Headcandy is much better than I expected! I recognise Manilla and Castro from Curiosities 1 but they are different lengths and mixes. The Headcandy version of Castro is great, it has voices and other environmental sounds low in the mix which are very atmospheric.
For some reason, the alternate cover you posted shows up on my iPad but not on my PC. It's actually the cover art of the CD itself. These are from Discogs: Thanks for starting such an enjoyable thread (and keeping it going!). I've learned a lot.
Last week I took a red-eye flight across the country and put Neroli on repeat throughout the flight. I’ve never been a huge fan of that album, but I must say that the experience of fading in and out of liminal airline sleep throughout the night with Neroli droning on all the while was a memorable experience.
It'd be interesting to hear what Eno thinks of the music on Headcandy, as it was the whole package (visuals / CD Rom technology) that he didn't like. I rather like these tracks - they are busier and noisier than much of the other music he was making around this time and the addition of Fripp always bumps the quality up a notch.
I may try this. I have some flights coming up, including a night flight. (Note: may delay the thread a bit like last time.)
Headcandy - I like this one quite a bit, and there are times when it reminds me of Mitchell Froom's Dopamine album with all the rapid fire, percussion-centric jams, particularly Castro Haze in its free form freakout glory. Many of these tracks have a "made in the garage" feel, which isn't to say amateurish or less professional, but just less concerned with sounding just right, letting the notes fall where they will, and only casually attempting to sweep up the loose bits. Some of these beats are definitely of the 90s, particularly Spunk Worship, in the best possible sense, but much of it is of its own time, space, and element. A definite lost gem.
There's also a 5.02 edit (the hit single version!) released on a 1993 Gyroscope label sampler and collected on the Sonora Portraits CD. I think it also popped its head up on Textures. I really like it. It's pretty, boring and works brilliantly as ambient music. A tried and true insomnia remedy, and if you've ever needed one of them, you'll know how valuable that can be. I think it works really well for me because it's warm, rather than chilly (as I feel Thursday Afternoon is).
I bought Headcandy when it came out (because Eno), even though I didn't have a computer that could play it. I managed to view it on a computer at my wife's work and "underwhelming" doesn't convey how naff it was. It was a teeny square of dull "trippy" animation that you had to watch in a completely dark room wearing stupid cardboard glasses that would kaleidoscopically multiply the crappy animation to fill your field of vision (think: the cover of Piper at the Gates of Dawn but really blurry). It's no wonder Eno was shocked and appalled when he saw the finished product. The music, however, is great, and deserves a proper release. The good news is that the sound files, in their own little folder, are still accessible on the ancient CD-ROM.
Headcandy Unfortunately I have digitally mislaid the copy of Headcandy's music that I had. I know I had one, but ... where? Listening to the tracks I do have access to, I think it's good music, particularly since there are beats. It makes a good change from Shutov Assembly type work back towards Nerve Net a bit. The visuals are quite engaging, but I'm watching them in a small video window. I note Eno's disappointment above that the window was small - the power of computers back then would likely not allow a bigger graphic screen. I'm not sure that Video Swamp Found Object is by Brian at all. It doesn't sound like him in the least. To keep the thread moving I will stop here. When/if I find my copy of Headcandy, I hope to write more in a rest/catch-up day.
Thanks for the discussion everybody. Today, for one day only, we cover Wah Wah by James and Brian Eno. At least, the UK CD that I bought at the time credited it to James and Eno. I see that the Eno co-credit was not universal and seems to have dropped. Oh well, maybe we shouldn't have covered it except in a catch-up day, but it's too late now YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_niWQPsL3ehe9CFgTnyER1yrYbTMOxNWIA Spotify: Wah Wah Wikipedia link: Wah Wah (album) - Wikipedia Discogs link: James / Eno - Wah Wah Track listing (from Discogs): 1 Hammer Strings 2:12 2 Pressure's On 4:27 3 Jam J 3:34 4 Frequency Dip 3:35 5 Lay The Law Down 0:58 6 Burn The Cat 6:50 7 Maria 4:03 8 Low Clouds 0:33 9 Building A Fire 2:43 10 Gospel Oak 2:48 11 DVV 1:05 12 Say Say Something 5:42 13 Rhythmic Dreams 2:35 14 Dead Man 0:58 15 Rain Whistling 2:45 16 Basic Brian 5:30 17 Low Clouds 0:16 18 Bottom Of The Well 3:16 19 Honest Joe 4:39 20 Arabic Agony 3:57 21 Tomorrow 2:29 22 Laughter 0:31 23 Sayonara 2:41 Credits: All songs written and performed by James and Brian Eno. This album was recorded at the same time as their previous Eno produced album Laid. There are no real credits for Wah Wah, but here are most of the credits for Laid which are probably somewhere in the ballpark. The backing tracks were apparently assembled by Eno from jams, and then Tim Booth would record vocals over the top. Tim Booth – vocals Larry Gott – guitar, additional vocals (track 1) Mark Hunter – keys Jim Glennie – bass Saul Davies – violin, guitar David Baynton-Power – drums Brian Eno – additional bass, keyboards, additional vocals Here is a description of how the album came to be, from Wikipedia. More comments from Eno on the album are availiable here: Eno on James Brian Eno observed the band's jam sessions during the rehearsals, calling them "extraordinary pieces of music appearing out of nowhere".[9] He considered these pieces of "raw material" to be as much a part of the band's work as the songs that would have eventually grown out of them.[8] Thus, he suggested to the band that in addition to recording Laid, he would also record and produce the band's jam sessions during the same sessions for a separate album, so that the band would be recording two albums concurrently: Laid, the album of "structured" songs, and Wah Wah, the album of improvisations. Speaking about the idea, Eno commented in July 1993: "Improvisations are almost always the seeds for James' songs. Before we started our formal recording sessions for what became the Laid album, I spent some days working with the band in their rehearsal room in Manchester, seeing extraordinary pieces of music appearing out of nowhere. It occurred to me that this raw material was, in its own chaotic and perilous way, as much a part of their work as the songs that would finally grow out of it. The music was always on the edge of breakdown, held together by taut threads, semi-formed, evolving, full of beautiful, unrepeatable collisions and exotic collusions. I suggested that, instead of working on just one record (the 'song' record, for which we'd already agreed a very tight schedule) we find two studios next to each other and develop two albums concurrently - one of structured songs, and the other of these improvisations. It seemed pretty ambitious at the time, but we decided to aim for it."[9]
Wah Wah It's not bad and I like jams and improvisations when well done, but 70 minutes is too long to keep me interested. Needless to say, I didn't listen to the end.
I think one’s opinion of Wah Wah will be determined by whether or not you love the band James. Personally I love them and find the parent album, Laid, to be a masterpiece. And there’s lots of Brian on backing vocals and additional instruments on Laid too. Wah Wah is more experimental and unfinished sounding. And as such it’s a fascinating look at James’ working methods of jamming and playing until songs begin to emerge. Eno has embellished the jams that never made it as far as Laid and with the band has turned some into stonking little songs. Tomorrow is just superb, as is Jam J, Honest Joe and the wonderful Building A Fire. Many of the pieces are little more than atmospheric fragments but Tim Booth’s lovely vocals bind the whole thing together. It’s a terrific album, albeit one that doesn’t get as much playing time as perhaps it deserves.
Wah Wah - I've not heard this one in awhile, or often to be honest, and haven't had a chance to update my ears for this post; but traditionally I like this album well enough as a passive but not directly engaged listen. I'm typically not keen on jams anyway, and while Eno's involvement makes it more interesting, it doesn't necessarily save the day. However, as @richard a pointed out, this is a nice glimpse at seeing a great band hashing out an album, and the songs he mentioned are excellent gems "in the rough." Laid is absolutely a top album of the 90s, worth the cost of purchase for Sometimes alone, and it's interesting to surmise that Wah Wah could have been fleshed out and honed down into an album of equal quality. Though that being said, from an "artistic statement" standpoint, it's nice to have the juxtaposition of both albums culled from the same source.
For the completist, 'Jam J' was also released as a single, with an epic Sabres of Paradise remix (that runs more than half an hour), and as others have noted, Eno also makes substantial contributions to other James songs he produced during this period, up to and including writing credits on a few. I always found James a bit boring - not as boring as U2 or Coldplay, but what is? - but I don't mind Laid and find Wah Wah a good listen if you take it on its own terms as a collection of interesting fragments interspersed with some pretty good songs.
Wah Wah I did buy this when it came out, but it's one of the many albums in my collection that was bought and not played a lot. I don't know James well, and don't know if I have any other James albums. So, this album is my complete knowledge of James. It's interesting that the band is a bit cheesed that people think that they were 'doing a U2' with this album, with the comparison being Zooropa. Even though Wah Wah was recorded first. Instrumentally there is quite a bit here which makes for interesting music. And there are quite a few sonic touches which remind me of U2 music produced by Brian. E.g. JamJ could be a U2 song, with the distorted bass and snare drum sound reminding me of Achtung Baby. Because I don't know James that well, this album perhaps doesn't make the impression on me that it will on others more familiar with their oeuvre. I'm not hearing songs that really stand out here. They are pretty much from a formula. That's not a bad thing as it gives the album a consistent style. I suppose that something like 'Building a Fire' or 'Rhythmic Dreams' or 'Tomorrow' are more conventional than other tracks, and more acoustic sounding, but to me the album tends to merge into one. Not in a bad way. It's an album with a consistent style. I enjoy listening to the album, but like some other albums such as Today's Original Soundtracks 1, it's not the kind of thing I'm likely to listen to often. Not because there's anything wrong with it, but because I don't know James so well. There's just too much music out there to keep up with.
Thanks for the discussion everyone. Today's album is Original Soundtracks 1 by Passengers. We will discuss this in one day. Tomorrow we will move onto Spinner. As I think everyone knows, 'Passengers' is the name of the unit which is U2 + Brian Eno. Spotify link: Original Soundtracks 1 YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDNE7Ffytwc234sM6lKyDj4OP4VW5KvcJ Discogs link: Passengers - Original Soundtracks 1 Wikipedia: Original Soundtracks 1 - Wikipedia Track listing (from Discogs): All tracks written by Passengers except 'Ito Okashi' by Passengers and Holi, and 'Elvis Ate America' by Passengers and Howie B. 1. United Colours 5:31 2. Slug 4:41 3. Your Blue Room 5:28 4. Always Forever Now 6:24 5. A Different Kind Of Blue 2:02 6. Beach Sequence 3:25 7. Miss Sarajevo 5:41 8. Ito Okashi 3:25 9. One Minute Warning 4:40 10. Corpse (These Chains Are Way Too Long) 3:35 11. Elvis Ate America 2:59 12. Plot 180 3:41 13. Theme From The Swan 3:24 14. Theme From Let's Go Native 3:07 The concept is that this is a 'music for films' album and all songs are supposedly from films. However, all except three of the films listed are made up films. The list of films is on the Wikipedia page. Credits (from Wikipedia): Passengers Bono – vocals, additional guitar, piano on "Beach Sequence" Adam Clayton – bass guitar, additional guitar on "Your Blue Room", percussion, narration on "Your Blue Room" The Edge – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Corpse," church organ on "Your Blue Room" Brian Eno – strategies, sequencers, keyboards, backing vocals, guitar, treatments, mixing, chorus voices, vocals on "A Different Kind of Blue", production Larry Mullen Jr. – drums, percussion, rhythm sequence on "One Minute Warning," rhythm synthesizer on "United Colours" Additional personnel Luciano Pavarotti – tenor voice on "Miss Sarajevo" Holi – vocals on "Ito Okashi," voices on "One Minute Warning" Howie B – mixing, treatments, scratching, and rhythm track on "Elvis Ate America" Craig Armstrong – string arrangement on "Miss Sarajevo" Paul Barrett – string arrangement on "Always Forever Now" Des Broadbery – sequencer on "Always Forever Now" David Herbert – saxophone on "United Colours" and "Corpse" Holger Zschenderlein – additional synthesizer on "One Minute Warning" The following two videos are from the interview disc that accompanied the original release. (Not the CD that I have.) Part 1: Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_qUi7KO2QE
The track 'A Different Kind of Blue' features a Brian Eno lead vocal - and is the only track Eno sings the lead on.
I bought the Passengers album having read A Year With Swollen Appendixes, which gave me the impression that it would be awesome. The album didn't live up to Eno's hype.
I will listen to Passengers more. But, my memory of it is that it's a bit boring. The listens I've given to it reveal it as more interesting than I thought. But, still not that exciting. Zooropa is much better. I'm hoping that a big fan of the album will come back and tell us doubters what is what! You can just listen to 'A Different Kind of Blue' with the Eno vocal. And look forward to Another Day on Earth.
As a big U2 fan, and a big Eno fan, I think I like this album more than most. First of all, killer album cover also very nice liner notes, I love the descriptions of all of the made up movies. I think the last 4 tracks (Elvis Ate America, plot 180, Theme from the Swan, and to a lesser extent Let’s Go Native) are the throwaway tracks here… not bad just not special imo…which still leaves 10 good ones Always Forever Now and United Colors are similar to me, both giving driving but ultimately upbeat and shiny beat driven music with atmospheric layers. Slug is in this vein as well (and my favorite of these three songs) and I love how the languid vocals melt into the rest of the track. Your Blue Room and Miss Sarajevo are the two obvious stars of the album, both being haunting yet gorgeous tracks that provide a fairly reflective and meditative space for the listener. Great lyrics for both as well…somewhat opaque yet specific enough to draw you in. Corpse and One Minute Warning are both haunting as well, but in a darker way…when those vocals kick in at the end of One Minute Warning…wowie, I want an album full of that (and that’s what I hoped we would get during the days when U2’s ‘Songs of Ascent’ album was rumored…ah well) And let’s talk about Beach Sequence! Just a perfect slice of atmospheric nostalgia, for me at least. Really captures the vibe of being a child or teenager and driving home after a summer afternoon of being at the beach or playing in the woods. The one lyric (“time shoots on by”) really drives the nostalgic feeling deep. so yeah, I listen to this album quite a lot
Passengers - I was a senior in college when this came out and I remember it being a fairly big deal. Part of that was MTV hype, etc, but part of it was a friend of mine who was a bigger U2 fan than anyone with reasonable common sense should be. The guy had close to 100 CDs of not only the proper albums, but all the singles and bootlegs of various shows and even the mixing board writing sessions from Achtung Baby, which I want to say was seven discs. Exhausting. As for myself, this is the last thing U2 related that I have any interest in, when I had absolutely had it with Bono before the dreadful clunker that is Pop, and I gave up forever. This interest was passing at best at the time, but when I got more into Eno after college, I naturally picked it up as part of my collection. Overall, I think it's pretty good yet striving to be really great. There are moments where this hodgepodge collection can certainly tease to those heights, and all of those are vocal tracks, particularly Slug, Your Blue Room, Beach Sequence, and Miss Sarajevo. The latter I remember getting a lot of play and rah rah because Pavarotti sang on it, and I recall playing it for my father (Pavarotti was his favorite opera singer) and he said, "That's enough." Listening to that song in recent years, it's a bit cringe and yet in an agreeable way, as it has nice pop sensibilities and quite a lovely melody. Much like Wrong Way Up, this is an album I somehow feel obligated to listen to and like because of those involved. Typically, those listens have found me drifting off and not much paying attention, but today for the first time, much of this album grabbed me in a more positive way. As a U2 album, smack dab in the middle of their electro-pop years, the best songs are on par with side two of Zooropa, possibly even better, and there's an even confidence (pomposity) in the performances that make them enjoyable if not a bit self-indulgent (to summarize Larry Mullen Jr's thoughts on things). As an Eno album, it's pretty standard fair, not necessarily by the numbers, but I'd say playing it safe for overall commercial appeal. For Eno fans this was probably a shrug off, and for U2 fans, the ones I knew, they tried to get it but failed. Part of me wants to say that ultimately, that's what this album is...a fail...but only because it was trying to be bigger than it is. Approached on its own merit, it's...pretty good.
The Passengers album never did anything for me. It just seemed like another instance of U2 trying to buy some of the artsy cred they couldn't come by honestly. * As with almost every Eno album of the period, there are related non-album tracks to hoover up: the 'Miss Sarajevo' single has: Miss Sarajevo (Single Version) One (Live from Modena) Bottoms (Watashitachi No Ookina Yume) (Zoo Station Remix) Viva Davidoff A Pavarotti & Friends live album, For the Children of Bosnia has: Miss Sarajevo (Live) – featuring Brian Eno, Bono & the Edge The Million Dollar Hotel soundtrack features several tunes by The MDH Band, which is kind of like Passengers' nephew (i.e. U2-curious soundtrack music). Eno and Bono were members of the band, and one of the tracks, 'Bathtub', is a solo Eno original.) * One of my favourite examples, probably totally apocryphal, comes from the early 90s when U2 were desperately trying to get the most critically acclaimed bands in the world to open for them. So they signed up, as I recall, Public Enemy, Pixies, The Fatima Mansions, and the briefly reformed Velvet Underground. The story goes that they also attempted to coax Captain Beefheart out of retirement, and his rejection letter began: "Dear Bongo. . ."
