Peter Michael Hamel (born in Munich, 15 July 1947) is a German composer. His works have been associated with the Minimalist style of composition, and in the late 1970s with the New Simplicity movement.

Peter Michael Hamel ranks as one of the better known and successful German composers of his generation.[citation needed] He studied musical composition, psychology and sociology in Munich and Berlin with teachers including Günter Bialas and Carl Dahlhaus (Fricke 2001). He then attended workshops with Karlheinz Stockhausen[citation needed] and continued his education abroad, spending several extensive periods in Asia (Fricke 2001). Hamel has entered into an intensive engagement with musical cultures from outside Europe, especially Indian classical music. He has drawn inspiration from Asian philosophies and from encounters with the works of Jean Gebser and C. G. Jung in order to present music that seeks to make itself accessible to the listener through meditation and self-exploration. Also he worked and studied with American composers such as John Cage, Morton Feldman and Terry Riley.[citation needed]

In 1970, he founded "Between", an international group dedicated to improvisational music with whom he made several records on the intuition/wergo label and in 1978 in Munich, he founded the Freies Musikzentrum, an institute for musical education and therapy. In 1976, his book "Through Music to the Self" was published, obtaining wide circulation in Europe and the U.S.[citation needed]

In 1997, he succeeded György Ligeti as professor for composition at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg.[citation needed] His orchestra and chamber music is published by Schott, Bärenreiter and E.R.P./Celestial Harmonies. He has composed four operas; many pieces for orchestra (e.g., "Gestalt"); violin and piano concertos; spiritual compositions for soprano, choirs and orchestra (e.g., "Missa"); "Shoah" (a radio-composition about the Holocaust); a number of chamber-music compositions (including four string quartets); and is in demand as a performing artist (piano, prepared piano, pipe organ, voice and live-electronics). His first symphony was premiered by Sergiu Celibidache in 1988; his second symphony had its first performance in Munich on April 29, 2008 with the Munich Philharmonic. In 2007 Hamel's "Of the Sound of life" for pianist Roger Woodward was published by Celestial Harmonies. Woodward will premiere Hamel's Piano Etudes on January 19, 2009 in the Bavarian Academy of the Fine Arts, Munich. (www.harmonies.com)

From "A few thoughts on composer PMH" by Terry Riley: "...Peter's heart did not seem to be aligned alone with the post Webern traditions that had emerged so prevalently in Germany. His sensibilities were attracted more to American minimalism and Indian music and to some degree Rock and Jazz. In this sense he stands apart in the field of modern music of Germany. He has recognized the vast importance of improvisation and being 'in the moment' in music performance. He realizes the importance of experimentation and of finding new ways to notate his ideas. However, his music is at the same time rooted in the great German tradition and today he is recognized as a major figure whose compositions have greatly enriched the development of 20th and 21st century repertoire..." (published in: "Ein neuer Ton" (Alliteraverlag, München, 2007)

He is the author of a book titled Through Music to the Self (1976). 

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Callier, a childhood friend of Curtis Mayfield, began recording in 1963 but never reached stardom despite a series of regional hits in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1983, he gained custody of his 12-year-old daughter Sundiata and decided to retire from music to look for a steadier income. He took classes in computer programming and landed a job at the University of Chicago in 1984.

He reemerged from obscurity when British DJs discovered his old recordings and began to play his songs in clubs in the late 1980s. Acid Jazz Records head Eddie Piller brought Callier to play clubs in Britain beginning in 1991 and he began to make regular trips to play gigs during his vacation time from work.

In the late 90s Callier began his comeback to recorded music, contributing to Beth Orton's Best Bit EP in 1997 and releasing the album Timepeace in 1998, which won the United Nations' Time For Peace award for outstanding artistic achievement contributing to world peace. Curiously, his colleagues at the University of Chicago never learned of Callier's life as a musician, but after the award the news of his secret life became widely known and subsequently led to his firing.[1]

Callier today is continuing his recording career having currently released five albums since Timepeace.

May 2009 saw his album Hidden Conversations featuring Massive Attack released on Mr Bongo records.

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Els Trons han sido la revelación de 2009 en el panorama del rock catalán, Por increíble que parezca, a nadie antes se le había ocurrido que las magníficas canciones de las bandas de garaje y folk rock americanas cosecha '66 (Music Machine, Love, Byrds...) podían sonar tan fabulosamente bien traducidas a la lengua de Pompeu Fabra como lo hacen en el EP que Butterfly Records ha editado de este joven quarteto barcelonés. Armados con pedales Fuzz y una botella de ratafía, Marcel, Marc, Xavi y Andreu han grabado ya nuevas canciones para un segundo EP que esperamos ansiosos. Fuzz y ratafía!

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The final chapter of Lula Cortes amazing run of music in 70s Brazil -- a small label release that brilliantly blends together a range of psychedelic influences -- all with a gritty edge that's quite different than what you might expect from the date of the album! Things here are every bit as tripped out as on some of Lula's other albums from years before -- trippily poetic, occasionally folksy, and sometimes touched with heavier electric moments that really offset the gentler, more organic moments. The reissue features full notes on the music by Cortes himself -- and the package offers a rare chance to hear an album whose original pressing was supposedly destroyed before it was ever released! Really great sound, and a lovely package that more than lives up to Lula's amazing music.

CORTES, LULA - ROSA DE SANGUE

Deluxe first ever reissue of this Brazilian private press monster rarity. Originally custom pressed in 1980, 'Rosa De Sangue' is the closing chapter of the amazing Recife psychedelic movement that flourished & centered around the work of Lula Cortes, beginning in 1973 with the release of Satwa, and the creation of Abracadabra, Lula's loose art/music/design collective. Leading up to 1980 Lula had produced & privately released Satwa in 1973 (Brazil's first private press LP) as well as Marconi Notaro's 'No Sub Reino Dos Metazoarios' LP that same year (featuring the recording debut of Ze Ramalho). He then started the legendary but incredibly short lived Solar label, releasing only two albums: 1975's 'Paebiru' double album, and a year later the lone album by Flaviola. As if that wasn't enough, he was also heavily involved in other productions and performed on many seminal albums coming out of the region, including many collaborations with Alceu Valenca... By the close of the 70s the heavily utilized Rozemblit recording studio / pressing plant had been destroyed by repeated floods, Abracadabra had run its course, and along with Lula's marriage, the Solar label was no more. So 'Rosa De Sangue' was conceived as a bookend & tribute to this closing era; as Lula himself states "I want to close all of this with a golden key"...And a golden key it is. Entering a small local studio with a head full of songs and his freshly road tested mountains band, Lula created an album simply overflowing with ideas. Along with his power trio backing, he was further assisted by many old friends dropping in, including, among many others : Alceu Valenca, Flaviola, Ze De Flauta & Paulo Rafael. With hints of the past era and of things to come, it is a truly wild audio experience, covering many styles & moods. From crazed ethno folkrock, to magical, gentle, jungle folk psych zones, to hard hitting, coke dusted fuzz rock, to insane mutant disco dance floor groove, to tweaked Americana, to acid vocal raga trance, and way beyond...All throughout Lula's beautiful tricordio work pins things down, and for the first time he is the main vocalist (this is, after all, his first "solo" album!) His is a smoke & booze steeped voice darting between crazed abandon, deep sadness, and glowing soulful humor. When things are mellow, you could easily imagine youre hearing an outtake from Marconi Notaro or Paebiru, but the next moment you're dropped into a raging street party or dimly lit booze drenched bar scene vibe...Frenzied guitars all over, including some tough fuzz, as well as powerful rolling bass groove, soaring violin, moog weirdness, dusted backup vocals, and great drum kit / regional percussion interplay. Psychedelic at heart, but brimming with flashes of tropicalia, punk, prog, and pure hot blooded rock & roll...A bizarre & amazing album. but of course, the story doesn't end there...At some point while the album was being recorded & pressed Lula signed a major label contract which would produce 1981's far tamer 'O Gosto Novo Da Vida' LP. When his new label got wind of Rosa De Sangue's eminent release, they were displeased to say the least. As soon as the pressing was complete, the entire small edition was seized & destroyed, making this album by far Brazil's rarest. So rare, in fact, that even among the most hardcore Brazilian collectors the original LP is often only rumored to exist, often cited as unreleased...A few copies did however survive, and now, 29 years later, the world can finally hear this 'golden key' from a truly visionary artist...Packaged in a heavy vintage style cover with exact reproduction original artwork, including the huge full color, double sided, foldout poster insert, plus an extra insert featuring new liner notes from Lula Cortes as well as translated song titles. 180gm audiophile virgin vinyl pressing with exact repro label art. Limited edition one time pressing of 1000 copies.

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