Search - Peter Hammill :: Veracious (Live Performances)

CHAMELEON IN THE SPOTLIGHT OF THE STAGE

Kerry Leimer | Makawao, Hawaii United States | 05/17/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is an eclectic collection, even for Hammill. Going as far back as Chameleon's "Easy to slip away" -- a real treat for we long-time listeners -- and Rikki Nadir's "The Shingle Song" (simply "Shingle" on NBC) Hammill reinterprets his and our pasts with an immaculate reading of the now centuries-old technique musicologists term "word painting". It's an approach that Hammill often favors, one which assigns the instruments to the primary task of not simple accompaniment, but the more interpretive and strenuous work of supporting, shading, extending and amplifying the meaning of the words being sung. Seeing that Hammill's lyrics are typically more complex than those of less gifted artists, the music becomes at moments no less than a sonic encyclopedia of remarkable depth -- or pretty much business as usual for pH and Gordon.



Throughout, the interpretations surprise and engage the listener -- no mean feat while performing known material. When the first syllables of "The Shingle Song" emerge from complete silence, frail and distant, the sense of change and sadness is almost overwhelming. Throughout "Veracious" Hammill allows his voice a range of expression that actually exceeds the studio work. More and more, Hammill's live performances push towards an extremely theatrical delivery. Here accomplished within a duo-cum-trio format (piano+violin+voice or guitar+violin+voice) these artists raise specters and tremors not unlike the controlled demolition, fury and desperation of the best moments from "Clutch".



Hammill's playing is appropriately varied: achieving the exceedingly fragile as well as gate-cracking fury. Gordon's violin proves to be a shape-shifter of the highest degree, becoming alternately serene, aloof, horrified and embittered. This is a remarkable range achieved by only two musicians, and it should continue to stand as an example for performers arriving on stage with no less than 40 tons of gear solely dedicated to not much more than helping them squeak on through.



Just one complaint -- unrelated to the music. The last few covers, and again this time, are about as lame as covers can be. From the perspective of conception and execution, is it too much to ask that Hammill's covers start to demonstrate the same level of sophistication as the music? I mean, really -- "Still Life of Truth with Sheet Music n' Candle"? This show ain't no "Evening with Pachelbel"..."