- A Black Box
Infobox Album |
Name = A Black Box
Type =Album
Artist =Peter Hammill
Released = Aug 1980
Recorded = November 1979- April 1980
Sofa Sound, Wiltshire
Genre =Art rock
Length =
Label = S-Type Records
Producer = Peter Hammill
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|3|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:kc6ftrp9kl7x link]
*Record Mirror (elusive) [http://www.couchnoise.com/articles/1980-RM.htm link]
Last album = "pH7"
(1979)
This album = "A Black Box"
(1980)
Next album = "Sitting Targets "
(1981)"A Black Box" is an album by
Peter Hammill , originally released on S-Type Records in August 1980.Hammill performed nearly all the instrumentation himself, including the drum parts, a task he had first undertaken on his previous album pH7. His ex-
Van der Graaf Generator colleagueDavid Jackson also made a guest appearance, along with David Ferguson of the new-wave bandRandom Hold , whose debut album Hammill had produced.Side A of the record featured a collection of shorter songs, however side B was devoted to "Flight", a lengthy multi-section song. This was the first time Hammill had included a lengthy song of this type on one of his solo albums since the early 1970s.
The short-lived S-Type label (the name was a pun on "stereo-type"), on which the album was originally released, was set up by Hammill and his then manager Gail Colson. Colson had formerly been a director at Hammill's previous record company,
Charisma Records , who had dropped him from their roster just prior to the recording of "A Black Box". The S-Type label does not appear to have been a successful business project, and the album was later licensed toVirgin Records , who have since also acquired Hammill's Charisma catalogue.Track listing
All songs written by Peter Hammill, except where indicated.
#"Golden Promises"
#"Losing Faith in Words"
#"The Jargon King"
#"Fogwalking"
#"The Spirit"
#"In Slow Time" (Hammill, David Ferguson)
#"The Wipe"
#"Flight":*Flying Blind:*The White Cane Fandango:*Control:*Cockpit:*Silk Worm Wing:*Nothing Is Nothing:*A Black BoxPersonnel
*Peter Hammill – vocals,
guitar , keyboards
*David Jackson –saxophone ,flute on 4 and 8
*David Ferguson - synthesiser andtambourine on 4, 6 and 7External links
* [http://www.couchnoise.com/albums/Black_Box.htm Notes from an unofficial Peter Hammill website]
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