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News from VdGG ("Trisector") & Peter Hammill

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Topic: News from VdGG ("Trisector") & Peter Hammill
Posted By: gm86
Subject: News from VdGG ("Trisector") & Peter Hammill
Date Posted: December 31 2007 at 12:35
In late march 2008 well be available the new VDGG album called "Trisector"!!!
For more infos check out the newsletter at sofasound.com!!!
I can't resist anymore...


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Whell i saw mushroom head,i was born and i was dead...



Replies:
Posted By: Ricochet
Date Posted: December 31 2007 at 13:29
Trisector? Interesting choice of a title...

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Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: December 31 2007 at 16:14
the new album of Van der Graaf Generator will be out at the end of march. it will be named "Trisector" and will contain 9 tracks. the line-up will be the current trio line-up.
Hammill also announced that there will be a DVD of the Markthalle Hamburg concert of the K-group from the early 80s out soon; that concert was originally broadcast on German TV for the "Rockpalast" program


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A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta


Posted By: Ricochet
Date Posted: December 31 2007 at 16:27
Already noted somewhere in the forum, nevertheless great news from the band. Clap


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Posted By: rileydog22
Date Posted: December 31 2007 at 22:41
It's because Peter Hammill can trisect any angle using only a straight-edge and compass.

(Note to those less nerdy than me: it has been proven impossible to trisect an arbitrary angle using compass and straightedge.  However, it has not been proven that Peter Hammill couldn't do it.)


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Posted By: Man With Hat
Date Posted: January 01 2008 at 01:13
Shocked
Clap
Hug
 
Great news indeed!


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Dig me...But don't...Bury me
I'm running still, I shall until, one day, I hope that I'll arrive
Warning: Listening to jazz excessively can cause a laxative effect.


Posted By: gm86
Date Posted: January 01 2008 at 07:58
i hope that it will be a "dark" album...and better than PH solo Singularity...

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Whell i saw mushroom head,i was born and i was dead...


Posted By: Equality 7-2521
Date Posted: January 01 2008 at 14:16
Originally posted by rileydog22 rileydog22 wrote:

It's because Peter Hammill can trisect any angle using only a straight-edge and compass.

(Note to those less nerdy than me: it has been proven impossible to trisect an arbitrary angle using compass and straightedge.  However, it has not been proven that Peter Hammill couldn't do it.)
 
You should be careful to say a unmakered straight-edge because with a compass and a straight-edge you could contruct a straight-edge with two marks and then with this new tool you'd be able to trisect an arbitrary angle.
 
Great news about VDGG!


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"One had to be a Newton to notice that the moon is falling, when everyone sees that it doesn't fall. "


Posted By: oracus
Date Posted: January 01 2008 at 15:39
Great news! I can't hear it!

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Posted By: sean
Date Posted: January 02 2008 at 18:08
this is great, but PH said that five of the songs are under five minutes. i hope he makes up for that and the other four are all epics. 


Posted By: rileydog22
Date Posted: January 02 2008 at 20:58
Originally posted by Equality 7-2521 Equality 7-2521 wrote:

Originally posted by rileydog22 rileydog22 wrote:

It's because Peter Hammill can trisect any angle using only a straight-edge and compass.

(Note to those less nerdy than me: it has been proven impossible to trisect an arbitrary angle using compass and straightedge.  However, it has not been proven that Peter Hammill couldn't do it.)
 
You should be careful to say a unmakered straight-edge because with a compass and a straight-edge you could contruct a straight-edge with two marks and then with this new tool you'd be able to trisect an arbitrary angle.
 


I figured that those who knew what I was talking about would assume that I was referring to an unmarked straight-edge, as that is the general standard for such constructions.  But yes, I suppose that those OTHER than Peter Hammill would be able to trisect an angle if allowed to mark their straightedges. 


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Posted By: stonebeard
Date Posted: January 03 2008 at 17:15
Very Cool. I think Present is better in many ways than the 70s albums, so woohoo!

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http://soundcloud.com/drewagler" rel="nofollow - My soundcloud. Please give feedback if you want!


Posted By: VanderGraafKommandöh
Date Posted: January 05 2008 at 12:26
You're weird, Stonie... Wink

But woohoo, a new album and a London gig!


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Posted By: stonebeard
Date Posted: January 05 2008 at 13:37
Better production, definitely. Approve

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http://soundcloud.com/drewagler" rel="nofollow - My soundcloud. Please give feedback if you want!


Posted By: sean
Date Posted: January 15 2008 at 02:41
...if only they would come to america


Posted By: sean
Date Posted: January 15 2008 at 02:43
or if only i could afford to go to europe.


Posted By: bucka001
Date Posted: January 22 2008 at 17:25
Phil Smart emailed me with the news that he posted the press release for the new VdGG album on his website:
 
Van der Graaf Generator's new album Trisector will be released on Monday 17th March 2008...
"There are nine pieces on the album, one of them instrumental. Unusually for VdGG, only one of these is more than ten minutes long - indeed, five come in at under five minutes. There are, of course, passages of great complexity but there's also a confidence about the group at the moment which allows them to leave some simple things as they are. These are songs which dictate their own terms, often with a healthy dose of gallows humour, always with a measure of invention. http://www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk./pawnhearts/trisector_cover.jpg">VdGG%20Trio
"It's far from an over-manicured record. For the most part it is the sound of the three musicians both stretching and enjoying themselves in locked-on sympathetic playing. As ever, it doesn't sound like anyone else - even past versions of VdGG.

"But as ever, there isn't another group quite like Van der Graaf Generator."



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jc


Posted By: Man With Hat
Date Posted: January 22 2008 at 20:15
The cover is a bit meh.
 
But I like this news. Can't wait to hear the trio line-up.


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Dig me...But don't...Bury me
I'm running still, I shall until, one day, I hope that I'll arrive
Warning: Listening to jazz excessively can cause a laxative effect.


Posted By: Duncan
Date Posted: January 22 2008 at 21:52
The song-length talk, here and in PH's latest newsletter, strikes me as a little misplaced - surely a track over ten minutes will be the longest original VDGG/VDG composition since Meurglys III? The songs on Present averaged about six, and there were only six of them!

Very much looking forward, anyway.


Posted By: JROCHA
Date Posted: January 22 2008 at 22:29
Sounds awesome, can not wait for the new VDGG album, i cant find any of their albums anywhere around here though.


Posted By: sean
Date Posted: January 22 2008 at 22:34
Originally posted by JROCHA JROCHA wrote:

Sounds awesome, can not wait for the new VDGG album, i cant find any of their albums anywhere around here though.


I had the same problem. I ended up special ordering them through a local music store who is cool enough to look for the cds anywhere they can for me.

anyway, i cannot wait, i'm sure it'll be awesome as Hammill and co. never disappoint.


Posted By: sean
Date Posted: January 22 2008 at 23:08
Bucka, maybe you'd know this because of your writing the book and all, but do you know about the availability of the release in America? I'd love to be able to actually go into a store and get a copy the day it comes out, I'd rather not wait any longer.
Also, any idea when tracklists will be revealed?


Posted By: borussia
Date Posted: January 23 2008 at 09:36
I'VE GREAT EXPECTATIONS FOR "TRISECTOR"
TWO OF THE NINE SONGS THQY'VE JUST PLAYED IN THE LAST EUROPEAN TOUR (LIFETIME AND ALL THAT BEFORE) AND THEY SOUND MORE VDGG THAN THOSE IN PRESENT!!!!!
FOR THE PURCHASE I'LL SEE ON THE HAMMILL'S SITE http://www.SOFASOUND.COM - WWW.SOFASOUND.COM


Posted By: bucka001
Date Posted: January 23 2008 at 10:27
As far as availability in America, that's always been a problem. The major chains like Virgin Megastore and Tower Records (R.I.P.) have always carried stock. Other than that, it's best to try some hipper independent stores. As far as any new album, it seems like it always takes a few weeks/months for it to be in stores (at least that's been the case here in Chicago). Strangely enough, though, I got the VdGG box set straight off the shelf at Tower when it was released. At least it won't be hard to hard for distributors to order Trisector in the States. It's on Virgin/EMI, hardly an obscure little independent label...

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jc


Posted By: stonebeard
Date Posted: January 23 2008 at 10:42
There's always stock of a few VDGG albums at an indie store I shop at, but as they don't carry Present and didn't get 13th Star by Fish when they carried Sunsets on Empire, I'll probably order Trisector online.

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http://soundcloud.com/drewagler" rel="nofollow - My soundcloud. Please give feedback if you want!


Posted By: gm86
Date Posted: January 23 2008 at 12:18
Van der Graaf Generator's new album Trisector will be released on Monday 17th March 2008...
 
"There are nine pieces on the album, one of them instrumental. Unusually for VdGG, only one of these is more than ten minutes long - indeed, five come in at under five minutes. There are, of course, passages of great complexity but there's also a confidence about the group at the moment which allows them to leave some simple things as they are. These are songs which dictate their own terms, often with a healthy dose of gallows humour, always with a measure of invention.
"It's far from an over-manicured record. For the most part it is the sound of the three musicians both stretching and enjoying themselves in locked-on sympathetic playing. As ever, it doesn't sound like anyone else - even past versions of VdGG.
"But as ever, there isn't another group quite like Van der Graaf Generator."
 
 
SmileSmileSmile


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Whell i saw mushroom head,i was born and i was dead...


Posted By: sean
Date Posted: January 23 2008 at 13:05
It would make sense for Virgin Megastore to carry since it is being released on Virgin. Only problem with that is I'm up in Maine and there's nothing up here. There's one local store that might be able to special order it for me. I'm hoping they can, I'm really looking forward to this. 


Posted By: mickstafa
Date Posted: January 23 2008 at 14:07
Awesome news. Not a fan of the art though. Lens flares are so 1994.


Posted By: Dominic
Date Posted: January 23 2008 at 16:08
^

Yeah... it seems whoever works on their album covers certianly isn't concerned about being dated LOL

Anyways, much thanks for the news gm86. I'm extremely enthused about this album, "Present" is my fav. VDGG release since "H to He..."


Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: January 23 2008 at 16:32
Hmm, I think you are missing the point here. This "lens flare" was put in on purpose.

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BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue.


Posted By: gm86
Date Posted: January 24 2008 at 12:23
Originally posted by BaldFriede BaldFriede wrote:

Hmm, I think you are missing the point here. This "lens flare" was put in on purpose.
 
I'm a big VDGG fan...everyday i go their official site to find some news!!!


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Whell i saw mushroom head,i was born and i was dead...


Posted By: gm86
Date Posted: January 24 2008 at 12:24

Probably i'm the biggest fan of VDGG...Tongue



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Whell i saw mushroom head,i was born and i was dead...


Posted By: bucka001
Date Posted: January 29 2008 at 15:33
Originally posted by sean sean wrote:

do you know about the availability of the release in America? I'd love to be able to actually go into a store and get a copy the day it comes out, I'd rather not wait any longer.
Also, any idea when tracklists will be revealed?
 
Good news for U.S. fans just posted on http://www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk/ - www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk

"The [Trisector] CD will be released in the USA on April 1st but a download will be available on March 17th to coincide with the UK release. Caroline Records will also be releasing in the USA the 8 VdGG re-masters, packaged as "Mini Vinyl" CDs, on March 25th."
 
The tracklist is also at that website...


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jc


Posted By: bucka001
Date Posted: February 02 2008 at 07:39

I put up a review of the forthcoming album at Phil's site, just in case anyone wants to whet their appetite.

http://www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk/trisector.htm - http://www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk/trisector.htm



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jc


Posted By: The Hemulen
Date Posted: March 01 2008 at 19:43
Well isn't this exciting? I've only just stumbled upon this news and I'm now quite giddy with anticipation. Hopefully I'll manage to scrape together enough pennies to afford this new offering when it arrives.

The absence of Jackson's sax/flute will no doubt be evident but I'm quietly confident that this will make the album merely different rather than diminished in any way. What were they like on the recent tour without him? I'd love to know how they sounded playing the old stuff then.


Posted By: jimmy_row
Date Posted: March 02 2008 at 01:16
^ we'll probably hear a lot of Banton plus Hammill's lead guitar, and maybe guests on violin and winds.  I'll be very interested to see if they can pull off the same type of ultra-complexities that were their trademark, but now as a three-piece.

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Signature Writers Guild on strike


Posted By: jimmy_row
Date Posted: March 02 2008 at 01:20
Originally posted by bucka001 bucka001 wrote:

I put up a review of the forthcoming album at Phil's site, just in case anyone wants to whet their appetite.

http://www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk/trisector.htm - http://www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk/trisector.htm

wow, this is exciting, I'm glad to see the level of enthusiasm surrounding the new album.  Thanks for posting that review, it gives me some high hopes - namechecking Childlike Faith... is always a good sign Big%20smile

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Signature Writers Guild on strike


Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: March 02 2008 at 06:51
Originally posted by jimmy_row jimmy_row wrote:

^ we'll probably hear a lot of Banton plus Hammill's lead guitar, and maybe guests on violin and winds.  I'll be very interested to see if they can pull off the same type of ultra-complexities that were their trademark, but now as a three-piece.


Something from the album will be played on the Organ at http://resonancefm.com/schedule - ResonanceFM this Sunday March 2nd at 21.00 GMT (104.4FM).

here a few previews; the second is in  German; both are enthusiastic, and according to them the album is extremely complex, even the shorter tracks:

http://www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk/pawnhearts/trisector_dorsetecho010208_review.jpg - http://www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk/pawnhearts/trisector_dorsetecho010208_review.jpg

http://www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk/pawnhearts/trisector_eclipsed_mar2008_review.jpg - http://www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk/pawnhearts/trisector_eclipsed_mar2008_review.jpg

the German review gives 9 out of 10 possible stars, which would be 4.5 in our system, so it seems we are really up to a treat. in the mag where the review appeared it was also named "album of the month"

and here the review of Jim Chrsitopulos, co-author of the VdGG book:

Exclusive review for this website by Jim Christopulos:

It's interesting to think that just a few years ago Van der Graaf Generator didn't exist as a group. It's also impressive that, through almost thirty years of inactivity, their sizeable international following kept the memory alive via fanzines, appreciation societies, web sites, and internet discussion groups. That same following also helped the cause by laying down their hard earned cash for a plethora of back-catalog reissues and compilations that sprang up during the group's prolonged sabbatical, keeping VdGG somewhat viable in the eyes of the record company suits. The band, although defunct for more than a quarter of a century, never faded into oblivion as so many other groups from their era had done.

Happily, VdGG fans were rewarded for their loyalty in 2005 when the group reformed for a new album and a series of majestic concerts. It was a wonderfully surreal year for those who never had the chance to see the band, as well as for those who never thought they'd see them again. Personally, it just seemed a preposterous notion to me that I'd ever get to witness a VdGG concert. It seemed ludicrous that I might look at the leading European music magazines and newspapers to find glowing reviews and articles about the "new" VdGG album, or their "recent" concerts. I kept having to pinch myself as a reminder that this was actually happening, that this was the here and now.

Fast forward to 2008. So much has happened in the three years since Present was released. The group put out a live document of the Royal Festival Hall reunion concert, a major lineup change occurred (which many found shocking), and a series of successful concerts (with the group now stripped to a trio) were performed in 2007. And now, there is the imminent release of a brand new CD, Trisector. So… the '05 reunion wasn't the end of it. Van der Graaf Generator is an ongoing entity with no foreseeable end in sight (or, at least, as 'ongoing' as any group of grown men approaching their 60's can be). To me, that's excellent news. I'm still pinching myself. Long live Van der Graaf Generator.

Trisector shares one important similarity with Present. There is a palpable sense of excitement and fun in the performances on both albums; one can sense that the musicians are really enjoying themselves and it's infectious. For the Present sessions, it was probably the joy of coming together after so many years as old friends (and musicians with the shared experience of an intense musical past) to create something new. For Trisector, it may be the knowledge that they've completely handled the intimidating, daunting prospect (on the surface) of creating music with a lineup that some thought looked impossible on paper. The absence of saxophonist / flautist David Jackson is noticeable, but only because he's so closely identified with the "classic" VdGG sound. When The Quiet Zone / The Pleasure Dome was released in '77, many writers of the time noted the departure of Jackson and Hugh Banton… yet went on to call the album a refreshing return to form. VdGG fans the world over can rest assured that the new trio lineup sound as viable, current, and exploratory as ever. Yet, happily and rightly, they sound like no other version of Van der Graaf Generator.

The songs on Trisector sound like true "songs", worked out and arranged with loving care until they've reached their final, perfected form. Whereas much of Present came across as a (successful) attempt at cutting and pasting sections of a great jam together, adding vocals to it, and titling it, there are parts of Trisector that are so damn complicated and complex that they must have required hours of rehearsal. But, in true VdGG fashion, they pull this off with ease and make it sound totally natural. Then there are other moments where the group shifts gears and produces music which is calming and sublime, finding beauty in simplicity. Trisector certainly does run the gamut in its nine songs with music alternating between calm, chaotic, relaxed, cracked (verging on gleeful insanity at some points), glorious, wicked, simple, and complicated. And the production never smothers the project. Even in the complexly arranged passages, there is a nice organic rawness to the sound of the album.

"Hurly Burly" kicks off the disc, and it's like no VdGG song you've ever heard. Peter Hammill's electric guitar is great on this instrumental rocker, it's like Dick Dale jamming with VdGG (I'm serious…). It would be a great tune to start shows with in '08. The band also scores on the album's other rockers, "Drop Dead" (a guitar-led 4/4 workout) and "All That Before", a humorous take on aging that will be familiar to anyone who saw VdGG on the '07 tour.

"Final Reel", "Lifetime", and "Only in a Whisper" glide more toward the calming end of the spectrum, but they are highlights on an album brimming with excellent material. Hammill's singing on "Final Reel" is gorgeous; it's wonderful when he overdubs a low register vocal take beneath a higher octave take, and it's never sounded better than it does here. It's well known that he's stopped smoking since his heart attack, and maybe that has nothing to do with it, but the vocal performance on the album as a whole is his best in years. Guy Evans' drumming on "Final Reel" and "Only in a Whisper" is spot on, simultaneously employing a jazzy, shuffling groove but still playing with a command that holds it in the pocket. "Only in a Whisper" also sees Hammill (I'm assuming) laying down a great Rhodes piano track while Hugh Banton effortlessly accompanies on bass guitar.

Banton's organ work actually comes more to the fore on this album than on any other past VdGG offering. Obviously, going from a four-piece to a three-piece is going to open up some musical space, and he shines with perhaps his most inventive and inspired performances yet. During some of the more frantic sections of songs like "Interference Patterns", "(We Are) Not Here", and the album's epic, "Over the Hill", Banton dazzles the listener with his technical prowess (especially when one considers that he's playing the bass pedals as well), while at the same time managing to instill a soulfulness in his playing which just seems natural to him.

The aforementioned "Over the Hill" is the one epic on the album and seems to be similar to "Childlike Faith in Childhood's End". There is one crystallizing moment in the song that encapsulates, to me, the strength of the album as a whole. VdGG launch into a particularly off-the-wall, flipped-out groove that builds and builds into a maddening serious of bizarre notes played over and over until, suddenly, they break into the (almost) chorus of the song, with a swinging drum groove, triumphant organ chording, and Hammill singing about living our lives as if God's on our shoulder. It's glorious.

And so is the album. They've done it again. In Trisector, they've come up with another challenging, rewarding chapter to the VdGG story, executed in a completely unpredictable way. As only VdGG can. I think I have to pinch myself again.

so it seems we are looking forward to a great album








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A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta


Posted By: Man Erg
Date Posted: March 02 2008 at 07:08
Is it me or is the title and sleeve having a go at David Jackson?
I know the title is a reference to the three piece line-up but the sleeve looks a lot like a cross between the Van der Graaf 'V' and the field beam system that Jackson used on the comeback tour in 2005.

I'm probably reading too much into it...as usual.

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Do 'The Stanley' otherwise I'll thrash you with some rhubarb.


Posted By: VanderGraafKommandöh
Date Posted: March 03 2008 at 11:10
They do seem to have banished their classic logo to a shed in prog heaven, probably because of the Jackson issues.

Oooh, thanks for whetting my appetite, Jim.  I fear I won't actually be able to get the album on the day of release and if I pre-order with Amazon, no doubt it'll get delayed.

I'm in a quandary!  I also don't wish to download it legally, I want the CD in my hand on the 17th.


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