Time Past & Time Passing

Album review

While Michael Chapman has often worked with other musicians on his recordings over the course of his lengthy career, on his 2008 release Time Past Time Passing, only his guitar and voice are heard. The self-produced album is more impressive for the quality of his instrumental work than it is for his occasional vocals -- which almost sound like an afterthought -- and the compositions, all written by Chapman, and none of them appearing on disc prior to this release. The guitar playing is very impressive, and might as a ballpark comparison find favor with fans of John Fahey as it's extremely virtuosic yet fluid and expressive, and a little dark in tone. It's not, it should be emphasized, extremely similar to Fahey, despite the inclusion of a song titled "Fahey's Flag." But there are some similarities in the mood it creates, with its mixture of folk styles (which in Chapman's case take in British folk, blues, and perhaps a bit of ragtime), the richness of the guitar tone, and the sense of placid calm struggling with tense undercurrents. Chapman's singing, which on this disc is a dry sing-speak, doesn't add anything of note, though it doesn't significantly detract, and fits in with the material's overall wistful, slightly resigned feel. Though he's a better singer than Fahey, perhaps at this point it might have been best to, like Fahey, focus virtually wholly on instrumentals that let the guitar do all the talking that's necessary.
© Richie Unterberger /TiVo