michael chapman: pachyderm

This album is the second in Yorkshire-born composer, singer, guitarist and maverick troubadour Michael Chapman's series of his more improvised musical releases. The first, 2011's The Resurrection and Revenge of the Clayton Peacock (PTYT 068CD), was Wire magazine's #5 album of the year, and was widely and favorably received by press and fans alike as another highpoint in Chapman's late-blooming career, which has been boosted by the public recognition of his talents by the likes of Thurston Moore, Jack Rose, and Will Oldham. Pachyderm is an LP-length minimalist masterpiece, a single chord ambient work quite unlike anything Chapman has done before and equally as surprising and different as Peacock managed to be. The second track is a remix of the first side by one Rob Antony, a young Cumbrian neighbor of Michael's. Together they form a mellow and gently-shifting work that easily beckons auto-repeated plays. Chapman is now 71 years-old and playing better than ever. He started out on EMI's legendary '60s Harvest record label and turned down playing with both Elton John and David Bowie's Spiders band. It only goes to show, as per the recent rediscovery of the talents of his other contemporaries Roy Harper or John Martyn, eventually, your time will come.