The Nonexistent were formed following on from a discussion between Chris Gill (Band of Rain) and Steve Palmer (Mooch, Blue Lily Commission). They had been working together on some of Steve’s band projects, and thought that it might be an interesting concept to record a session where they performed improvised space rock and see what came out of it. With Chris on guitars and Steve on bass, plus drummer Andy Hole the first session went so well that they recorded another two. From these they broke the sessions down into separate tracks and Steve added synth to the first two sessions while Chris did the same for the third. They then divided the album into two, with one disc featuring the rockier numbers (called ‘Roc’) and the other the more spacey elements (‘Space), with Chris then adding two more numbers to ‘Roc’ and Steve two more on ‘Space’.
The live sessions were sent straight to a digital recorder, and there is something about improvised music being captured that shows just how good/bad the musicians really are. There has to be a connection between the guys for this to work at all, as otherwise it just becomes meaningless noise, and it shows that they have all been working with each other over the years as they understand what they are doing and where the music is leading them. Recorded in a local village hall the guys were all able to see each other and bounce ideas, while also having that live ambience that is so important. One wonders how the drum sound was captured without too much bleed over, given that both Chris and Steve were playing through amps and no-one was using headphones, but the sound mix is surprisingly good.
Released in DVD-style box as opposed to a jewel case, with a printed insert containing details of the sessions and some photos, this is definitely worth hearing if you enjoy space rock. For more details on this and other releases available from this label, visit www.ambientlive.com
