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Terry's
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Red Eye - 2010 | |
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Hammock is one of my Top-10 bands, maybe even Top-5. Their new album Chasing After Shadows....Living with the Ghosts is a return to the awesome sound they captured on their Raising Your Voice...Trying To Stop An Echo (2006). album. From the deliberate first bass chord of the first track "The Backward Step" to the last note in "Something Other Than Remaining," Hammock delivers one of their finest recorded performances to date. The higher pitch tone of the guitars over the deep bass in this first track shows Hammock's mastery over the sound register. I love the tone of the guitars in "Tristia." The guitar sound is delicate, somehow dark and rests within the ambient backdrop beautifully. The squishing walking distortion between bass and guitars is very cool. I really liked how ambience drifts into "Little Fly/Mouchette." The sound of the typewriter at the beginning of "Breathturn" sets a mood. When the voice comes into the mix, it takes the track up into the sky. The high note part that underlines this tune sounds like brass but could be a voice or keyboard. Hammock definitely finds a nice melodic path "In The Nothing Of A Night." "Andalusia" is probably my favorite song of 2010. I get hooked right into the haunting rhythm of the guitar. The voice like keyboard part at the tail end of each rhythm pass is genius. The cello and string arrangement makes this incredibly human. I like where the song takes me and what it makes me think of and feel. The way the band constructs the song, you travel an incredibly emotional and moving journey. I'm personally rewarded and fulfilled when listening to "Andalusia." I'm curios to what inspired the band to write "The Whole Catastrophe." Hammock makes us flip the pages of memory to take us back to "The World We Knew As Children." Innocence, happiness and the possibilities of a better tomorrow are all wrapped up into the bright guitars and slow percussion. The warm tone of the acoustic guitar in "Dust Is The Devil's Snow" is inviting. I like the way this guitar is played. The soft piano like keyboard is pretty. The entire mix of this track is rich and full. The swaying rhythm of "You Lost The Starlight In Your Eyes" is classic Hammock. Christine Glass Byrd's angelic voice makes the song glow. Glass Byrd's voice flies over "Something Other Than Remaining" Like a watching angel. Chasing After Shadows....Living with the Ghosts is a masterpiece of sound, instrument playing, musical composition and taste.
www.hammockmusic.com
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