peter Hammill/Silent Corner and the Empty Stage (remastered)
....CD $14.99
Peter Hammill/Silent Corner and the Empty Stage (Japanese mini-LP sleeve edition)
....import CD $33.95
2006 issued digitally remastered edtion of Hammill's fourth solo album that was originally released in 1974.
Peter Hammill/Nadir's Big Chance (remastered) ....CD
$14.99
Peter Hammill/Nadir's Big Chance (Japanese mini-LP sleeve edition)
....import CD $33.95
2006 issued digitally remastered edtion of Hammill's fifth solo album that was originally released in 1975.
Peter Hammill/Fireships (remastered) ....import CD $17.99
(excerpt from 'Gaia')
Download Stream
"This CD has been unavailable for some time and I have now taken the opportunity to remaster it. The artwork has also undergone a spring clean. This was the first new recording to be released on Fie! Records, back in 1992. It set a benchmark for many of my future efforts. I produced it in conjunction with David Lord and his wonderful orchestral arrangements are well to the fore. At this time I was particularly interested in a wide sonic pallette, applied to songs with an immediate and direct approach, usually centred on one, close-up, lead vocal. Percussion is minimal on these recordings and the tempo is generally slow, calm, slow. This is one of my most accessible and creatively succesful albums of recent years and I am really pleased that it's going to be out there once more." ~ Peter Hammill.
Peter Hammill/Patience (remastered) ....import CD $17.99
(excerpt from 'Traintime')
Download Stream
"This CD has been unavailable for some time and I have now taken the opportunity to remaster it. The artwork has also been spruced up. This was the second album that I recorded with the members of my then touring band, the K group, in 1982/3. The previous recording (Enter K) was remastered last year and it's high time that this one, too, had some sonic afterburner applied to its tracks. Electric guitar predominates here in a direct and uncompromising fashion. At the core of things, though, is a very strong collection of songs. Several of these have become staple subjects for live performance in almost every line-up with which I've played since. Their first appearances here, though, were hardly half-baked. The recordings were made in the manner already set down with 'Enter k': half the tracks were initiated in my home studio, to be completed at Crescent Studios. The rest were started from the ground up there in a very tradtitional backing track/overdub manner." ~ Peter Hammill
Peter Hammill with Stuart Gordon/Veracious ....import CD $17.99
(excerpt from 'Primo on the Parapet')
Download Stream
After the alarums and excursions of his appearances in the Van der Graaf Generator reunion of 2005 Peter Hammill's first release of 2006 on Fie! Records restates his interest in things stripped down, solo...and live. Over the last decade or so the most common line-up for Peter's shows has been a duo, with Stuart Gordon's electric violin augmenting Peter's own vox, piano and guitar. Not before time, "Veracious" provides an audio document of the way in which these two have set about their business onstage. A feature of Peter's shows has been a constant turnover of material and most of the songs represented here come from Peter's most recent studio albums; only "A Way Out" and "Primo on the Parapet" have appeared on live recordings before. As always, the tunes and lyrics are stretched and warped away from their original shapes: that's the nature of real live performance. "Veracious" is an essential addition to the Peter's catalogue of live recordings.
This year marks the 35th Anniversary of Van der Graaf Generator's debut album. In celebration of this event Peter Hammill has been remastering both the Van der Graaf and his own solo albums. Each release has been expanded to included rare material appearing on CD for the first time ever as well as expanded CD booklets.
Van der Graaf Generator/World Record ....CD $14.99
Van der Graaf Generator/World Record (Japanese paper sleeve) ....import
CD $35.95
(excerpt from 'Meurglys III')
Download Stream
By the middle of the 1970's, Van Der Graaf Generator's sound was subtly changing. Buoyed up by the success of their 1975 reunion album, Godbluff, and the reception it's follow-up Still Life received, their 1976 release, World Record, expanded further on the renewed power of the band's reformed line-up. Includes two bonus tracks.
Van der Graaf Generator/The Quiet Zone-The Pleasure Dome
....CD $14.99
Van der Graaf Generator/Quiet Zone-Pleasure Dome (Japanese paper sleeve)
....import CD $35.95
(excerpt from 'Lizard Play')
Download Stream
The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome is the only prog rock album (and groupo) at the time to have been accepted and heralded by rock critics during the tumultuous on rush of punk. In fact, Johnny Rotten was a huge Van der Graaf Generator fan. Includes three bonus tracks.
Van der Graaf Generator/Vital ....double CD $16.99
Van der Graaf Generator/Vital (Japanese paper sleeve) ....import double
CD $48.95
(excerpt from 'Sci-Finance')
Download Stream
Vital is Van der Graaf Generator's swansong; a live double disc set featuring intense performances of some of the band's best material that Record Collector magazine says "shreds the originals, with Peter Hammill in loud rock guitar mode." Originally released as a single CD with 2 tracks having to be removed due to space contstraints, Vital has now been restored to a 2-CD set with it's original running order and length intact. As Hammill reflects: "It was perhaps one of the most extreme live recordings of the time..."
Peter Hammill/Fool's Mate ....CD $14.99
Peter Hammill/Fool's Mate (Japanese paper sleeve) ....import CD $34.95
(excerpt from 'Sunshine')
Download Stream
Fool's Mate was Peter hammill's first solo album featuring all of Van der Graaf Generator as his backing bans as well as Rod Clements and Ray Jackson of Linsifarne plus guitarist Robert Fripp. Includes five bonus tracks.
Van der Graaf Generator/Godbluff ....CD $14.99
Van der Graaf Generator/Godbluff (Japanese paper sleeve) ....import CD
$34.95
(excerpt from 'Scorched Earth')
Download Stream
"After a four year absence (in which Peter Hammill released a number of solo albums) Van der Graaf Generator reformed in 1975 to record this masterpiece. Godbluff captures the band at their peak with a mature lyrical contribution from Hammill combined with the musical pyrotechincs of which the band was capable. The combined inspiration of the four musicians creates a synergy that elevates this head and shoulders above any other VdGG release, even Pawnhearts" - progreviews.com Includes two bonus tracks.
Van der Graaf Generator/Still Life ....CD $14.99
Van der Graaf Generator/Still Life (Japanese paper sleeve) ....import CD
$34.95
(excerpt from 'My Room')
Download Stream
Emotionally charged and instrospective, Still Life reaches a level of painful beauty that few bands have matched. Includes the bonus track Gog (live).
Van der Graaf Generator/H to He Who am the Only One
....CD $14.99
Van der Graaf Generator/H to He Who Am the Only One (Japanese paper sleeve)
....import CD $35.95
Van der Graaf Generator/Pawnhearts ....CD $14.99
Van der Graaf Generator/Pawnhearts (Japanese paper sleeve) ....import CD
$35.95
Van der Graaf Generator/The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other ....CD
$14.99
Van der Graaf Generator/Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other (Japanese paper
sleeve) ....import CD $35.95
|
|
|
| (excerpt from 'Pioneers Over C') Download Stream |
(excerpt from 'Refugees') Download Stream |
(excerpt from 'A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers') Download Stream |
This year marks the 35th anniversary of Van der Graaf Generator's debut album. In celebration of this event Peter Hammill has been remastering both the Van der Graaf and his own solo albums. Each release has been expanded to include rare material. Instead of pressing these in the US, Caroline has opted to import the European pressings. So these are identical in every respect to the more expensive European release.
Van der Graaf Generator/Present ....import double CD $28.95
(excerpt from 'Nutter Alert')
Download Stream
Most fans thought it would never happen. But Guy Evans, David Jackson, Hugh Banton and Peter Hammill have reunited as Van der Graaf Generator. This is not a nostalgic reunion to relive past glories, but a coming together of new experiences and fresh perspectives for the creation of new music as well as new live performances, the rebirth of a phoenix! During the studio sessions the muse was so generous that the result was 16 new Van der Graaf works spread out over a double CD. Present is being released by Virgin/EMI who have resurrected the Charisma label for the occasion. "One CD consists of the songs/structured pieces which we consciously rehearsed: "Every Bloody Emperor," "Boleas Panic," "Nutter Alert," "Abandon Ship!," "In Babelsberg" and "On the Beach." The second CD features an hour's worth of improvisations. These have always been a feature of Van der Graaf playing and are quite whacky.... I recommend taking these at about a half an hour at a time; it's really like being locked in the room with us." - PH
Hugh Banton/The Goldberg Variations (J. S. Bach) ....import CD $17.99
"The first solo recording by Hugh Banton, this is a really exciting, if somewhat
unusual, release for Fie! As you will know, Hugh was the organist in Van der Graaf
Generator. For the last twenty years since the demise of the band Hugh has worked in organ
design and for some time now his own company, The Organ Workshop, has produced digital
organs of extremely high quality for churches, halls and organ enthusiasts in the UK and
worldwide. Never one to shirk a challenge, he has decided to perform the Bach's
Goldberg Variations, the pinnacle of the Baroque Keyboard repertoire, on an organ of his
own design; a fantastic achievement from any standpoint. This is not a showboating
extravaganza but a genuine reinterpretation of the work and a fascinating exposition of
Hugh's technical mastery both as a musician and an instrument designer.
"The Goldberg Variations was originally written for double manual harpsichord but
lends itself equally well to church organ. Indeed, the transfer to this instrument
enhances the clarity of many of the lines. The contrapuntal detail is further
highlighted by the precise nature of the digital organ. (It is notoriously difficult to
achieve such clarity with recordings of conventional church organs.) For some, the
fact that this is not a "real" organ may be a barrier to enjoyment. For those
with open ears and minds, though, it will prove a sparkling listening experience.
For what it's worth I give my highest commendation to this CD and am
absolutely delighted to include it in the Fie! catalogue." - PH
Roger Eno & Peter Hammill/The Appointed Hour ....import CD $17.99
An extraordinary collaboration. Between one and two in the afternoon of 1st April 1999 Roger and Peter improvised in their respective studios. This CD is a combination of their recordings, in which coincidence and fate play charming parts. The music is continuous for the whole hour. While coming from such an extremely specific time frame the music itself has a timeless quality. Modern music with a (serious) smile on the face. Roger first suggested the idea of a collaboration with no more concrete idea than the hope that something unexpected might emerge, well away from anything which either of them might produce as individuals. With this as a yardstick they agreed to plunge fully into the unknown by recording improvisations in their respective studios for exactly one hour between 1 and 2 pm on Thursday, April 1st 1999. There were no preconditions and no advanced plan. Five minutes before the off they agreed by Œphone that they would start in D minor. Beyond that, all was open.
The hope had been that, if they were lucky, they might come up with i) individual passages of (solo) worth; ii) some moments of synchronicity which could stand in their own right; iii) several germs-of-ideas which they could develop, adapt, overdub and treat. (Of course, April 1st being Fool's Day, there also remained the possibility that one or both of them could have spent the hour in complete silence....). When the two performances were put in synch together it was immediately obvious that something quite different had occurred. Their mutual, time-locked, distance-distanced concentration had in fact produced not two separate, occasionally coincident performances but the one whole event which is the content of this CD: a most particular hour embedded in music. The music on the CD is continuous, of course. It has a certain smile, a certain sense of playfulness about it; but it is also quite serious. And what were you doing for that hour on that day?
Guy Evans & Peter Hammill/The Union Chapel Concert ....double import CD $18.99
Guy Evans was invited to do whatever he wanted for a concert at Union Chapel. He decided to do a duet performance with Peter Hammill. And in the process the two of them invited a number of their favorite musicians to join them. The onstage result that evening of Nov. 3, 1996 was a round robin of solos, duets and ensembles with musicians coming and going. Suddenly at the climax of the evening the audience realized that the ensemble in front of their eyes just happened to be Van der Graaf Generator performing together for the first time in nearly 20 years! But they did so in a typically sideways manner which had more to do with the (radical) logic of the moment than with fitting into any genre or raking in the lucre in some sad pastiche of their younger selves. Thankfully the evening was preserved on this official bootleg.
Peter Hammill/Clutch ....import CD $17.99
"This is the forty-seventh album that I've recorded. As you'll know, there's always some difference in attitude, approach and style as I've gone from one to the next. This time I've restricted myself to writing and playing exclusively on acoustic guitar. It was on this instrument that I began writing songs nearly forty years ago, so this meant something of a return to first principles. It was also a project of interesting and challenging discipline. I have not, though, made a simple acoustic record. The guitars are layered and several and there are also outstanding sonic contribtuions from Stuart Gordon on violin and viola and David Jackson on sax and flute. I have bedded in backing vocals in places but in general the lead voice is centre stage. The songs are at the serious end of the spectrum. No, this is not a folk album. " - Peter Hammill
Peter Hammill/Enter K (remastered) ....import CD $17.99
Now newly remastered by Peter Hammill and including the bonus track, 'Seven Wonders.' "Enter K is very much a hybrid set of recordings which makes up a pair with Patience. By the time of recording the k group was in full effect, having been formed to tour with songs from 'Sitting Targets' and 'A Black Box.' As I've said elsewhere, not exactly a Beat Group but probably the closest ensemble I've ever been in which would come under that category. The personnel on 'k' are, of course, the k group - Guy Evans, John Ellis and Nic Potter - with additional contributions from David Jackson. The masters were evidently originally intended for vinyl, still the only game in town at that time. In the new remastering I've attempted to apply the same sonic processing as washed over the VdGG Box set and, indeed, The Margin +; I hope that the end result gives back some analogue oomph to the digital experience." - PH
Peter Hammill/Everyone You Hold ....import CD $17.99
This is a brilliant new album by Peter Hammill. It is an extremely engaging and very personal statement, almost as if he were whispering a message to you.
Peter Hammill/Incoherence ....import CD $17.99
'Incoherence' is Peter Hammill's twenty-sixth solo album of completely new sung material, the forty-ninth in which he has had principal involvement as writer, singer and musician, including those with Van der Graaf Generator, instrumental 'Sonix' and live projects. Peter has been noted for his words (and his care with and for them) since the beginning of his thirty-six year long career; in this continuous 42 minute song cycle his lyrics examine instances of language failing to work or to communicate...the impossibilities of words, where meaning, logic and intention fall apart into incoherence. The musical backdrop to the lyrics is kaleidoscopic, based on Peter's keyboards and guitars with significant contributions from his long-term cohorts Stuart Gordon (violin) and David Jackson (saxes and flutes). Percussion is completely absent. The arrangements move jaggedly from floating improvisations to full orchestrations to full-on riffs, reflecting the paradoxes, the dead ends, the cliff-hanging inconclusions of the lyrical content. All this is a long way from the Pop Song. It is just as far away from the Classical Conservatoire or the Jazz Club. Something else, again. Like it or loathe it, what else do you expect from PH by now? Surprise? A Conclusion? Peter finished the final mix on this project at 5pm on December 5th 2003; forty-two hours later he had a heart attack, from which he is currently recovering. The moving finger writes, wags, points...and moves on. All our stories are incoherent.
Peter Hammill/Loops & Reels ....import CD $17.99
The first of PH's more 'experimental' albums.
Peter Hammill/The Noise ....import CD $17.99
Featuring PH (vox, guitars, keyboards), Manny Elias (drums), Nic Potter (bass), John Ellis (guitar) and David Jackson (sax, flute), The Noise was recorded at Terra Incognita, Peter's studio in Bath, in 1992. It followed on from the 'calm' CD, Fireships and was flagged at the time as being number one in the A Loud series. If the idea of grouping releases together in this way was one which quickly foundered, at least in this case it gave an indication of the general tenor of these songs. They're not quite Nadir-like in their attack but a fair amount of 'bash-that-electric-guitar' does take place here. If anything, the original release erred on the side of sonic correctness at the expense of level; the remastering of this version puts this right and the amps are definitely turned up this time. A couple of songs here subsequently became firm live favourites: 'Planet Coventry' and 'Primo on the Parapet.' Another song, 'The Noise' itself, clearly celebrates the joy of making a racket on stage. With the forthcoming prospect of the Van der Graaf Generator reunion it remains to be seen exactly how much of a noise PH is still prepared to make. The remaster/reissue of this CD certainly puts down a pointer....
Peter Hammill/None of the Above ....import CD $17.99
This is Peter Hammill's latest album, a collection of songs recorded between January 1999 and February 2000. Most of the vocals and instruments are performed entirely by Peter with some contributions from percussionist Manny Elias, violinist Stuart Gordon with Peter's daughters, Holly and Beatrice, providing some soprano vocals.
Peter Hammill/PAST GO: Collected ....import CD $17.99
Peter Hammill/The Roaring Forties ....import CD $17.99
An album of strong passions, The Roaring Forties shows Peter Hammill at his strongest. This features his old bandmates, Nic Potter and David Jackson, and includes the 20 minute, seven song suite, A Headlong Stretch.
Peter Hammill/Sonix ....import CD $17.99
Subtitled 'Hybrid Experiments 1994-1996'. None of this stuff is exactly comfortable: for the most part it is music from beneath the surface and behind the light. An alternate world of Sonix. But, we PH fans always knew he wasn't for the faint of heart.
Peter Hammill/Sonix "Unsung" ....CD $17.99
'Unsung' contains experimental instrumental work of an unpredictable and
uncategorisable nature. Just around the corner from comparative order and logic chaos
waits.... As the title implies, the absence of lyrics means that not even any clues are
offered. Peter Hammill himself explains as best he can: "This is
effectively the third in an originally unconscious series initiated with 'Loops and Reels'
and continued with 'Sonix.' It also bears relation to the work I did with Guy Evans
on 'Spur of the Moment' and Roger Eno on 'The Appointed Hour.' I used to call this
kind of stuff experimental, as if to differentiate it from the 'normal' world of
song...but these days the song seems capable of being stretched in wider and wider ways
and such a sub-definition seems arch at best.
"The pieces presented here, though, individually and collectively, went
self-deterministic on me at a certain point and seemed to wilfully declare that they
refused be made into songs as such, insisting that they were complete as pieces in their
own right and as a set of recordings. They are not 'for' anything (dance/visual),
nor 'about' anything (in the absence of any narrative drive). They are not trying to fit
into any given genre, nor trying to jam genres togethr in (cold) fusion. I've lived with
them for some time now and it seems to me that they evoke some entirely other
culture...and remain, therefore, defiantly unsung. For me, these pieces collectively
present an alternative aural landscape. If they are for the most part free-spirited
and -willed they still conform to their own internal rules. All this comes from...well,
somewhere else. I suppose that finally I don't care where it comes from, only how it ends
up. In these cases, unsung."
Peter Hammill/There Goes the Daylight ....import CD $17.99
A full band live album from The Noise tour.
Peter Hammill/The Thin Man Sings Ballads ....CD $17.99
"The thin man..." is a compilation of songs taken from Peter Hammill's Fie! releases. On each of these there are usually one or two songs which don't frighten the horses (as well as many which do, of course). This collection, then, is intended as a non-scary introduction to Peter's work for those who otherwise might be reluctant to put their toes in the water. All tracks are remastered and in some cases edited.
Peter Hammill/This ....import CD $17.99
'This' is the fortieth album for which Peter Hammill has been responsible...some would say guilty. It is released on the eve of his fiftieth birthday, after thirty years of music making. The seven songs (and three instrumental 'fragments') on 'This' mark a clear statement of intent to continue pushing at boundaries within the overall context of The Song. Many features of the soundscape will be familiar to those who have followed Peter's music over the years: shape-shifting changes of mood and temperature; lots of "how did we get here from there;" instrumental colouring by turns delicate and brutal; trademark washes of backing vocals; the juxtaposition of the tightly arranged and the purely improvised. Instrumental contributors are his long-term cohorts Stuart Gordon (violin), Manny Elias (percussion) and David Jackson (saxes and flute). The lead voice is, as always, insistently to the fore, with the passing of time and rites of passage remaining the central lyrical concerns. To some, Peter is barking mad; to others, an eccentric of genius. What is clear is that his appetite for the fray remains undiminished. Moments here such as the guitar-driven nastiness of 'Always is Next,' the languorous development of 'The Light Continent' or the piano-based meditation on parenthood of 'Since the Kids' offer proof that This has not stopped yet....
Peter Hammill/Typical ....double import CD $18.99
A new live double CD from Peter Hammill slated for release around mid-April. Performances are all from '92, around Europe. Interspersed with his band/trio/duo activities, Peter has been performing purely solo shows on a regular basis since 1968. Several of these have appeared (in the usual predictably scrappy form) on various bootlegs. This collection of songs is the first official version of, "...whatever it is I do, wherever it is I go, alone on stage." This wonderful collection features over two hours of music and a 12 page booklet full of commentary from PH.
Peter Hammill/What Now? ....import CD $17.99
Peter Hammill had spent a considerable amount of time, energy and emotion revisiting and remastering a good portion of the Van der Graaf Generator catalog for The Box (a four disc VdGG retrospective you'll find below), and it had a definite impact on his latest release, "What, Now?" "Exhilarating though this was it carried with it an element of emotional debt and a demand for self-examination. I determined that my own next release should be conventional (as in songs) rather than experimental and I therefore put to one side a collection of material I had been previously been working on and began assembling the "What?" of "Now". There are eight songs of varying length and style. On three or four of them one finds, in various combinations, the members of the (erstwhile and maybe some day to be again) pHQ: Manny Elias, Stuart Gordon and David Jackson. This line-up remains one of which I'm very fond and which I believe has an extremely wide sonic palette. This is not, though, a revisitation of "X my heart", for the remainder of the tracks are fundamentally me playing alone. This time my stabs at instruments are divided fairly evenly between guitars electric and acoustic, pianos/keyboards and bass. Of course, there's a lot of singing, both lead and backing vox/choral. Naturally, although there are elements of familiarity, it is not the same as what has gone before." - PH
Peter Hammill/X My Heart ....import CD $17.99
Peter Hammill & The K Group/The Margin + ....import double CD $18.99
Peter Hammill has been a writer, singer and performer for the last thirty
years. For most of that time he has been firmly planted in the 'Art/Weird' box. For
a brief period in the early eighties, though, he had a Beat Group, albeit a somewhat
unlikely one...The K Group. The rhythm section of Guy Evans (drums) and Nic Potter
(bass) had, of course, played with Peter in Van der Graaf Generator. It should not be
forgotten, however, that they were also members of Glenn Fernando Campbell's
Misunderstood. Enough credentials? Lead guitarist was John Ellis, ex-Vibrators &
Peter Gabriel. Peter had met him while both were performing with the Stranglers while Hugh
Cornwell was in jail. Peter himself contributed his own brand of brutal rhythm
guitar, piano & vox.
Taking material from Peter's solo career, from VdGG and from the two records which, under
Peter's solo name, the combination recorded together (Enter k and Patience), the group
toured consistently between '82 and '83. Clubs, mostly; Germany, mostly; high voltage,
definitely. This release presents, on CD 1, the original 'The Margin,' as recorded
live in the UK in '83, in a remastered form. A second CD contains live-wire performances
from '82 in brutal stereo intensity. The K Group could and did play in funny time
signatures and at times with great sensitivity. The dominant aesthetics of the group,
though, were blasting guitars, bass string blisters, shredded drum heads, oxygen debt,
sweat. Here it is. Ladies & Gentlemen, the bar is open.
VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR-THE BOX '68-'78 ....import 4 CD box set $85.95
Four disc retrospective for the UK progressive rock act featuring singer/songwriter Peter Hammill. Compiled by Hammill and past band members. It covers the years 1968 through 1978, it's the comprehensive document of the band's career from beginning to end. Drawing on material from various BBC sessions, studio albums, long deleted singles, live 'bootlegs' and Virgin Records archives. A veritable treasure chest of previously unreleased material and collector's favorites. All tracks have been remastered by Hammill. Packaged in a long box complete with a 48 page booklet featuring previously unpublished photos, a reminiscence by Tony Banks (Genesis), a comprehensive gig listing and discography, memoirs of the four main band members (Hugh Banton, Guy Evans, David Jackson and Hammill) and an insightful fan's retrospective.
Van der Graaf Generator/Aerosol Grey Machine ....import CD $17.99
This is the official Fie! re-release of Van der Graaf Generator's very first album. It has been digitally remastered with two bonus tracks added. Also Peter has added extensive liner notes to this 16 page booklet recounted the earliest days of Van der Graaf and events that led up to the recording of this landmark album.
Order Now!
Back to Expression Records | | On to Foxtrot