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New board, new Van Der Graaf Generator album

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    New board, new Van Der Graaf Generator album

    This looks like as good a place as any for my first nil thread.

    Has anyone else heard Trisector, the first studio album by the new-look three-piece VDGG? Thought not.

    Anyway, I've only been able to give it a couple of listens so far, but first impressions aren't particularly favourable (although it's by no means crap, either). It starts with an instrumental that could probably be classified as acid jazz, although it's more typically Van Der Graaf than that, albeit without the trademark saxaphone playing of Dave Jackson, who sadly left the group. In fact, the absence of sax and flute is keenly felt through much of the album, with the result that large portions feel more like a Hammill solo effort than the characteristic Van Der Graaf Generator sound.

    There are a couple of tracks on the album that are familiar to those who have heard the recent live albums, albeit with more depth thanks to the wonders of in-studio technology, and there is only one track (Over the Hill) longer than five minutes. This, and many others, have VDG's trademark complexity, and features Hammill's eccentric crunching guitar sound. Guy Evans' drumming is, as usual, impeccable throughout, and it's all held together by the superlative Hugh Banton on keyboards and bass pedals. However, it lacks the cohesiveness of earlier Van Der Graaf offerings (although you have to go back to 1977 for the last studio album the group released - The Quiet Zone, The Pleasure Dome.

    So, a worthy effort and, I suspect, like a lot of Hammill's solo stuff, a grower rather than an instant-impact album. So it didn't quite live up to the hype generated by the excitement prior to its release, but I daresay I'll be singing along soon enough. Sadly, I won't get to see them on their current tour (one of the downsides of family life), but having heard some of the bootleg CDs recently released, they're still rocking, despite being reduced to a trio. Shame about the sax, though.
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