The Rabbit's Hat - "Lapsit Exillis"
(Stone Premonitions 2003, SPCD-036)
The Rabbit's Hat - "Lapsit Exillis"
(Stone Premonitions 2003, SPCD-036)
From Aural Innovations #24 (July 2003)
Lapsit Exillis (meaning The Philosophers Stone) is the latest from The Rabbit's Hat and is a relatively short 32 minute set of what seems to be all reworkings of previously released Rabbit's Hat and Census of Hallucinations songs. Joining Tim Jones, Terri~B and Dave Pipkin are newcomers Terry Connor on violin and Dave McClean on bass. Long-time fans may be waffling on the value of picking up a disc with re-recordings of songs they already know. But those well familiar with Tim and Terri's work will know that they are versatile musicians and these new takes are quite nice, if not necessarily all that different. For this listener it's Connor's violin that give an extra kick to the songs. In fact, if you told me this was Simon House sitting in with the band I would easily believe it as that's pretty much how his style and the production of the violin sounds. Included on this set are two of my favorite Census of Hallucinations (another Tim & Terri band) songs: "Orion" and "The Moon". Other known songs include "Mountain Climbing", "Hard World", "More Than Ashes" and "Daft Bastard", plus a bouncy party-time cover of "Yellow Submarine" and cover of Status Quo's "In My Chair". Overall this is a nice set and hopefully just a teaser in advance of a full length set of all new Rabbit's Hat songs.
For more information you can visit the Stone Premonitions web site at:
http://www.aural-innovations.com/stonepremonitions.
Contact via snail mail c/o Stone Premonitions; Arch House; Front Street; Alston; Cumbria; CA9
3QW; UK.
Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz