The audience of Peter Hammill is listening. And it will continue to do so as long as Peter charts the unknown waters of uncompromising composition, improvisation and expression. This real chameleon of music, has provided a changing palette of colors and moods that has influenced artists from Bowie to Lydon. He sailed through musical genres and labels discarding empty shells and commercial aspirations. His music has become the soundtrack of our lives.Peter Hammill is clean. His voice like a trembling candle has stirred as away from the opaque darkness that comes out of the black holes of entertainment. Devoid of embellishments, musical smalltalk and conventional structures, it resonates truth at every turn of phrase, at every whisper.
And somehow you can never get a hold of Peter. His image fades away as soon as you think you've put it down on print. Any solid mould that you've made from listening to an album, becomes grains of sand and slips through your fingers in his next release. The sharper the image he cuts the more he disappears. That's why he will always be close to us.
Peter Hammill - Sharply Unclear
Amen to that!
ReplyDeleteΌταν τον είδα λάιβ κατάλαβα έναν φίλο που μου έλεγε από παλιά ότι όποτε τον άκουγε ζωντανά ένιωθε σαν ο τύπος να έπαιζε για πρώτη και τελευταία του φορά.
Κάθε κύτταρο, κάθε πόρος του φλέγεται...
Αλήθεια, με ποια αφορμή το έγραψες;
γιάννης
It all started from an article I read in the greek music magazine Pop & Rock in the early 80s. Although I liked Van Der Graaf Generator at the time, I had not followed the solo work of Peter Hammill until I read that article. Recently, listening again to "His best girl", I felt that I was ready for exploring in detail all his catalogue... This morning I bought the albums "In Camera”, "Nadir's big chance" and "The Silent Corner And The Empty Stage"... It will take a while but I am getting there...
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