Peter Hammill fans should be warned that Loops & Reels is a bit of an experiment, and not comparable to any of his other releases (Hammill himself calls this album an abnormal work).
Originally an inadequate-sounding, tape-only release in 1983, it has since been remastered as a CD, which obviously helped clear up the muddy sound.
And although it contains some interesting compositions, a few too many self-indulgent tape experiments keep the album from becoming anything more than an oddity.
The first track on the album, "A Ritual Mask," features Hammill's voice accompanied by a foreign stringed instrument called a kora, with primitive drumming being added later in the tune.
And "The Moebius Loop" turns out to be a successful experiment, with Hammill singing over a repetitive loop of simple piano and unearthly backing vocals.
But it's pointless and overtly long tracks like "An Endless Breath" and "My Pulse" that test one's patience after awhile, since they contain no real music, just sonic scraps and buzzes.
Loops & Reels is of interest only to the Peter Hammill completist; casual fans should begin with one of his "proper" albums.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Ritual Mask | Peter Hammill | Play | 03:55 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | Critical Mass | Peter Hammill | Play | 08:18 | 19 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | The Moebius Loop | Peter Hammill | Play | 03:05 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | An Endless Breath | Peter Hammill | Play | 05:34 | 12 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | In Slow Time | Peter Hammill | Play | 03:29 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | My Pulse | Peter Hammill | Play | 15:43 | 35 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | The Bells! The Bells! | Peter Hammill | Play | 04:09 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 44 mins | 101 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peter Hammill | Primary Artist |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |