''This'' is the 25th studio album by
Peter Hammill
Peter Joseph Andrew Hammill (born 5 November 1948) is an English musician and recording artist. He was a founder member of the progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Best known as a singer/songwriter, he also plays guitar and piano and ...
, released on his Fie! label in 1998. There is a large variety in the compositions, ranging from the minimalism of the final song, "The Light Continent", to the rough, almost
Nadir
The nadir (, ; ar, نظير, naẓīr, counterpart) is the direction pointing directly ''below'' a particular location; that is, it is one of two vertical directions at a specified location, orthogonal to a horizontal flat surface.
The direc ...
-like sound of "Always is Next", the complex "Unrehearsed" and the ballad "Since the Kids". Peter Hammill performed the song "Unrehearsed" live many times. "Nightman" can be heard on the live-album ''Veracious'' (2006).
Production and instrumentation
The album was recorded, mixed and mastered at Peter Hammill's own studio, Terra Incognita in Bath, between January and July 1998. All instruments were played and all voices sung by Hammill, except for violin and viola by
Stuart Gordon, saxophones and flute by
David Jackson, and drums and percussion by
Manny Elias
Manny Elias (born 21 February 1953) is an Indian drummer and record producer of British descent. He is notable for being the original drummer with Tears for Fears during the 1980s.
Originally a member of the rock band Interview from Bathford ...
. Hammill himself regards the album as "not in any sense a 'band' disc", and considers "the unifying factors
o be
O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), pl ...
song and voice rather than instrumentation".
[Peter Hammill about ''This'']
/ref> The songs are interspersed with small instrumental fragments (according to Hammill, "their presence is essential in order to glue the whole thing together"[).
]
Cover
The cover shows a tree stump and a collection of objects, signifying the passing of time. There is a tachograph disc, ripped out of the machine at high speed on one of the tours, and a picture of a wristwatch that used to belong to Hammill's father.[ The design was done by RidArt (Paul Ridout).
]
Track listing
All songs written by Peter Hammill.
#"Frozen in Place (fragment)" – 0:46
#"Unrehearsed" – 7:05
#"Stupid" – 4:26
#"Since the Kids" – 5:56
#"Nightman" – 6:17
#"Fallen (the City of Night)" – 5:37
#"Unready (fragment)" – 0:42
#"Always is Next" – 3:58
#"Unsteady (fragment)" – 0:58
#"The Light Continent" – 14:02
Personnel
All instruments and voices by Peter Hammill except:
*Manny Elias
Manny Elias (born 21 February 1953) is an Indian drummer and record producer of British descent. He is notable for being the original drummer with Tears for Fears during the 1980s.
Originally a member of the rock band Interview from Bathford ...
– drums & percussion (2, 3, 6, 8)
* Stuart Gordon – violin & viola (2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
* David Jackson – saxophones & flute (2, 3, 5, 8, 10)
Technical
*Peter Hammill - recording engineer, mixing (Terra Incognita, Bath)
*Paul Ridout - design & art direction
Notes
External links
SofaSound newsletter by Peter Hammill announcing and describing the album
{{DEFAULTSORT:This (Peter Hammill album)
Peter Hammill albums
1998 albums