This month saw both the reissue of Michael Chapman’s cult favorite Fully Qualified Survivor (via Light In The Attic) and Trainsong: Guitar Compostions 1967-2010 (via Tompkins Square). We are giving away copies of both records (vinyl and CD) to AD readers. To enter, leave a comment below with your name, and a valid email address in the address field (it will not be visible to the public). Winners chosen at random and notified next Friday. If you’re not familiar with Chapman, below is what we said last month per the Fully Qualified Survivor reissue.
Michael Chapman, apart from being a prolific English songwriter whose revered work spans four decades, is probably the best guitar smith you have never heard. While his skills are best evidenced on this album’s predecessor, Rainmaker, the original songwriting and tight production, seemingly informed by all music that came before it, steal the show here.
It’s as if every style of rock music were somehow harnessed and tamed into Michael’s unique folk vision. The album sounds fresh as anything recorded today, yet still of its time, sparkling with punchy drum fills and orchestral arrangements. The album opens with an understated triumph: experimental strings create a soundscape for the soothing rhythm of “Aviator” to “take my time away.” I cannot think of another 9 minute song that doesn’t seem to last long enough. The lyrics on the album evoke a feeling of hopelessness, and there is a kind of sad tone but all together I believe it can be an uplifting album. This may be thanks to sharing much of the same personnel responsible for early albums by Elton John and David Bowie. During Fully Qualified’s hardest moments, though, I hear a striking resemblance to Bowie’s classic Man Who Sold The World
“Stranger In The Room” and “Soulful Lady” lend a classic rock balance to softer songs like the immortal “Postcards From Scarborough“, by far the most famous Chapman song. Through several interludes, we are treated to Chapman’s masterful six-string suites. I know my fair share of fingerpicking but still have trouble believing that “Naked Ladies & Electric Ragtime” is actually performed on one guitar by one person. In any case, it’s a piece that should be standard fare in guitar workshops the world over. But note that I’m not talking about the electric guitar leads, performed by Mick Ronson who would later team up with Bowie, for Space Oddity, thanks to this record.
In short, Fully Qualified Survivor is an exceptional collection of songs and your best introduction to one of England’s great underappreciated artists. words/ j. nardelli
MP3: Michael Chapman :: Andru’s Easy Rider/Trinkets & Rings
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Fingers crossed! I would love to become better acquainted with this artist; so far, I’ve only heard what you have posted here…
1 | Sara February 26th, 2011 at 3:55 pmThanks again for learnin’ me more tunes. AD’s like going to school.
2 | Joe February 26th, 2011 at 3:57 pmLooks like a great re-issue! Can’t get enough of that English Folk/Psych!
3 | Joe February 26th, 2011 at 4:27 pmIn my opinion Fully Qualified Survivor is one of the best albums from the early ’70s and is long overdue a reissue. Chapman is just as good as Fahey on the instrumental raggy tracks and rocks with the best of them on the electric tracks. Best of both worlds. Got my fingers crossed!
4 | Stephen February 26th, 2011 at 4:55 pmSo interested!
5 | Joe Gutierrez February 26th, 2011 at 5:16 pmWould love to give this to my father in law
6 | John Gordon February 26th, 2011 at 5:20 pmI would love to get this spinning on my table.
7 | Adam G. February 26th, 2011 at 6:06 pmchapman!
8 | D. Stuart February 26th, 2011 at 6:25 pmSweet, my favorite re-issue from this era since the Bill Fay stuff!
9 | David W. February 26th, 2011 at 6:46 pmWould love to give this to father in law’s son in law
10 | Paul Mallary February 26th, 2011 at 7:51 pmChapman give away.
11 | Eric Knoll February 26th, 2011 at 7:56 pmI would love to win this! Fingers crossed…
12 | Adrian3 February 26th, 2011 at 8:03 pmSounds great!
13 | Erika Anaya February 26th, 2011 at 8:06 pmI like what I hear! i hate missing out on good stuff like this for so long! keep up the good work!
14 | Maxx McKinley February 26th, 2011 at 8:11 pmOh this is very exciting!
15 | Kari February 26th, 2011 at 8:32 pmyes please?
16 | Dan February 26th, 2011 at 8:52 pmright on! heard a lot about chapman, would love to win this one.
17 | Nik February 26th, 2011 at 9:09 pmSounds fantastic, like most of your postings.
18 | tb February 26th, 2011 at 9:41 pmSweet!
19 | Chris February 26th, 2011 at 9:49 pmAwesome give away. Totally awesome.
20 | Vanessa February 26th, 2011 at 10:51 pmBoy, Light and the Attic and Tompkins Square are two labels that rarely miss a pitch, aren’t they?
21 | Jason P. Woodbury February 26th, 2011 at 11:10 pmNice. You are welcome to check my Michael Chapman extravaganza in my blog Small Town Romance. I wrote 14 posts about Chapman’s album, towards his new release and birthday. This gives a nice peek for his music and changes over the years.
See The Michael Chapman Special.
Yair
22 | Yair February 27th, 2011 at 12:42 amStranger in the Room is a longtime favorite. Thanks!
23 | Theo February 27th, 2011 at 12:49 amWould very much like to win this, obviously
24 | Mick February 27th, 2011 at 2:48 amThanks for this post, sad to say I have never heard of Chapman before. Sounds like I am going to have to investigate further…
25 | Matt February 27th, 2011 at 9:15 amIf I win I promise to spin loudly and often, so the neighbors hear. Gracias!
26 | Chris February 27th, 2011 at 9:57 amRAD
27 | devin witter February 27th, 2011 at 10:01 amlight in the attic: always killin’ it.
28 | kaley February 27th, 2011 at 11:41 amPick me
29 | Scott Wilkinson February 27th, 2011 at 11:51 amLove this song.
30 | Gary February 27th, 2011 at 2:00 pmwhat a great record.
31 | Mark McIntyre February 27th, 2011 at 2:09 pmSign me up for the contest, please. Great tune – it reminds me of Rory Gallagher mixed with a bit of John Mayall’s Turning Point material.
32 | Doug Wacker February 27th, 2011 at 4:22 pmI will really put this record to good use
33 | Will Linhares February 27th, 2011 at 5:09 pmchapman will be touring the US in may
34 | John Allen February 27th, 2011 at 7:50 pmgreat album, i’d love the vinyl copy particularly!
35 | Ben Zeno February 27th, 2011 at 9:09 pmYou have my ears salivating for more. Great recommendation, love LITA.
36 | Matthew G February 27th, 2011 at 11:31 pmreally amazing stuff.
37 | steven February 28th, 2011 at 12:31 am[...] more here: Michael Chapman :: Fully Qualified Survivor/Trainsong « New Music Video – White Lies "Strangers" Top Entertainment Photos [...]
38 | Michael Chapman :: Fully Qualified Survivor/Trainsong | To Do In LA (Los Angeles) February 28th, 2011 at 2:25 amFine-sounding music. AD is top of the list; I share entries with friends all the time from my far-away perch in cyber space…
39 | T Berne February 28th, 2011 at 6:17 ambeen a fan of fully qualified survivor for some time. glad to see it’s being reissued.
40 | Will February 28th, 2011 at 6:25 amsounds like some interesting stuff!
41 | Thomas February 28th, 2011 at 6:50 amGreat song. Thanks for always bring back some great music. I really enjoy your insight.
42 | Tony Owen February 28th, 2011 at 7:11 amThanks.
Would love to give this to my crippled grandson and take it on tour with me in may.
43 | Scurvvy February 28th, 2011 at 8:31 amWould love to own this, I always appreciate the artists that I find through Aquariumdrunkard.com.
44 | Joel Schneider February 28th, 2011 at 8:48 amI need this Light In The Attic release.
45 | Adam Strickland February 28th, 2011 at 10:17 amNever heard this before, but it sounds great!
46 | Luke Harris February 28th, 2011 at 11:40 amLooking forward to hearing this one!
47 | Dan February 28th, 2011 at 2:41 pmWow, nice offer!
48 | Seth Scher February 28th, 2011 at 2:46 pmwow~!
49 | Adam Richards February 28th, 2011 at 2:48 pmmichael’s name is championed by all my friends with good taste in music, but i am out of the loop never hearing a lick. help me, help you, as i help others to spread the gospel of michael!
50 | darryl February 28th, 2011 at 2:51 pmWould love to spin these, they sound spectacular.
51 | Andrew Hollister February 28th, 2011 at 2:58 pmLight in the Attic makes the world a better place…
52 | matt February 28th, 2011 at 3:20 pmDig! Ialso wish to be entered for a chance at the vinyl copy. Thanks LITA and AD!
53 | Jim Bruzzese February 28th, 2011 at 3:37 pmThis sound fantastic – fingers crossed.
54 | Jason Steven Murphy February 28th, 2011 at 4:02 pmThe man is a genius and his playing is still breathtaking 41 years on. This is without a doubt one of the finest albums I have ever heard – brimming with classics. If this is your first listen to MC then prepare to be amazed and to have a melted credit card as you’ve 40 years of sublime unique albums to catch up on. Hoping that Light In The Attic carry on through Michaels other Harvest albums and other guitar classics from 70s 80s 90s and beyond.
55 | Marc Higgins February 28th, 2011 at 4:31 pmThere is a mass of information in Michael’s web site plus a complete discography and links to the many musicians Michael has played with and influenced. Go to http://www.michaelchapman.co.uk
Go to www,gpsmusicartists.co.uk if you would like to enquire about Michael’s live shows and availability. He starts touring in the United Kingdom on March 5th and continues via France, The USA, Austria and England until October 2011
Cheers
Graham
56 | GPS Music Artists February 28th, 2011 at 5:02 pm“Fully Qualified Survivor” is a masterpiece. This was the first of his albums that I bought, after hearing him on the John Peel show, four decades ago. In the past 12 years, I’ve become a devotee of Michael’s work and have collected 38 CDs and seen him live over 50 times (he’s that good!). As well as being, in my opinion, the greatest living acoustic guitarist, he’s also built up a fine repertoire of new songs in the past two decades. I’m so looking forward to “Trainsongs” & the FQS re-master!
57 | John Etherington February 28th, 2011 at 5:04 pmI’m excited about the contest – but more excited about the re-release of Fully Qualified!
58 | Johnny Chrizzo February 28th, 2011 at 5:49 pmEagerly anticipated this release for a whole now but insufficient funds are holding me back from acquiring it! Got my fingers crossed.
59 | Sean February 28th, 2011 at 6:46 pmMike Chapman giveaway! For the poor struggling listener of poor struggling artists!
60 | David February 28th, 2011 at 7:52 pmSounds cool!
61 | PMR February 28th, 2011 at 8:23 pmWoah this is great. Thank you for the introduction AD
62 | Peter February 28th, 2011 at 10:27 pmSimply stated: Incredible.
63 | richard zapata February 28th, 2011 at 11:03 pmI’ve never heard of Chapman, but being on LitA is enough to make me know I want it!
64 | Bill February 28th, 2011 at 11:22 pmgotta pick this up
65 | pbrigando February 28th, 2011 at 11:34 pmSounds like something I will need to purchase if I’m not lucky enough to be selected for the freebee!
66 | wayhed March 1st, 2011 at 12:06 amThis beautiful music by an artist I had never heard of before. Thank you for making him better known!
67 | Jerry Brennan March 1st, 2011 at 5:17 amJerry
Quite the discovery, you’d think with I find on AD almost daily I’d be getting tired of new music.
Nope.
68 | GW March 1st, 2011 at 5:21 amthis is great!
69 | Kevin March 1st, 2011 at 6:14 amThanks for all the great tunes!
70 | Steve B March 1st, 2011 at 8:30 amYes please!
71 | KC March 1st, 2011 at 8:32 am…and all I have to do is leave a comment here? I’ve been trying to find a copy of ‘Fully Qualified Survivor’ for ages, and this new reissue makes my acquisition inevitable, whether it happens on your auspices or my own. Thanks for hipping me to this great news.
72 | Zubbid March 1st, 2011 at 2:36 pm(Please disregard the flawed e-mail address in my previous comment. This one is better.)
73 | Zubbid March 1st, 2011 at 2:37 pmI look forward to hearing more. Love Mick Ronson, both as a sideman and as a band leader in his own right.
74 | Kathy Fennessy March 1st, 2011 at 6:23 pmNice!
75 | Jorge March 2nd, 2011 at 5:44 amGreat song..wish i could get a copy
76 | Benny March 2nd, 2011 at 10:14 amnice stuff.
77 | sagely March 2nd, 2011 at 10:45 amPlease, please…… let it be me!
78 | Helena Svensson March 3rd, 2011 at 1:51 am