MERLIN ATMOS

Recorded in 2013 and featuring the slimmed-down trio lineup of Hammill, Banton, and Evans, this is primarily a delivery mechanism for full live run-throughs of Flight (from Hammill's solo catalogoue) and A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers; indeed, the vinyl edition of this release restricts itself to those two side-long epics. There's a brace of other live songs too, but the bulk of these we've heard performed before on other VdGG live releases - indeed, the Live At the Paradiso release includes a clutch of these songs played by this same lineup.

As it stands, I actually think the shorter songs pan out better here than the epics - both of which were staged here largely so that VdGG could say they'd done it, rather than because they necessarily show the best of the three-member lineup. Go for the full 2CD version for the full epic sprawl.