Ali Click - The soundtrack of cool. This one could go on twice as long and that would be dandy. Everything here fits perfectly, particularly that guitar interplay. This album certainly gets better and better as it goes deeper.
This track works better for me than the other up tempo numbers on NerveNet, maybe because Eno roped in a hip young gunslinger to program the drums. The lyrics seem to be little more than a tongue-twister (again).
Ali Click. Nice groove with some cool and simple riffing. Eno's vocal is rhythmically sloppy which turns me off - a nice idea that needed a few more takes to get in the pocket IMO. West-Oram's guitar playing is great.
I was going to wait until the end to look, but I'll see if I can find them now. (well, that was easy) I spread the releases over a few years and incorporated other tracks released at the time. It ends up as two vocal albums and one instrumental one. I used various alternative mixes on imaginary singles and promos. MY SQUELCHY LIFE (11/91) Side One: MY SQUELCHY LIFE I FALL UP NOT TO FALL IN THE HARNESS SOME WORDS STIFF Side Two UNDER TUTTI FORGETTI EVERYBODY’S MOTHER OVER Singles: I FALL UP (SINGLE VERSION - shorter version from Vocal box set) / UNDER (SINGLE VERSION - alternate mix from Vocal box set) 7” I FALL UP (EXTENDED VERSION - longer version from Ali Click single) / MY SQUELCHY LIFE (REMIX - from Nerve Net) / UNDER (SINGLE VERSION) / I FALL UP (SQUELCHY INSTRUMENTAL - from Glitterbug soundtrack) 12” / CD NOT TO FALL IN THE HARNESS (EDIT - shorter version from Trademark of Quality promo CD, mistakenly called 'Tutti Forgetti') PROMO CD NERVE NET (2/93) Side One: WIRE SHOCK SMALL COUNTRY (= 'Fractal Zoom (A Cappella)') FRACTAL ZOOM RAPID EYE (from My Squelchy Life LP) Side Two: ALI CLICK WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED? THE ROIL, THE CHOKE ARE THEY THINKING OF ME? (from Vocal box) ALI CLICK (SINGLE EDIT) / FRACTAL ZOOM (SEPARATE TIME MIX) 7” ALI CLICK (RURAL ‘DOO GAP’ MIX) / FRACTAL ZOOM (SMALL COUNTRY) 12” ALI CLICK (TRANCE MIX BY THE GRID) / FRACTAL ZOOM (LANDED MIX BY MOBY) REMIX 12” ALI CLICK (ALBUM VERSION) / FRACTAL ZOOM (SEPARATE TIME MIX) / ALI CLICK (TRANCE MIX) / ALI CLICK (BEIRUT HILTON MIX) CD THE WEB (6/94) Side One: WEB I (= 'Web') RADIOTHESIA (from Future Perfect) JUJU SPACE JAZZ STRAVINSKY (from Future Perfect) DISTANT HILL (from Future Perfect) Side Two: DECENTRE DISTRIBUTED BEING WEB II (= 'Web (Lascaux Mix)') THE WEB US PROMO CD: JUJU SPACE JAZZ (ALTERNATE MIX - from My Squelchy Life) DISTRIBUTED BEING PIERRE IN MIST (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED - from Nerve Net) THE WEB (SINGLE MIX - my own edit)
Ali Click is one of my favourite Eno tracks, and it's got a great, kaleidoscopic video (co-directed by Eno): According to an interview at the time, the title refers to the trademark "click" that you can hear in the bassline throughout the song, which Eno credited to a particular funk bassist named Ali. As I recall, Eno referenced Isaac Hayes records, but I can't find anybody with that name credited on the obvious albums. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe he's wrong, maybe he meant Jimmie Ali, who played with Parliament / Funkadelic? Any ideas?
My best guess - which might well be totally wrong - is the bassist Amin Ali, who plays on James Blood Ulmer's albums Are You Glad To Be in America, Free Lancing and Black Rock. I'm most familiar with the first of these, which has a rather clicky/trebly slap bass sound. Those albums are from between 1980-82 and Ulmer may have been NY-based at a time when Eno was there too.
Ali Click This is my favourite track on the album. There are multiple people contributing to it, and I think they all do a great job. I don't object to the looseness of Brian's vocal - he's not a rapper and I don't expect rhythmic perfection. For me it adds to the charm. The beats and the sounds used (including quite possible processing) work well. Brian's bass (synth?) is simple but fits the beat very well, as do the synth sounds. But, I think the best instrumental part of this track are the guitars. Again, it's not necessary just James West-Oram who makes the track - there are echoes and other processing. I like both the rhythm guitars which start off being a minor (but very good) element of the track and then the lead guitar comes in. It's not a virtuoso performance, but it just suits the rest of the track to a T. Then we get a different track. Without James West-Oram, I think this track would still be good and would have gone in a different and possibly equally good direction. But, with what we have here, it's quite a bit about the guitar for me. The only Fixx track I know is 'One Thing Leads To Another'. Perhaps I need to check them out more.
Thanks for the discussion everyone. Today's track is Disturbed Being. Written by Brian Eno. Spotify link: Disturbed Being Personnel (from Wikipedia): Bass, Voice, Organ [Thick], Synthesizer, Mixed By – BE* Congas – Isaac Osapanin Drums – Richard Bailey Guitar [Solo] – Robert Fripp (recognisable) Piano – John Paul Jones There is voice here, but it seems that there either aren't lyrics, or nobody has worked them out. Again, and I think this will happen more for later eras of Eno, there isn't really much else that I have to add. Isaac Osapanin has played with Ginger Baker and Friends and the band Kabbala with his brother Michael.
A pretty loose jam... from Eno? I think he was singing the praises of Miles Davis' electric albums around this time. Fripp channeling Pete Cosey and Reggie Lucas there.
"Disturbed Being" Wow! This sounds indeed like some early 70s electronic jazz a la Miles minus the trumpet. And just when you think halfway through it that it should end, there comes Fripp. First tentatively and then at the 4 minute mark with a classic Fripp guitar freak out! Very cool track.
There's a typo up above - this track is called Distributed Being. An interesting floaty bit of jamming here. Everything seems like we're in a foggy ether. The Miles comparison is apt. Then all of a sudden someone un-presses the mute button and a torrent of Fripp blasts out, possibly his most unhinged playing ever recorded(!). I must admit that more than once I put this track on eagerly awaiting that moment.
Distributed Being - Boy, when Fripp enters the room... Miles is definitely in the air with all his casual coolness. The loose take makes this one more readily accessible, it's played for enjoyment and so heard that way, but I really like the unpredictability of Fripp's solo. It's jarring and immediate like a car crash and then goes along its business, letting the loose groove calm you back down. Rather brilliant.
I think Eno mentions Get Up With It, or maybe just the track He Loved Him Madly, in the sleeve notes to On Land. Great to hear John Paul Jones calling the children home on piano. I didn't realise he was on here until coming back to Nerve Net for this thread.
Distributed Being First, the typo up above is also present in Brian's official YouTube channel. I think that is what influenced me to make a mistake in the title. This is yet more interesting music. Robert Fripp is very recognisable after his unrecognisable or subliminal appearances elsewhere. Brian has assembled a group of great musicians to make this track. And all play their part very well. The conga and drums make for an impressive rhythm track, and everything else fits together well. And on topic, Robert Fripp is definitely given his head to do his thing. I hear elements more like what I think of as modern King Crimson playing, and other bits that hark back to (No Pussyfooting) and other ambient works. The vocal parts are also distinctive and add to the overall feel of something a bit freaky, but accessible. Cracking! I'm not sure I'd like a whole album like this, but that's not a problem as we have a diverse album here in Nerve Net.
Thanks for the discussion everyone. Today's track is Web. Written by Brian Eno. Spotify link: Web Personnel (from Discogs): Drums – Richard Bailey Effects [Treatments] – Markus Draws* Guitar [Conga] – Robert Ahwai Guitar [Solo] – Robert Fripp Guitar [Sour Chord] – Gregg Arreguin Piano [Samples] – Roger Eno Synthesizer, Effects [Treatments] – BE* We have followed the 1992 vinyl track listing, and not the CD. (Which is what everyone seems to have). The main differences between the vinyl track listing and the CD is the different position of 'Decentre', and the lack of the 'Lascaux Mix; of Web on the vinyl. It seems to make sense to cover the 'Lascaux Mix' today, so here it is: https://youtu.be/65d0k0sm0Ts Personnel is the same. Tomorrow we can cover Nerve Net the album. We then have a rest/catch-up day, and it's straight back into the juju space jazz with My Squelchy Life. Spotify link: Web (Lascaux Mix)
"Web" & "Web (Lascaux Mix)" the two "Webs" present 16 minutes of fantastic drone music, of which the "Lascaux Mix" is my favorite. I particularly like the piano flurries of the first one, but much prefer Fripp's more distinctive heavy guitar work against the calmer drone of the second. Just utterly brilliant. And guess what, "Decentre" sounds much better after this than after "My Squelchy Life" on the LP. Man, I love this stuff!
Web/Web (Lascaux Mix). Web is a bit of a one trick pony for me, repeating it's material without much else going on. Lascaux Mix is much more interesting with a bit of development in it and I like it quite a bit.
Web + remix - Hmmm. The initial track ran on about four minutes too long for me. Metal Machine Music with slightly more going on. Ultimately, it felt lazy and thrown together. That said, the remix I found much more satisfying, as all the subtle little nuances that were buried in the other were more prominent, more ear catching, and the feedback was used in a much more effective way. Interestingly enough, I believe I appreciated the remix that much more having heard the other version first. Well played.
Catching up again… The two Webs are an acquired taste. For a long time I thought that both were two long, and that sequencing one after the other was foolish. But over time I’ve come to appreciate the length, it leisurely builds and stretches time. And the Lascaux mix (named after the location of the famous Neolithic cave paintings maybe) just continues the mood brilliantly. Distributed Being is superb. Mad as a box of frogs, with added Fripp going bonkers. What could be better? Ali Click - funky yet laid back. The stuttering tongue twisting rap is clever and holds your attention and the music matches perfectly. Worth mentioning the excellent remixes found on the extended single, especially the one (forget which now… sorry) with the narration ‘Brian’s mood is gradually changing’ which is taken from a sixties record purporting to detail an experiment monitoring an lsd trip. Interestingly, at the same time Steven Wilson was using the very same samples on Porcupine Tree’s epic 12” single Voyage 34. Both were issued in 1992 so I’m not sure if one was borrowing from the other or if it’s just one of those weird coincidences.
