Since my last update, David Gilmour (of Pink Floyd fame, of course), has announced that he will be releasing a new solo album this fall. It’s somehow been nine years since he released his last album Rattle That Lock, and I can’t be the only one that hopes that Luck and Strange will be better. He started the announcement by hyping up a graphic of a silhouette of a man in a trench coat, and lots of rumors were flying around as to who it could possibly be. I read theories ranging from Roger Waters to Ozzy Osbourne. Alas, the real answer, which was made public about a day later, was nowhere near as exciting as either of those possibilities. As a matter of fact, it was just about as disinteresting as it could possibly be… it was David’s stepson, Charlie. The one who went to prison. Cool.
So since then, we have had announcements that David will support Luck and Strange with some kind of tour, which is exciting. Hopefully he comes to the US, but I’m not holding my breath on that. Also, the album will be released on September 6th, which is Roger Water’s birthday. The online community has decided that this has been engineered as some kind of sleight against Roger, and it probably is. Much like the album cover though (which has the Charlie silhouette on it), it’s also pretty disinteresting. Even though I have always been much more a fan of Roger’s solo work, I still enjoy a lot of David’s stuff. With the exception of Rattle That Lock, it’s all been very good, and I have all the official albums. Is it up to the level of Roger’s solo output? Probably not, but I will always love hearing David Gilmour play guitar.
Another side note that should be of interest to readers is that Gilmour has apparently caught on to the uptick in vinyl sales. Does that mean he’s finally going to re-release some Live in Gdańsk vinyl box sets? No, of course not. It means that the new album will be made available on no less than five different colors of wax. The best ones are region specific, so it’s sure to be a headache and to cost a fortune in shipping for fans who are searching for the particular ones that they want. Anyway…
In celebration of David’s new release, I’m going to take a look at one of my favorite Gilmour/Floyd related shows to come out on vinyl recently. This one is called TAM, and it’s been released by VideoTrippa Records. TAM is a single LP and is limited to only 200 black copies and 10 clear yellow copies worldwide. The audio comes from a 2006 show at the Teatro degli Arcimboldi theatre in Milan (see? TAM) during the On an Island period. I think it’s almost universally recognized that On an Island is Gilmour’s best solo work by far, so I was pretty excited when I saw this one was coming out. As soon as I found one for sale, I made sure to pick up a copy.
As you can see from the photos, the jacket and vinyl pressing on this one are both of very high quality. The sleeve is a full color matte finish and looks amazing. Unlike many other bootleg vinyl releases, this one really does look like it could be official. The same goes for the quality of the wax itself and the printed labels. The record arrived safely and appeared clean, but as usual, I cleaned it on my VPI before spinning it.
The first thing you will notice when you check out TAM is that the audio is crystal clear. I hadn’t heard this particular recording before, and I was really pleased. I’m not sure if this is a soundboard or an audience recording, but the quality is great. Once again, it’s on par with something that could be an official release. There was a tiny bit of soft surface noise, but nothing that an ordinary listener would take notice of. This brings up a pretty good question… why don’t we see more live releases from performers? If one or two passionate fans can produce something at this level of quality from an audience recording and a small budget, why don’t we see more official stuff? I think the sales of live bootlegs are proof that fans don’t necessarily need a “perfect” recording that has been cleaned and overdubbed to death in the studio. I’m sure there are issues at play that I’m not factoring in, but I think it’s a legitimate question.
As far as the set list goes, there actually isn’t anything from On an Island on here. Instead, we have a pretty good representation of some Pink Floyd cover songs from various eras:
Live Recording – Teatro degli Arcimboldi, Milan Italy – 25th March 2006
A1 Shine On You Crazy Diamond I-V
A2 Wearing The Inside Out
A3 Time
B1 Echoes
B2 Comfortably Numb
In addition to Gilmour and the usual suspects (Pratt, Carin, Perry Et al.), we also have Richard Wright on keyboards and vocals. This certainly makes the recording extra special, as Wright’s contribution to Pink Floyd and many of Gilmour’s solo appearances can’t be overstated. I think Gilmour himself must realize this, as he’s once again going back to the well of old tapes to include Wright posthumously on the new album. On TAM , he’s just as good as you would expect. Given that these are in fact Pink Floyd songs, Wright adds that sort of ethereal dimension to them in a way that only he could, lending them a particular air of authenticity.
As far as the performances here, this is Gilmour at his best. In my opinion, the best living guitar player at the peak of his solo career. All the guitar solos are excellent. “Time” in particular is worth looking out for, and of course the more obvious guitar centered pieces like “Comfortably Numb” are also fantastic. Personally, my favorite track on the album is “Wearing The Inside Out”. This might have something to do with the fact that we don’t hear it as much as the others, but I really do genuinely love that song. Hearing Wright do the vocals live is just very cool.
One last point I would like to make about TAM is that by comparison to other bootleg albums, this one is currently very affordable. Once it sells out, the price is sure to go up, but for now, it’s a really great value. There is no doubt that pressing albums is expensive, especially when you are talking about a small boutique label like I imagine VideoTrippa is. The fact that this release is about half the price of most others while being double the quality should make collectors take notice. This label also has several other releases I hope to be taking a look at in the future, and they are all Pink Floyd related. While you are looking for this one, those also might be worth checking out as well. As of the time of this writing, there are copies of TAM still available for around 50.00 US. As usual, if you want a copy, now is the time!