Gary Lucas and Peter Hammill-Otherworld

[revporl]

Has anyone heard it yet? Any thoughts?

[Harbottle]

I ordered the CD from Amazon and got the mp3s on 'autorip' this morning.

I like it a lot - acoustic guitar and singing, and then a lot of 'soundscapes'.

[Obscured]

From PH's site, updated today-
The collaboration with Gary Lucas, "Otherworld", is now out (on Esoteric) and and you can order it here. *

And news just in: we'll be presenting the new material live at the Union Chapel on 21st February 2014. Tickets are now on sale here. *

The album's a mixture of songs and sonics and does, indeed, occupy some otherworldly spaces. I'll write more about it in due course, almost certainly in the journal...as below....

Apart from this I'm still hunkered down in the studio working on the next solo release, which will follow later in 2014. That's different, too!

*links active at www.sofasound.com/latest.htm

[Bucka001]

Great interview with the two of them here: http://theprogressiveaspect.net/blog...cas-interview/

[Progatron]

Pre-ordered mine awhile back from Sofasound, hope it arrives soon!

[100423]

I just purchased it from iTunes, I'm ready for a first listening right now!

[Hurm]

I ordered it through a wholesaler and received my copy a few days ago. It needs some more spins before I can judge it though. There are quite a lot of 'normal' Hammill songs and some weird soundscapes. Those soundscapes remind me a bit at David Jackson's soundbeam album "Fractal Bridge", strangely enough.

[Sunhillow]

Listened to this yesterday and I quite like it. It feels like a normal Hammill album, so those in doubt should not hesitate.

[Scrotum Scissor]

It feels like a normal Hammill album, so those in doubt should not hesitate.

With all due respect to the VdGG guys; Lucas is a way better improviser, so this is more up Hammill's alley as concerns that aspiration. I'd like for VdGG to stick to arranged pieces rather than free ones.

[zombywoof]

I've got it. It's worth listening to, but definitely a 'mood' album. Good songs and the soundscapes are very interesting. We'll be featuring it on Deep Cuts this Thursday.

[Bucka001]

CD just released (in Europe / UK, not U.S., except for the MP3 I got off amazon.com) three or four days ago. Was top 100 in the British Amazon sales rankings for rock (and top 200 for overall music) for a couple days. Not too shabby, considering so many albums are ranked in the five or six digits! Now I think it's at #300 or so (still pretty good). Reviews just starting to come out. First one from Classic Rock Magazine, second from the Sunday Times (I'm sure Mojo, Uncut, etc, will do reviews as well; also, Guitar Player Magazine in the U.S. may do a full article/interview with these two). Just listened once so far, but very good. Hammill, of course, is the legendary Van der Graaf Generator main man. Gary Lucas is a solo artist in his own right and was the guitarist in Captain Beefheart's Magic Band, and a collaborator with Jeff Buckley.
ph_cr.jpgph_st.jpg

[Progatron]

This was in my mailbox when I got home from my Montreal trip! Right now though it's just part of a huge stack of new CDs I have to get through. Comments to follow.

[Bucka001]

Review of the album from Sea of Tranquility:

http://www.seaoftranquility.org/revi...ntent&id=15771


New Hammill interview from same website:

http://www.seaoftranquility.org/article.php?sid=2690

[flytomars]

Got this yesterday and spun it one and a half times,
This is way more song oriented than I had expected, and far above my expectations-
I approached this with caution, thinking it was just another PH collaboration in which the sum is less than a normal PH album (ie colab with Roger Eno, or even with VDGG alumi Guy Evans).
I also expected it to be more on the sonix side of things, as much as I like the sonix albums I dont think they match a proper PH release.
In short - I was expecting a side project, instead- I got the main dish.
This album stands proudly alongside the best of PH output in the last 10 years -
The basic songs are good, and the added layers by Gary Lucas add that extra touch of psychadelia and interest to make them even better-
It seems to me that GL presence is inspiring for PH, and do hope they will continue to collaborate in the future.

[Progatron]

^^ I completely agree with flytomars. It's a fine album worthy of the PH name! Really enjoyed it.

[Esoteric]

Glad you like it guys,

[Bucka001]

Now that's a review!

http://www.music-news.com/showreview...ReviewID=10003

[Bucka001]

"You desperately hope that a creative collaboration twixt Van Der Graaf Generator legend and cult solo artist Peter Hammill and one-time Captain Beefheart sidekick and self-confessed anglophile Gary Lucas will turn out to be something special. Thankfully 'Other World', which at times lives up to its name, proves to be a reassuringly rewarding treat... and then some."

http://www.terrascope.co.uk/Reviews/...ebruary_14.htm

[Joe F.]

I finally got to listen to this tonight. A very low-key album, with some "out" passages. I really enjoyed it , as I do most Hammill releases.

Sidebar: Peter said that he was working on his next solo album. Will this also be released through Esoteric?

[Scrotum Scissor]

There's a nice review in The Wire as well.

[Bucka001]

The London concert earlier tonight was an unqualified success (from all the reports). They did every tune from Otherworld plus Lady of Shalott (a Gary Lucas tune) and the PH tune Primo on the Parapet. Some famous muso journalists in the house as well as Chrissy Hynde (Pretenders), Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), and B.J. Cole (famed pedal steel player)

[Bucka001]

image.jpg

Photo posted by Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders) who was at the Hammill / Lucas concert the other night. She still looks great, and wrote, "Hey look! It's me with the legend known as Peter Hammill after his show at London's Union Chapel last week where he enthralled fans with new songs performed by himself and that other legend, Gary Lucas. It really was duelling guitars all round creating a strangely surreal/sci-fi like atmosphere in the beautiful surrounding of the arched, blue-lit geometry of the dome. (Yes, I sound like I'm writing it up for the Guardian or the NME but IN FACT - for your eyes only my FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK.)

Good gig it was."

[Bucka001]

image.jpg

Speaking of cool celebs at the Hammill / Lucas concert the other night, here's a nice shot of Gary and Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth) hanging out back at the hotel. From all accounts, Thurston loved the concert.

[Bucka001]

Just confirmed: More dates for Peter Hammill / Gary Lucas
Sun. April 27th at the Gouveia Art Rock Festival in Portugal
Fri. June 6th at the Teatro de la Ciudad in Mexico City

[Bucka001]

Four Star review in Record Collector magazine:

Peter Hammill/ Gary Lucas - Other World

Appetising art-rock alliance

From an initial meeting in 1973, it took 39 years for Peter Hammill and Gary Lucas to work together. In the interim, Hammill voyaged as the cult artist’s cult artist, while Lucas went on to play in the final incarnation of Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band and gained a reputation as one of the world’s most innovative guitarists.

Those expecting something completely leftfield with Other World may be a little disappointed. Built out of loops and atmospheres, the result is surprisingly linear and listenable, possibly the most direct Hammill has sounded on record in recent years. If a reference point is needed, 1981’s Sitting Targets springs to mind – in fact Some Kind Of Fracas recalls that album’s title track; Lucas adds subtle guitar to the tracks, more in terms of sound washes than wailing solos.

Of Kith & Kin and Spinning Coins are beautiful and reflective, while it’s lovely to hear Hammill set against Lucas’ jaunty fingerpicking on This Is Showbiz; the instrumental passage in Built From Scratch is a dreamy, unsettling reverie. Elsewhere, Altar Of Roses and Glass are contemplative instrumentals that punctuate the songs.

Hammill describes the album as having “some of the characteristics of a warped folk music… from another world”, and Lucas has said in interviews that Hammill is up there with Beefheart and Jeff Buckley, two of his most famous collaborators. On this evidence, it’s hard to disagree.

4 stars
Esoteric | EANTCD 1026

http://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/other-world