TEE "The Earth Explorer"

TEE is a five piece flute front progressive rock band from Tokyo, Japan. Their so-called 'European' sound is unique considering their far-east origin. The imaginative tunes with complex ensembles and rhythms will definitely catch the attention of prog lovers all over the world. Their sound will remind you bands like Camel, King Crimson, Asia Minor or even Frank Zappa on some parts. The band was formed in 2004 when... more

Shawn PHILLIPS

At the kick off of his 2010 tour Shawn Phillips sat with us at a 24 hour diner in Davenport, IA to grant us a very special interview. At his insistence, it would be very informal. One should not expect otherwise from this splendid human being.

The hours prior to this meeting over midnight breakfast were now a recent memory, but...more

You may not know his name but you have definitely heard his music more than once or twice in your life. Maybe on HBO, or on MTV, or on VH1, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel. Doesn't ring the bell? How about American Idol Rewind, or Dr. 90210? We had interviewed Kevin Bartlett a couple of years ago when his second solo album GLOW IN THE DARK was released. Bartlett has been quiet since that time but but he has been secretly brewing new projects. A few months ago he had put a new song...more

Peter Hammill, founding member of Van Der Graaf Generator, released his 28th solo album " nearly 3 months ago. He recently got back home from a short tour covering North America, Canada and Italy. In the 70's when bands like...more

FRIGHT PIG Barque At The Lune *** REVERSAL OF GRAVITY Scuba Gear ***

PETER HAMMILL / THIN AIR

Peter Hammill recently released his 28th solo album "Thin Air" from his own label Fie Records. The CD has 9 songs, 1 being instrumental. Just like all his other solo works, "time" as a theme plays a major role on this one as well. Remember the lyrics of "Happy"? "But how long will all this last? / Time goes fast, it doesn't matter / With you I'm happy". That was in 1971. Today his consciousness of the passage of time is more realistic when he says "Our high days and our holidays / Are numbered every one / So quick, the hours rush away / And everything we've left's undone" or "Once upon a time you think you'll live forever / only goes to show, in truth, that you / don't even know you're born". Disappearance, loss, change are the other dominating themes. The fans who are planning to purchase the CD but not the digital files, will also notice as they turn the pages of the CD sleeve the ship, the bird the cloudy dark sky will disappear and reappear... all in accordance with the themes.

Musically, "Thin Air" is in a sense a continuation of "Singularity", Hammill's previous album which was released in 2006, 3 years after his heart attack. However the songs on "Thin Air" are much mellower. For some, Hammill, who plays all the instruments on 'Thin Air" returns to his experimental roots much like on "A Black Box". As he prefers to use only a few instruments (piano, electric and acoustic guitars, bass and percussion) his signature guitar backward effects and delays are more present as well as his crunchy, eery guitar sound, like in the instrumental piece "Wrong Way Round" . Two of the songs were inspired by the Twin Towers in NYC, although the songs are not directly about 9/11, Hammill states it wasn't just the Twin Towers that were destroyed that day but that tragic event also marked the fall of the belief systems and changed our society forever... and Hammill's description is very naturalistic in the lines "Your Weltanschauung is now cut down at the core / and your selfestimation's falling through the floor / now there is not much still standing at the edifice by which you once swore / and which you used to adore". These two songs are "The Ghosts of Planes" and "The Top of The World Club" and they both have an avant-garde feel to them.

Overlapping vocals like on "The Mercy" and "Stumbled" are Hammill's code of conduct when recording; just like the background vocals that are not perfectly synched. When he does this he certainly creates an extra dimension which brings more depth to the sound. The lyrics for "Stumbled" stand alone compared to the rest of the album. It is about how we try to control our lives as much as we can as events unfold, until that moment when we come to realize the bitter truth: "The truth is, this conclusion is what you've stumbled on, / Behind you lies the wreckage that you've stumbled from".

This album will unveil its details one by one with each listen as Hammill ingeniously weaves his lyrics with his theatrical vocals and his intense guitar sound, and you won't feel the need to skip a song. "Thin Air" takes its rightful place among his best albums without question. Glowing 5 stars and hats off!

Hande BURDG