Brian Eno - the shutov assembly - bonus tracks puzzle

I've always loved The Shutov Assembly. Eno released this in late 1992, a collection of ambient pieces that he'd created for various installations that he'd made over the previous 10 years. The music is slow, dark, mysterious and works well as background ambience but also rewards more active listening. The other day I was playing this, very loudly, in the car and surprisingly it worked very well!

However, my query relates to the reissue of The Shutov Assembly that came out a couple of years ago. It contains an excellent bonus disc - but none of the pieces (bar the final track, a variation on "Alhondiga") sound anything like any of the tracks on the actual album. Far more rhythmic, quirkier, and noisier, these pieces are generally very good, but I can't see how they relate to The Shutov Assembly in any way or why they were chosen as bonus tracks for this album. If the reissue of Nerve Net hadn't been paired with the wonderful My Squelchy Life then these bonus tracks would have fitted far better alongside Nerve Net. To make things more complex the reissue contains precisely zero information about these bonus tracks.

Listening to it today I was struck by both "Storms" and "Rendition" - it sounds like Robert Fripp was involved in these. That's not too unlikely as he worked with Eno on the contemporaneous Nerve Net. Eno is frustratingly bad at providing information about his music - remember the cracking Curiosities discs? It was lovely to have a bunch of random tracks from the Eno archives, but there was absolutely no information about any of them!

So, does anyone have any actual information about the Shutov bonus tracks? Who played on them, when / where they were recorded, that sort of thing?

Cheers,
Richard

 

A sticker on the CD case says the bonus tracks are recordings "from the same period" as the tracks on the original album. If there is any further information available out there, I haven't come across it.

 

I'd be curious about this too although I do kinda assume that Brian Eno has a cupboard at his home chock full of unreleased songs and snippets that he pulls out whenever he needs extra stuff. At least given the amount of other material he released during this time period (both Curiosities sets, the Textures set, the Headcandy CD-ROM and all the installation soundtracks) it doesn't feel outside the realm of possibility. It also wouldn't surprise me if some of these tracks were simply edits and/or retitled versions of these other odds n sods.

 

Yes, it does seem like Eno has a fairly vast reserve of unused tracks.
I do wonder why he's so bad at giving info on these sorts of pieces thought. It seems unlikely that someone as meticulous as Eno wouldn't have all these tracks carefully catalogued so the lack of information would appear to be deliberate.

The Curiosities discs were great I thought, shame they stopped after just two when the guy compiling them left Eno's employment. In any case, Eno himself seems very reluctant to trawl through his archive material. Maybe I should ask him if I could have a go!

 

I was curious about the bonus tracks too. Technically, Nerve Net, Shutov Assembly, and My Squelchy Life all come "from the same period," so it's maybe not surprising that the bonus tracks sound more like Nerve Net.

 

I agree with the OP. It was a bit of a head scratcher for me. I was shocked the first time I played it. I don't dislike it either, just wasn't what I expected based on the pairing.

 

It would be nice if he rereleased those CD-Rs he put out as mementos of the installations, since they were never really properly released at all first time out and they contain some amazing music. I Dormienti and Kite Stories in particular are excellent.

 

Ah richard a,
I agree...

The Shutov Assembly Bonus Material caused (and still causes) me some confusion as well. In general however, concerning the reissue extended release group I'm glad the decision was made to veer away from the inclusion of bonus material that would have been more directly related to the initial releases. Mind you I said "in general" - specifically (and indirectly) because of how that decision effected the Bonus Material included with The Drop - as I am thoroughly thrilled to finally see an official release of "77 Million" - Much more so than if The Drop's Bonus Material simply consisted only of Drop outtakes (which I assume are plentiful).

But if I stay focused on the Shutov's Bonus Material - then yes, indeed - perplexing, on so many levels too...

The Shutov Assembly Bonus Material (CD2) :

1 - It's the only bonus material from this expanded reissue group without a real idenity - in that the bonus material for the other 3 releases (essentially) were/are full fledged albums...
--- My Squelchy Life (with Nerve Net)
--- New Space Music (with Neroli)
--- 77 Million - An Audio Visual Installation (with The Drop)

2 - Then you got: beyond the Shutov's Bonus Material not being all that related to the kind of music found on the initial Shutov release, track-by-track-wise the bonus material doesn't even relate to itself - as it consists of three different kinds of music.
--- 4 ambient tracks
--- 2 Headcandy tracks (Storm & Rendition)
--- And one oddball (Big Slow Arabs)
Then: of the 4 ambient tracks, 2 are fitting for Shutov, and the other two seem to be studio experiments.

3 - And hardly (almost not) an Album's worth of content. Shutov Bonus Material clocks in under 35 minutes - not the best balance to the duration of the 57+ minute Shutov Assembly. Which being that there are only seven tracks, really brings into focus my last point - regarding the different types of music.

4 - Finally, in general, as a whole, the tracks are not even stand out (not 'really good') examples - with some exceptions. Some more/additional content could have really helped to tie the Bonus CD together - and set a better environment for listening to the tracks that are presented.

But, oh well - Still SUPER GREAT to have these tracks!!!


Conclusion:
The Shutov's Bonus Material would have served much better as HALF of a "Curiosities Volume III" - And indeed, preferred Bonus Material would have been more 'Shutov' tracks. Especially since such exists (already recorded) - I know there exists at least two Shutov bootlegs:

--- Shutov Demos and Unreleased Tracks
Excellent collection, with some truly beautiful pieces - including a version of 'Innocenti' with a duration of nearly 13 minutes. In all, this collection has over an hour of music (one vocal track) - with over 36 minutes (at least!) of unreleased material that'd be a perfect for Shutov Bonus.

--- The Shutov Assembly Outtakes
I do not know this one - but looks like even more could have been lifted from it for Shutov Bonus Material:
BEEP discografie entry for The Shutov Assembly Outtakes

I also don't know whether or not the bootlegs mentioned above contain the material assembled for the first 'Shutov Collection' that Brian created for his Russian artist friend. Probably does...

--- Ikebukuro Remixes...
IF still needed to 'fill up' a Shutov Bonus CD an Ikebukuro remix could have been included:

Ikebukuro / Madrid / 4
6-minute version from the CD 'Nature and Culture' - included in MIT's journal 'Terra Nova'

- OR
Ikebukuro / Swarowski Soup
8-minute version from the CD included with the French edition of Brian's diary 'A Year (with Swollen Appendices)'

.....................................................................

any how...
That's all for now - In a few days I'll share what info I could gather regarding the tracks that were presented on the Shutov Bonus CD. Some rather interesting stuff too. (Spoiler Alert) The info is even more interesting for what the tracks indicate concerning music found in other collections.

 

Round and Round We Go

The Shutov Bonus Tracks
and the 'Conclusions' ??

....................................................

Track 1 — Eastern Cities
Track 2 — Empty Platform

Kinda mysterious - hard to say:

With the similarities between "Eastern Cities" and "Empty Platform" they probably come from the same narrow time period. These two could be from around 1989, give or take - probably from a time ever so slightly earlier / around 1988. Consider how "Empty Platform" also has some elements (audio aspects) that are in the same direction of Shutov Assembly's "Francisco" - "Francisco" is from the audio created for a video installation called 'Latest Flames' that was on exhibition at The Exploratorium (San Francisco, USA) in 1988. The similarities between "Empty Platform" and "Francisco" might actually mean "Empty Platform" is also from circa 1988.

These 2 bonus tracks seem more bare, more minimalist sounding, when compared to original Shutov Assembly tracks - but more flushed out than some of the tracks that appeared on, and are exclusive to, the 1989 Textures. With 7 tracks that later appeared on The Shutov Assembly, the Textures album kind of serves as a Shutov Assembly prototype.

The two bonus tracks are almost like a bridge between the more minimalist tracks found on Textures and the bulk of the tracks found on Shutov. So pretty much, both of these bonus tracks do actually seem to fit in with the Textures/Shutov collection - more fitting for Textures, and somewhat more in the peripheral for Shutov.

-- Why "Francisco" was one of the 3 Shutov Assembly tracks that was NOT represented on the 1989 album Textures is a bit of a mystery. Perhaps even though the "Francisco" music is from 1988 it may not have been recorded until 1990. Consider how the Shutov Assembly consists entirely of music from Brian's installations (from around the world) - but the info regarding where they were recorded indicate The Wilderness Studio, Woodbridge, UK - meaning Brian may have set up and recorded the music used for his exhibitions back at his studio / not only in a different location than the exhibitions, but also at different times (other than when the exhibitions took place). This would explain why the Shutov Assembly notes that the tracks were recorded between 1985 and 1990, even though all the music is from installations that only range between 1985 to 1989.

Then you have the music of "Francisco" being used in the album My Squelchy Life for the backing to "Everybody's Mother" - more than a year before its inclusion in The Shutov Assembly. Generally, for the most part, I imagine the span for recording the My Squelchy Life tracks was after Brian finished recording Wrong Way Up (in July 1990) on through, and up to, the last third of 1991 (September: when Brian finished work on My Squelchy Life). So maybe "Eastern Cities" and "Empty Platform" are from a time later than 1988 or 1989. Like I said - hard to say...

Somewhat in a direction of 'not exactly' realized, I still would place these two bonus tracks somewhere under outtakes for Textures or Shutov, related explorations, and/or (on the other hand) possibly even consider them My Squelchy Life outtakes - as either of these two tracks could have been used as backing music for songs, like "Francisco" was used for "Everybody's Mother" on MSL.


....................................................

Track 3 — Big Slow Arabs

Stylistically, this track seems to have been created after "Storm" and "Rendition" (the next 2 Shutov bonus tracks). When Compared to those 2 tracks: it is clearly in the 'next step' phase, a direction of things yet to come: a weird rhythmic exploration with the cleaner sound (darker, yet cleaner) - a bit more in line with some tracks found on upcoming releases by Brian: such as the Passengers' album (1995), and even The Drop (1997).

It's possibly this track was recorded towards the end of when The Shutov track recordings - possibly even after the My Squelchy Life sessions. It does kinda sound more like it was created during the Nerve Net sessions / Maybe a Nerve Net outtake - or maybe even after that...

'Last Note' Details:
Being that The Shutov Assembly was released more than 2 months after Nerve Net, it is even possible that this track was recorded after the conclusion of the Nerve Net sessions - as per the only [vague] info we're granted regarding the Shutov Bonus Material ('recordings from the same period' as the Assembly). Given the nature of some of these bonus tracks, I can only assume that might mean "same period" ALSO refers to the period while the Shutov Assembly was being compiled: AFTER the Shutov recordings were made (1985 to 1990), and on up to the point that Shutov was released (November 1992) / maybe even a little beyond that - who knows. To me it sounds like it would be a 1992 recording (or there-abouts).


....................................................

Track 4 — Storm
Track 5 — Rendition

Both these tracks saw their first official release in 1994 on a CD-Rom called Headcandy (an 'enhanced music video disc' of sorts). On that release each track was assigned an incorrect title.

"Rendition" appeared as the first track on Headcandy with the title "Castro Haze" - but on Headcandy, "Castro Haze" is actually positioned at Track 4. This was revealed by the version of "Castro Haze" that was released later on Curiousities volume I (2003).

"Storm" also appeared on Headcandy (Track 5) - and as well, later appeared on Curiousities volume I: with the title "Manila Envelope (with Robert Fripp)" - on Headcandy, this track was mistakenly titled "Alloy Balcony & Jets Overhead" ...

Both bonus tracks were recorded during the My Squelchy Life and/or Nerve Net sessions - probably during the My Squelchy Life sessions, with possible intentions of inclusion (which would make them 'outtakes'). They were probably recorded after The Shutov Assembly tracks were recorded - or at least towards the very end of their being recorded.


....................................................

Track 6 — Prague

The bonus track "Prague" sounds a bit like an exercise, an exploration, and/or another unrealized Shutov (or Textures) outtake. I believe it would safe to assume Brian creates a lot of music with the possibility of 'release' (album inclusion) in mind - but only during the process of reviewing what has been created do tracks get the 'green light' or dropped. So calling tracks an "exercise" or an "exploration" might be misleading. And when considering how Textures contain some more bare minimalist tracks, as well as a greater variety than Shutov, "Prague" seems very fitting as a Textures outtake. Even though the other minimalist tracks on Textures are electronic in nature and not an acoustic piano (such as "Prague"), the feel is not all that dissimilar.

Then, of course, we have the inevitable "however" - This could also be a MSL or Nerve Net outtake. Like the tracks "Little Apricot" and "Decentre" - And don't forget "Palanquin" of Wrong Way Up


....................................................

Track 7 — Alhondiga Variation

Obvious, Yes? A fantastic (!) extended alternate version to the original found on Shutov.

Music from a 1988 installation called "Place #21" that had been on exhibition at the Alhóndiga Bilbao: a multi-purpose venue located in the city of Bilbao, Spain.

 

The Copenhagen Interpretation
(a quantum mechanics expression)

"The act of measurement affects the system"

--- from wikipedia:
Copenhagen interpretation - Wikipedia

..................................................

I delve deep (very deep) into the work of many (very many) groups and artists. But none seem to be as vulnerable to a phenomenon called the 'Copenhagen Interpretation' as the work of Brian Eno - the Copenhagen Interpretation (in short) describes how the mere act of observation changes the properties of what is being observed. Basically, in physics, it refers to how when measuring one thing, one aspect, it not only affects what you're measuring but also another thing, another aspect, might become impossible to measurable - out of reach, or has measurements that no longer makes any sense and/or might posses impossible measurements. At least that's how I remember it - without actually reading about it (but I provided a wiki-link above so that you can, if desired).

With Brian's work, when trying to define it, and/or nail it down (especially date-wise), it becomes a question of 'what are you looking for?' and 'where are you looking for it?' mixed with 'where are you looking from?' - 'what is your perspective?' and 'how are you looking at it?' et cetera. All affect what you'll find - and also what you'll miss...

Some of the reasons for this include how Brian is known for 'recycling' - the reuse of audio from one piece of music on a completely different track, in a completely different way. One of the most popular examples of this is from early on in his career where several different audio elements from "Skysaw" were used in several different tracks; Its signature "riff" (sounding like something synthesized) being used in an unrelated instrumental (slowed and more in the background) - and its bass lines pop up, and up, in several other tracks. Below is an excerpt from a 1993 interview where Brian discusses the prolific reuse of drums provided by Phil Collins:

John Diliberto:
You've been recycling music from the beginning. For instance, the drum sound on Ultravox's "My Sex" is actually a Phil Collins track lifted from one of your records.

Brian Eno:
That's right, yes. In fact, that bass drum had quite a checkered, busy life in my music. Because that was also "Sky Saw" on Another Green World. Then it became a piece called "M386" on Music for Films. And it went on to even become something else now. I've forgotten what it was. This is a very, very interesting aspect of recording. An element can keep being reused and change identity in each place it slots in, you know.

--- from:
Audio (March 1993) [an excellent read]
"Brian Eno: Music For Listeners"
Audio: Brian Eno: Music For Listeners

More recently (currently) Brian has been recycling material that was created more than ten years ago: from his soundtrack for Spore - it was the first project Brian and Peter Chilvers worked together on - their collaboration for it began back in 2006 (Spore was released in 2008). Since then, each release by the two (their generative music projects) contains something from the Spore soundtrack. This even includes their latest: Reflection - if familiar with Spore, it is easy to identify the elements from its soundtrack; that resurface and are integrated into the music for Reflection.

Beyond that, you have Brian recycling material into the Spore soundtrack from the 1996/1997 soundtrack he made for the video game Nile: An Ancient Egyptian Quest (as of now: an archaic video game / only works on Microsoft Windows 95 / 98). Interestingly enough, 77 Million (bonus disc for The Drop) also includes material from 1996/97 Nile soundtrack - specifically for the last two tracks: "Surf Birds" and "Targa" - but there, at least, the 77 Million album is more of a Nile soundtrack contemporary - as indicated with its inclusion as the (1997) Drop's bonus disc. However, the original 77 Million album was not released until 2006 (in a limited series).

As well, when details are given they aren't always 'exactly' accurate. Case in point: somewhere, at some time, Brian stated that the material used for the 1994 Glitterbug soundtrack (which was the source of the Spinner music) was all from a certain time range - the past two years (then meaning 1992 & 1993). But the inclusion of the backing for "I Fall Up" (from 1990 or 1991) in the soundtrack kind of undermines that statement / And those at EnoWeb believe the backing rythym for "I Fall Up" comes from the track "More Volts" - a mysterious track from 1983 (or earlier). This happened before too, concerning an album released in the late 70's - can't think of it off the top of my head (maybe Music For Films), but it was the same thing - somewhere, interview or something, details provided could not be possible / or 'exactly' accurate. So I guess we gots to take these things in stride. I mean on the one hand, the important hand, it's about the music - just the music - and only the music. And maybe that's why Brian isn't always too precise when it comes to the details of circumstances.

Even so, there is still something I do find a bit - what's the word? A bit _____?

Can't think of that word right now...
Oh well - here 'tis...

The questions that sometimes arises concerning personnel. The 1989's Textures has a track credited to Brian and his brother Roger - but when that track resurfaced on 1992's Shutov Assembly it credits Brian with everything / no mention of Roger - and I don't hear anything that was dropped from the track (maybe I'll take a closer listen - again). More confusing is the Loadscreen music from the Spore soundtrack - which first appeared on the 2006 Fripp & Eno collection Cotswold Gnomes (That collection was later renamed 'Beyond Even') - the version of the Loadscreen music on that collection is called "Hopeful Timean" (with an ever so slightly different ending). On Beyond Even, the track is credited to Fripp & Eno with Tim Harries on Bass. Then in 2010 more Spore music appears on an album called Making Space - which contains another version of the "Hopeful Timean" track - called "Hopeful Timean Intersect" credited to Brian Eno & Leo Abrahams and Tim Harries on Bass / no mention of Robert Fripp - and it is essentially the same track: 'cept towards the very end, it's sprinkled with a few extra guitar notes on top of the "Hopeful Timean" music, and it too finishes with a slightly different ending. But to hear how similar these 'different' versions are really makes one wonder 'Who did what - and where?' - As for myself, I can only answer that with 'Somebody got them credits wrong - right there...'

But of course (and likely) I could wrong - I'm easily distracted. For example, in my last post I now think I might be off concerning the first Shutov Bonus track - I'm thinking it probably dates after 1988, maybe much after - and track 6 "Prague" might even be earlier than Wrong Way Up.

At this point, I'm not even sure if Brian would know...

--- Any how - just sayin'

 

[- I’ll give you 108 seconds to read this entire post -]

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[start now]

However...

With its somewhat fairly defined time range (and track-by-track analysis provided above) the Shutov Bonus Material does help to shed some light on other releases that are lacking in documentation. For example, with the Shutov Bonus tracks "Eastern Cities" and "Big Slow Arabs" we can extrapolate that the tracks found in Curiosities I & II which are in the same, or similar, direction are probably from around the same time period - and possibly 'outtakes' from the albums released during that time frame.

To me - it sounds like some of these might be ...

relating to "Eastern Cities" (circa '89/'90 or so):
––– "Swept" [Curiosities Volume II - track 10]
and maybe even:
––– "Fields of Ice" [Curiosities Volume II - track 11]

relating to "Big Slow Arabs" (circa '91/'92):
––– "Ambient Savage" [Curiosities Volume I - track 3]
and maybe even:
––– "War Fetish" [Curiosities Volume I - track 14]
––– "Fat Nude Dance" [Curiosities Volume II - track 5]


Side Notes:
Volume I of Curiosities also contain 2 extended tracks:

–– "Late Evening In Jersey" [track 9 - 4:38] from the movie Heat (1995)
A shorter edit of this track appears on The Drop under the title "Hazard" (2:15)

–– "Slow Lump With Strings" [track 10 - 4:55]
A shorter edit of this track appears on 77 Million under the title "Luxor Night Car" (2:52) - does anyone know if this is also from the movie Heat???

I’d give both these tracks a date of 1995 - the same as “Force Marker” and the 'A Year' diary (this includes the French EP).

__________________________

What I find much more dramatic is what the Shutov Bonus tracks “Storm” and “Rendition” reveal - something of a revelation. As it defines the time period that the Headcandy music was created: 3 or 4 years before they first appeared - meaning it is not a contemporary of “Force Marker” and the 'A Year' diary with its French EP.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Headcandy
-the people
and names

A plate of worms
Mixed With a Big
Can of Spaghetti

Headcandy CD-Rom :
Brian Eno - Headcandy

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

As mentioned above (in previous post), "Storm" and "Rendition" both saw their first official release, under different titles in 1994, on the CD-Rom called Headcandy.

Headcandy consists of 5 music tracks by Brian (with 2 of them co-written by Fripp):

1 - Castro Haze
2 - Manila Envelope
3 - Spunk Worship
4 - Beast
5 - Alloy Balcony & Jets Overhead


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Hold on to your seat belts!
This gets more confusing than daytime TV:

Again, as mentioned above - two tracks from Headcandy later appeared in the collection Curiosities I: "Castro Haze" and "Manila Envelope (with Robert Fripp)" - Those being released on Curiosities I made it clear that...

– "Castro Haze" is actually Track 4, and on Headcandy it is mistakenly called "Beast"

– "Manila Envelope" is actually Track 5, and on Headcandy it is mistakenly called "Alloy Balcony & Jets Overhead"

1 - Castro Haze < wrong title / This is not 'Castro Haze'
2 - Manila Envelope < wrong title / This is not 'Manila Envelope'
3 - Spunk Worship
4 - Beast < This is actually 'Castro Haze'
5 - Alloy Balcony & Jets Overhead < This is actually 'Manila Envelope'

Notice how BOTH of those tracks are actually located 3 places past where they're listed. IF this mistake is consistent throughout the track listing, and every track is actually located 3 places beyond where their titles appear, then we can simply move the whole list (down) by 3 places, loop around (cycling back to top to facilitate the pattern of movement), to find the 'correct' titles for each track.

Here's how that method would 'correct' the Headcandy listing (Important: credits are moved with the titles that they were originally associated with)...

Track 1
(Headcandy title: "Castro Haze")
Corrected title and credits would be:
"Spunk Worship"
–– drums: Richard Bailey

Track 2
(Headcandy title: "Manila Envelope")
Corrected title and credits would be:
"Beast"
–– guitar and co-written by: Robert Fripp

Track 3
(Headcandy title: "Spunk Worship")
Corrected title and credits would be:
"Alloy Balcony & Jets Overhead"

Track 4
(Headcandy title: "Beast")
Here the correct title and credits are:
"Castro Haze"
–– drums: Richard Bailey

Track 5
(Headcandy title: "Alloy Balcony & Jets Overhead")
Here the correct title and credits are:
"Manila Envelope"
–– guitar ('Trumpet Guitar'), co-written by: Robert Fripp
–– percussion: Geoffrey Oryema


IF the above holds true, then the version of “Rendition” on Headcandy would be called “Spunk Workshop” with Richard Bailey on drums. And I do believe I got it right. Give a listen to track 2: the track now called “Beast” with Robert Fripp on guitar - compare it to the guitar work of the Fripp & Eno tracks found on Beyond Even. I think you’ll agree / you’ll think I got it right…

AND Best of all:
With the 2 Headcandy tracks included in the Shutov Bonus, we know that the Headcandy tracks can now be considered My Squelchy Life outtakes - from circa ‘90/’91. This makes sense too - because past ‘91 and these might have been included on Beyond Even, a collection of Fripp & Eno work from 1992 to 2006.

Then, before '90, you have the great transition. The 1989 album Textures marks the last appearence of an Brian Eno & Daniel Lanois collaboration on an Eno release...

__________________________

Any who - Thx guys...

I've some more here on my end / but I'm trying to aviod overload. So pop up a word or two in a post - let me know I didn't put you all to sleep.

Raf - I think your laundry is done ...

[TIME]

 

Oh - wait!

I forgot something….
- One more thing before I go on vacation.

[ OK guys - hit the snooze button ]

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The People !

Those Headcandy tracks that appeared in Shutov Bonus also help to place Headcandy’s credits in a new context - and the credits help to cement the dates in which the tracks were created. As before “Rendition” and “Storm” appeared in the Shutov Bonus, it looked as if on Headcandy Brian was working with Richard Bailey and Geoffrey Oryema round 1994 (But now Shutov Bonus made it clear that the Headcandy material dated from several years earlier).

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

- Richard Bailey
Other than the Headcandy tracks (this would include “Rendition”), Brian only worked with Richard Bailey on a handful of tracks that appear on My Squelchy Life and Nerve Net. So it is possible that all tracks which feature Richard Bailey on drums were generated during one session - But more likely his drumming input had been recorded over a few sessions (within a very narrow time frame). Off the bat, I can't find where they worked together on anything else. Perhaps unaccredited on some other tracks that appear on the Curiosities collections.

So this, as well, seems to confirm that the Headcandy tracks are from circa ‘90/’91 - probably ‘90.

READERS: Please point me to anything else in which Bailey may have worked with Brian.


- Geoffrey Oryema
Chances are good that Geoffrey Oryema's percussion contribution on "Manila Envelope" took place while Brian was helping him with his first album - back in 1990. Geoffrey Oryema's first album is called Exile - and was published in part by Opal Music - for track 2, Brian is credited as the a producer - and with co-writing, keyboards, piano, and backing vocals. Backing vocal credits are also given to Brian for tracks 1 and 6. Peter Gabriel gets backing vocal credit for track 2 and organ ('Fake Organ') for track 4.


- Robert Fripp
There are several tracks with Fripp on My Squelchy Life and Nerve Net - and even some with both Fripp and Bailey. These tracks are the first Fripp & Eno tracks released on Eno albums since the 1970’s. It seems during the ‘80s Daniel Lanois was Brian’s ‘go to’ guitarist.

Other than Headcandy, Curiosities, and Shutov Bonus, the "Storm"/"Manila Envelope" track has appeared in a few other places: The Glitterbug Soundtrack (1994) has a short, very different, version (without Fripp) - where Brian takes lead on keyboards. That version, being so bare bones, in my collection, I like to call it "Vanilla Envelope"

"Storm"/"Manila Envelope" also makes several mutated appearances on albums by the Russian band 'New Composers'. I believe the New Composers gave the track the 'Jah Treatment' - That's what I call it when people remix/overdub/treat/etc. Brian's music without Brian's direct involvement - as Jah Wobble did on the album Spinner - where he utilized, remixed and mutated the music from the Glitterbug Soundtrack - with Brian’s blessing, but without any of Brian’s involvement in the process.

The New Composers released a few albums that mix and mutate a butt-load of Eno music (some pretty interesting stuff too). They even made a remix of "Francisco" (from The Shutov Assembly). And Brian's 77 Million has a track from the New Composers Smart album: "La-La-La" - on 77 Million it's titled "Targa Summer" and fades into "Manila Envelope" right as the track is fading out - meaning “Manila Envelope” also fades out very shortly after it fades in - kinda odd…

 

Yes, I do think you got it right. I got the idea some years ago from a comment on Discogs that there was some confusion about the titling of the Headcandy tracks, but I never looked into it myself. Thanks for doing all this work.

 

Came cross the following:
Brian Eno is MORE DARK THAN SHARK
OPAL Information - NUMBER 26, 1995
(Page 14)

PS1: ION has just released a CD-ROM entitled Headcandy, with unreleased music by Brian, some of which originated at the time of the Eno/Fripp collaboration two years ago.
​

Hmmm...
Headcandy: 1995 - with music by Eno/Fripp from two years earlier -- that'd be 1993.

So who should we believe - Brian or En0?



The notice continues with:

Brian asked that the CD-ROM be stickered "The first totally non-interactive CD-ROM" because in fact the user has no input whatsoever!​

 

Great detective work in this thread, but as a footnote we should note that the "period" of The Shutov Assembly tracks themselves is a bit murky anyway, since at least one track ('Lanzarote') dates back at least as far as 1986, when it was released under the title 'Glint (East of Woodbridge)' on a flexidisc issued with Artforum. That leaves a lot of wiggle room for the bonus tracks!

 

Summer of Malcontent / Great to haer from you...
AND Absolutely:
- The reason why I made mention that...

the [original] Shutov Assembly notes that the tracks were recorded between 1985 and 1990​

- along with...

regarding the Shutov Bonus Material ('recordings from the same period' as the Assembly). Given the nature of some of these bonus tracks, I can only assume that might mean [that the phrase] "same period" ALSO refers to the period while the Shutov Assembly was being compiled: AFTER the Shutov recordings were made (1985 to 1990), and on up to the point that Shutov was released (November 1992) / maybe even a little beyond that - who knows.

​

 

Mea Culpa
My mistake(s)
A.K.A. "Oops"

My 'correction' to the Headcandy track list seem to be wrong - at least for 2 tracks...

Track 3 / on Headcandy has the title "Spunk Worship" seems to be correct - as I gave a closer listen, and sure enough, that's gotta be Richard Bailey playing drums...

That would mean track 1 is "Alloy Balcony & Jets Overhead"

Sorry 'bout the confusion, BUT I'm pretty darn sure now that the correct track listing for Headcandy would be:

Track 1 - Alloy Balcony & Jets Overhead

Track 2 - Beast
–– guitar and co-written by: Robert Fripp

Track 3 - Spunk Worship
–– drums: Richard Bailey

Track 4 - Castro Haze
–– drums: Richard Bailey

Track 5 - Manila Envelope
–– guitar ('Trumpet Guitar'), co-written by: Robert Fripp
–– percussion: Geoffrey Oryema

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Also I gave a closer listen to, and inspection into, the quality of the bootleg 'Shutov Demos and Unreleased Tracks' - Sad but at best I'd rate its quality a B- / That's "at best" - overall i'd give it a C or C-

_____________________

Finally - I actually was just having fun with the post where I quoted the Headcandy announcement - I had a hidden agenda - I was hoping Eno-Heads would find the article that directly proceeds that announcement - I found it fascinating (times 3!!!):

Starts here...
http://www.moredarkthanshark.org/images/feature_opal26_8.jpg

Issue Index (again)...
Brian Eno is MORE DARK THAN SHARK