Peter Hammill – Incoherence (Esoteric Recordings 2CD/vinyl edition) – Well the powers that be sent the new remix for us to review, but but but, only the MP3 files and nothing more, no WAV or anything better than an MP3 so it is kind of hard to seriously judge a remix, it does sound good though and the voices in my head certainly all say yes. I have been listening to the original all evening on the same equipment I am now listening to the new version on. I hadn’t listen to the original for years, there’s never ever time to listen to anything save for the dozens and dozens (and dozens) of new albums that land here every single week demanding attention and a slice of your life. And now, brick on brick, building up to it, I have just put the new one on, and when all the scaffold is striped away, yes, it kind of sounds richer, bigger, warmer, or am I just imagining it? Will my words pass the acid test in the cold light of day? Will they be fiction folly and fable? I can’t hear a massive massive difference, I can hear a difference though (and I can’t really be expected to seriously report without the actual vinyl or a CD version played through a proper sound system not files and a media player, I need the full ritual of reading the cover on the bus home from the record shop) 

“Originally released in 2004 on CD only, Incoherence was formed of 14 songs that were all linked together to form one continuous piece of music, the first time in many years that Peter Hammill had taken this approach. All the pieces had a common lyrical focus on miscommunication and failures of language. Upon its release, the album was highly praised by both fans and critics and is one of Peter’s most acclaimed later works.

Incoherence was completed immediately prior to Peter suffering a heart attack. After taking some time out to recuperate. he now explains: “When I returned to the studio, I didn’t really have the inclination to go back over the mixes, so Incoherence was eventually released with the original ones. At a certain point I began considering a vinyl release for the album and realised that I’d have to do some element of a remix in order to find a split point. When I went back to look at the tracks, I got the idea that I could now do a much better job of a mix than I’d originally done. So, gradually, I pressed on with it. I also decided that this time it would be interesting to have a version of the album split up into the individual songs, finally exposing the original start and end points.”

“This Esoteric Recordings 2CD edition of Incoherence features Peter’s new “continuous” mix along with a CD of his mixes of the individual songs with fully restored artwork and is a definitive edition of one of Peter Hammill’s great works. This Esoteric Recordings vinyl edition is the debut release of the album on vinyl, and Peter Hammill has prepared a new mix specifically for the LP format which remains a seamless experience, albeit divided in to one part per side. The album has been cut at Abbey Road studios and includes a gatefold lyric insert”.

And so once again, we have the hardcore fans and all the different opinions and debate they will have, a brief mention of this on line has brought a whole rage of opinions my way already. Personally I’m a fan of pretty much everything Peter Hammill has done (and all critical self defence is blown away) and when I say what I think, I think what I’m saying is this was a fine album already and am I writing this for the already aware or those who don’t really know? You who already know surely just want the details and they’re up there already, you don’t need an actual review do you? 

And anyway, all of the words I had have blown away and well I was wondering where I’d tell someone to start if they didn’t know Petter Hammill’s work already and I guess it would be one of the earlier Van Der Graaf Generator classics that hooked most of us in the first place, but then would this, Incoherence, be a good place to start? It is classic Hammill both lyrically and musically, I want to say typical but has he ever done anything like a ‘typical’ album? Probably not, When Language Corrodes is a beautifully powerful opening and I could write words upon words about it, that is what Peter Hammill usually does to me, glued to every word, every single one of them, the way he puts them together, the way he builds tunes around them while the sell-bys expel on our labels. Limited time to go on and explain it all, this is pleasure even when he’s at his bleakest (and Peter can get bleak). 

I don’t like every song (or every part) on this album, there are some Peter Hammill albums where I do like every single moment, not was sure about Cretans Always Lie, yet it could be the right album to make your entry point and that synth line to All Greek that comes next is glorious and i do have to say what I think. Am I losing the thread here?  I have no idea which Peter Hammill solo album I like best, it depends on which Peter Hammill I need to listen to – it might be a Mr X kind of day, Rikki Nadir might want to have a say, it demands who I am today, and if these words aren’t making much s sense now then that is kind of the point of the album isn’t it? And his language always flows doesn’t it? No redact, just react, or did he never say the half of that and am I utterly mistaken? I can’t believe what I just said about what he just said…

You Hammill fans are going to want to buy whatever I say, you don’t need all this –  that bit there was a bit Stravinsky by the way and I don’t remember what I was saying now, call this a conversation (or indeed a review)? So yes, you Peter Hammill fans are going to grab this, it hasn’t been out on vinyl before, the two versions are going to be interesting, which one will you play first, which one will you turn to later on? And yes, there is the new mix and yes that does come through and I need one final word to pay off this overlong sentence before things are broken here. What was i saying? Yes, never mind the fans, the followers, you don’t need any of these words, but if you haven’t ever heard Peter Hammill before, if you aren’t in on the secret, then yes, this might be a rather good place if you give it your undivided attention. Peter doesn’t really do background music, you need full focus, let him tie the voices in your head to silence, tongued tied and let the time be silent while you find that connection, and I could go on and on about the album but there would be so so many things still left unsaid. 

This is a graceful Peter Hammill album, a beautiful album, it doesn’t really shout to be heard, it doesn’t shout as loudly as other Hammill albums, it can be dark, of course it can, and there is the power of speech and I could go on searching for words but really, I’ve said my piece, I’ll take my leave now… This is a fine fine Peter Hammill, I don’t quite get why you wouldn’t get it or him, today, this is one of my favourite Peter Hammill albums, but then ask me next week and I’m gonna scream, gonna shout about something else…   (sw)      

Release date: 8th November 2024 – order details – vinyl / CD

Do click on an image to enlarge…

Previously on these pages

ORGAN THING: Listen back to the second Other Rock Show of the new Autumn season at Resonance FM – Yowie, English Teacher, Peter Hammill, PAK, Jordsjø, Wendy Eisenberg and more…

ORGAN THING: Peter Hammill’s recent re-recordings of two late 80’s albums, In a Foreign Town and Out of Water, explored…

ORGAN THING: That time back in the Summer of ’77 when Johnny Rotten played some Peter Hammill on the radio…

ORGAN THING: Peter Hammill’s new album In Translation reviewed – these may not be his songs, but this is classic Hammill…

More – Peter Hammill / Van Der Graaf Generator

And here’s a Peter playlist….