Pete Howe & Tim Gaze

PICTURES OF THE COAST
RHYTHMS MAGAZINE REVIEW

Argh, it warms me heart to see two such souls reunited.  Those who love their well-worn copies of Morning Of The Earth soundtrack will recognise each of these names as integral to that phenomenon – Gaze (who you can see at the Morning Of The Earth show at Bluesfest) as a member of Tamam Shud and Peter Howe, the somewhat mysterious name behind the otherworldly “I’m Alive” from which Bombora’s excellent collection of Australian surf music Delightful Rain gleaned its title.

Gaze and Howe joined forces on Delightful Rain and again for the recent premiere screening of the new surf doco Searching For Michael Peterson.

So where was Howe in between MOTE and Delightful Rain? Sailing the world, it seems.  His liner notes to this collection of originals tells how Howe retired from teaching, bought a boat and sailed around, writing songs on a little guitar as he went.  He then presented them to Tim Gaze, the Bombora team of David Minear, Kerryn Tolhurst and Mick Wordley jumped (ahem) onboard, and here you have it; the most gently ebbing and swelling instrumental guitar you could imagine.

As you read Howe’s annotations about each song, you might begin to realise that there are probably few albums in existence that have been so directly and thoroughly inspired by the sea.  How many records have been written entirely on a sailing boat? Each piece recalls a certain moment of tempest or calm, fear or glee on the sea for Howe, and the delicately intertwined guitars of Howe and Gaze actually take you there to witness the storms and sunsets in your own mind.  It’s rare for music to be so effectively evocative.  Thanks to the talents of all involved, but primarily to Howe’s genuine source of inspiration, Pictures Of The Coast is a jewel.  Highly recommended as an instant antidote to stress.

Martin Jones,
April 2009 RHYTHMS MAGAZINE