I always rather liked the subtitle to this album - the wonderfully self-deprecating "Unreleased Works Of Startling Genius". And, to be honest the original title "The Cotswold Gnomes" is a rather good too - Not even sure what Beyond Even is supposed to mean... Anyway... musically it's more varied than The Equatorial Stars, which although I liked it, never really grabbed me in the way I would have liked. This one, a ragbag of out-takes and unfinished scraps recorded over 14 years, strangely hangs together rather well and has more going on. The final Cross Crisis In Lust Storm (and Jamsterdammer is spot on, what a title!), dates from Eno's Nerve Net sessions and is one of the most ferocious tracks he's put his name too. Fripp and Trey Gunn create a wonderful racket, which absolutely stomps away any ambient mood the preceeding tracks may have created. Fripp pulled off a similar trick in his concerts with flute / sax maestro Theo Travis. After an hour or so of calming and extremely beautiful soundscapes the pair would frequently throw in a dissonant wall of noise to wake up anyone who'd drifted off. Fripp has a very mischievous streak...
Beyond Even. Really great stuff. I agree that it's very unified for something stitched together from bits and pieces. It's mostly mood pieces so I probably don't retain much of it after the fact but I think it's very successful at what it's doing while I have it on and there's a good impression that I should listen to it more often (so why haven't I for god sakes?!). I think each of the principals keep the other in check (Fripp isn't predisposed to sappy major chord banality and Eno wouldn't stand for endless diminished and augmented scale runs). I'm not as fond of that last track though...it sounds a bit like a ProjeKCts track to me. I'm normally a fan of a loud track to disrupt things but for some reason this one doesn't work for me. I missed the conversation on Equatorial Stars - will have to give that a re-listen too.
Beyond Even I also have a very positive view of this album. I much, prefer it to some albums that have gone before such as The Shutov Assembly. I've always felt that Robert Fripp brings a lot to a collaboration, and the results are often excellent. I'll go over the tracks one by one even though as I will say down the bottom, I think the album works best considered as a single 'piece' by itself. Ringing Beat has a simple but intriguing backing, and the various elements add up to something quite accessible and enjoyable. I wouldn't call it innovative, but then I have no expectations of innovation by this time in their careers. And, to be honest, I can still appreciate music that isn't innovative. Gasp. The tracks on this album are all moderately short for Eno/Fripp, and I feel that this one is a bit short. The track sounds more Eno than Fripp to me, but I'm sure I've heard music similar to this from Fripp alone. I'm guessing there is treated guitar in there somewhere. I sort of feel it's just getting started and then it stops. Sneering Loop. Some of the song titles sound like anagrams to me. This being one example. Though, it does describe the music well. A rather angular guitar loop by Fripp, sampled or played like that, I don't know but I guess sampled. The various other elements such as near percussion (?) add up again to something interesting and involving. By this time in the album it's clear that there is contrast between the tracks, preventing the 'more of the same' problems that some other albums with multiple tracks had - and add up to a better album. This is another track that I like, but I would have appreciated a bit more development and variety within the track. But, then the album would have had fewer tracks. Tripoli 2020 Here we get a more defined drum loop - programmed or sampled I don't know. This is quite simple with the drums, simple bass line, washes of sound which might be guitar or keyboards, and a few other sounds. It's repetitive, but I don't find it boring or overly long at all. The musical/sonic development is subtle, but sufficient for my ears. There is the stop in the middle and a subtle restart. Are these two different mixes? The bass sounds a little different? This is six minutes long, but the change in the middle works for me. Behold the Child This features sampling of voices, but with a bit more subtlety than some previous uses of the technology. And, it doesn't sound all that influenced by Zoolook. Timeon Sparkles To me this is one of the more Fripp tracks, with long reverb and very musical guitar. Compared to Evening Star there is perhaps less 'simple beauty' on this album, but this track provides it. Dirt Loop And as if on cue, here is something less clearly musical. The more dissonant music here contrasting well with what has gone before. And like a lot on this album, the sounds here are simple and layered simply, and without a lot of development over the introduction of Fripp's guitar (I presume) part-way through. But, it works well. The key word for this album may be 'subtlety' and I think the delicate musical and less musical sounds here work. I also like that it's an abstract sound that keeps time here. At least until it disappears from the mix and the track changes. The Idea of Decline And here we get something more funky and rhythmically familiar, emerging from the previous track. There is a wandering generative melody here, of the type which rubbed me up the wrong way on previous albums. But, having just one instrumental part and here with repetition (has it been sampled) and contrasted with the guitar line, it works for me in context. There isn't a whole album of this, so the line itself sounds fresh and interesting in context. Like many other tracks, it's repetitive, but there is another subtle variation going on, with the guitar lines and other instruments to maintain interest. If we've had juju space jazz, is this juju space funk? Deep Indian Long I find it difficult to believe that Eno and/or Fripp didn't sequence this album for near maximum contrast. From TIoD to this much more ambient track with no noted rhythm. The musical section is again subtle and I like the weird sounds in the background. I've mentioned before that I like less musical sounds mixed into tracks, and we have just a bit of that here. Again I find this track more Fripp than Eno. Which probably means that it's more Eno thank I perceive. Hopeful Timean I wonder if this is a second excerpt from a longer piece. In any case, it's different enough to have its own identity, and in the flow of the album provides a nice semi-reprise. For me, it helps the album become more of a single piece with structure. Glass Structure. Is this juju space jazz with even more juju? In any case, I like it in the context of the album after the smoothness of 'Hopeful Timean', and again while I wouldn't want a whole album like this, this track provides interesting contrast between what is around it on the album. Voices. Again, the way the sounds work together is good. Perhaps the album is slowing down at this point (not in a bad way), but well all know what comes next. Cross Crisis in Lust Storm This title really sounds like an anagram of something else as well. This comes in with the stridently produced drum track, and this sounds the most 'King Crimson' of all the tracks here. I wonder how this track came about. I'm not surprised that it's popular, and I guess there is a strong correlation between being knowledgeable about KC and liking this track. Overall While I went over the tracks one by one, I feel that this album is more than the sum of its parts. Each track has its own identity, but the tracks work together to complement each other. While I wouldn't call this album innovative, I think it's original in that various aspects of their music have been put together that haven't quite been put together before. And, it's a very nice album overall. At no point was I bored, and at no point did I feel that something was more of the same. Even for the two 'Timean' tracks which are repeats, I interpret them as a welcome semi-repetition, which is different from what I mean by 'more of the same'. Overall I find this album enjoyable and I want to listen to it more. And, that's the general bottom line for music. I'm also likely to be reaching for my wallet.
Trey Gunn talks about recording this track in this interview with Markus Reuter, starting from 34:40: Fascinating stuff. The complete Gunn/Reuter interview series is well recommended btw. (As is this thread! Discovered it rather late and have been reading only some of it, among which some very nice and informative posts.)
I'm sorry that my travelling is still making my contributions here a bit erratic. I'm back, but overslept this morning. Today we start on the album Small Craft on a Milk Sea. By Brian Eno, Jon Hopkins, and Leo Abrahams. I'm posting late, but I think it still works to have two days for an instrumental album. Wikipedia Link: Small Craft on a Milk Sea - Wikipedia Discogs link: Brian Eno With Jon Hopkins & Leo Abrahams - Small Craft On A Milk Sea Spotify link: Small Craft On A Milk Sea YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nLeKzWp-ISWF4jWLC9GVG28aDy4h6azIk Track listing (from Wikipedia): All compositions by Brian Eno, Jon Hopkins, and Leo Abrahams. 1. "Emerald and Lime" – 3:02 2. "Complex Heaven" – 3:05 3. "Small Craft on a Milk Sea" – 1:49 4. "Flint March" – 1:56 5. "Horse" – 3:02 6. "2 Forms of Anger" – 3:15 7. "Bone Jump" – 2:22 8. "Dust Shuffle" – 1:54 9. "Paleosonic" – 4:25 10. "Slow Ice, Old Moon" – 3:25 11. "Lesser Heaven" – 3:21 12. "Calcium Needles" – 3:25 13. "Emerald and Stone" – 2:12 14. "Written, Forgotten" – 3:55 15. "Late Anthropocene" – 8:09 Personnel (from Wikipedia): Leo Abrahams – guitar, laptop, and guitaret Brian Eno – computers, electronics Jon Hopkins – piano, keyboards, electronics Additional personnel Nick Robertson – design, art direction, photography Jez Wiles – percussion on "Flint March", "Horse", "2 Forms of Anger", and "Dust Shuffle" Here's an interview with Brian by Dick Flash covering the album. Perhaps Flash speaks a bit too much, sometimes without letting Brian speak. Have a look at Eno's reaction to not being able to speak starting about 2:25. EDIT: Is this a parody? I think it is. EDIT: It seems yes. Is 'Dick Flash' (a non-de plume used by a porn actor) Brian in a wig? Brian Eno Answers Deep Questions from Music Journalist Dick Flash: The Best Eno Interview You'll See | Open Culture EDIT: Great interview segment @thegreenchild
Small Craft on a Milk Sea Another superb album. This time Eno and co. are going full-on IDM (for which probably Jon Hopkins is most to blame). Sometimes I hear Pink Floyd, sometimes The Prodigy and everything in between. Great for playing loud through headphones or while driving, " 2 Forms of Anger" being the highlight for me. While the more ambient tracks towards the end are excellent, this time I could actually have done without them and rather hear some more IDM, especially behind the wheel. But that's a small qualm about an otherwise excellent effort. I mean, just listen to "Calcium Needles" or "Written, Forgotten" for some great sounds.
Certainly better than a lot of his latter-day output. But there is something arid about this release that makes it easier to admire than to love.
Brian has discovered the ultimate deterrent to copyright infringement - send the roadies around to smash someone's bicycle up.
That interview is comedy gold. Never seen that before. Thanks for posting. As for ‘Milk Crate on a Small Sea’ (watch the interview…) I agree with ciderglider in that I too find it arid. Great description. It’s all very pleasant and well crafted but it’s lacking in character and personality. I know ambient music isn’t there to make a big statement but this, to me, is all a bit ambient by numbers. There’s nothing that really grabs me in the way Apollo does, or Airports or even Shutov. I play it once in a while and it does its thing in the background and I enjoy what I hear but there’s very little that stays with me afterwards.
Milk Crate on a Small Sea Listened to it twice today on the sundeck. It's ok, maybe OK+. I was left with the question Why? why would someone make these sounds? Why would anybody choose to listen to themon a regular basis, other than why not? I think I figured out what Eno's problem is. It's never touring, never being in the room with his audience. Locked way in his studio with his glowing panels and keyboards making bleeps and blips, he's lost touch with the energy created in the air when people and music interact.
Interestingly, this quote about the upcoming album appeared on Eno's Facebook page today: "I think putting a human in the picture makes it quite a different kind of picture. I've seen this myself, if you look at a landscape painting and there's nobody in it, you look at it in a certain way. If you put even the tiniest figure, even down in the corner, there's a single human figure, your eyes move in an entirely different way, you keep returning to that figure because what you're then looking at is a human in relationship to the world that you've created. I like creating worlds, that's what I do as an artist I think, I create sonic worlds, but now after quite a long absence of humans in those worlds, I've decided to try putting one in and seeing how the human feels in this world I've made."BrianEno.lnk.to/6music
I don’t disagree that Eno has a problem, but even in his pomp he wasn't touring, and on Small Craft he was working with other musicians. I think he just needs to get the VCS3 out of mothballs.
Small Craft on a Milk Sea I'll give a summary right away. I think this is a very nice album, but it's not incredibly innovative. The non-dance ambient music is a bit normal. It's nice, but by 2010 I think it can be classified as unadventurous and a bit safe. That isn't the criticism it might be as I don't mind artists, particularly now artists well into middle age, treading water a bit. Something like 'Emerald and Lime' could easily appear on one of Eno's earlier albums, going a long way back. Certainly it could be on one of the Cluster-ish albums. There is perhaps a touch more digital in the sound design, but it doesn't really stand out as being different. I think I could say the same for 'Complex Heaven'. The changes necessary to make this fit on the Harmonia album would be small and mostly just using older technology. But, again, it's a nice piece. The title track again. It's a nice piece of ambient music. But, there's nothing really new. For me, it's 'Flint March' where things take a step up and a step into the future. While I'm aware that there is a lot of electronic dance music out there, I'm less familiar with it. And, this is a track that does sound quite different from Eno's previous work. Of course, this is a collaborative album and it's been mentioned that perhaps Jon Hopkins is the one providing the EDM input and the track may be less new to others who have listened wider. But, it sounds new and fresh to me in context. I find this track rather short and I wish it went on longer. Fortunately we have: 'Horse' and '2 Forms of Anger'. These are excellent tracks for me. Particularly the latter. I like the rhythmic nature, but it's not a straight-foward or stereotypical rhythm. OK, there's a straight-foward drum beat on '2 Forms of Anger', but it comes in later on and there's enough going on in the rest of the track to make it work. '2 Forms of Anger' reminds me of some of Manzanera's work on 70s Eno songs, and I feel this track is an excellent combination of the old and the new. 'Bone Jump' takes things down a notch again. Again, this is reminiscent of Eno's earlier work to me - in this case perhaps The Shutov Assembly. It's OK, but I think a bit of an anticlimax compared to the way the previous three tracks build in interest. OK, there's guitar on it and I think no guitar on TSA, but the basic feel of the track sounds a lot like TSA to me. 'Dust Shuffle' brings a welcome return of the more dance music style. I like this one a lot. Again I wish it went on longer. 'Paleosonic' takes things a bit left field, with the guitars. Leo Abrahams isn't Robert Fripp, and he's not trying to be. But, this is perhaps the closest he comes. And on this track (not necessarily others), I think having Fripp on it would have improved things. This track is, I feel, more experimental (though there is perhaps lots of other music similar to this out there), but as has been said by others, I sort of more admire this track rather than enjoy it. But, it provides contrast. 'Slow Ice, Old Moon'. This sort of goes back in time to the 80s/90s (and of course the current album is from 2010, so that's a fair way back.) It's ... OK. But, I didn't hear anything new on it. 'Lesser Heaven' is again nice, but not that new. I could imagine this on Apollo, or one of the ambient albums released around then. Is it really all that different from Thursday Afternoon (but, a lot shorter). But, I enjoy listening to it. It's quality ambient music. 'Calcium Needles'. I like that this is a bit less straight-forward melodic/harmonic than other tracks on the album. I could imagine this as a short excerpt from an installation. While way back when it felt as if I had overdosed on installation music, here in context this works for me. 'Emerald and Stone'. A repeat of the previous track to my ears. I presume that there are subtle differences, but being ambient music there isn't really anything that stands out to me as different. I could go and load them both into audio software and do an A-B, but I don't feel I want to be that analytic. It's a nice track, but I'm not sure what is achieved by the reprise. Maybe if it was the last track and there was more obvious variation to top and tail the album. 'Written, Forgotten'. This is another piece of nice ambient music here. Leo's guitar is featured here more, and the effect is nice. 'Late Anthropocene'. A nice bit of ambience to end the album with. It's less melodically obvious, and there is some good (to my ear) sound design going on here. Overall Overall this album seems a bit of a mix. There are some tracks that hark back to earlier Eno music, and the more modern EDM style tracks which perhaps go a bit left or right rather than back into the past. The tracks that do hark back to the past repeat the quality of the earlier music - in general - though there are no real standouts here among the ambient music. I let Spotify auto-play tracks, and it chose tracks from some albums we have covered here previously. They fit in very well the the currently. The more dance-based EDM music is an interesting new development. I'm wondering if I would have preferred an album just of that. As mentioned before, perhaps this is Hopkins' doing. In the context of this thread, not looking into other music 'out there', the EDM here is what is most distinctive/original on this album. Given the credits, I suspect that Hopkins and Abrahams did a lot of the music on this album, and that Brian's role may have been more of a producer/conductor. But, this could easily be wrong. For guitar, Abrahams demonstrates that he can cover a variety of styles, but I don't really hear anything that I interpret as being a unique style of his own. Overall this is a good album, and the variety of styles (at least two for EDM/traditional ambient) works OK together. But, I think that more could have been made of this collaboration.
I see that Making Space has already been covered, so we move on. The next album according to the big list on page 1 of the thread is Drums Between the Bells, an album by Brian Eno and poet (and professional cricket coach) Rick Holland. Sometimes credited as an album by 'Brian Eno and the words of Rick Holland'. This isn't a typical song based album, but it's spoken word not instrumental. So, I really don't know how many days to give it. I'm going to go for two days for the album but if anyone wants to cover it song by song, please say and we can. I haven't heard this album before, but I'm listening to it now and am enjoying what I am hearing. Spotify link: Drums Between The Bells YouTube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kSdaQCv_HH46s7WWbfdTQfK8HjpQWbCkQ Track listing (from Wikipedia) 1 Bless This Space 3:47 2 Glitch 2:57 3 Dreambirds 2:25 4 Pour It Out 3:37 5 Seedpods 2:49 6 The Real 6:55 7 The Airman 3:13 8 Fierce Aisles Of Light 2:38 9 As If Your Eyes Were Partly Closed As If You Honed The Swirl Within Them And Offered Me The World 1:38 10 A Title 3:51 11 Sounds Alien 2:53 12 Dow 2:41 13 Multimedia 1:56 14 Cloud 4 1:43 15 Silence 0:58 16 Breath Of Crows 6:46 There are different versions of this CD with more or fewer tracks. E.g. Spotify only has 15 tracks and here 16, both other releases on Discogs have 18. The YouTube playlist has 16 tracks, and is described as the 'bonus tracks edition'. Credits (from Discogs): Artwork [Original Imagery By] – Brian Eno Coordinator [Coordination], Management [Strategy] – Ray Hearn Design – Nick Robertson (4) Drums – Seb Rochford* (tracks: 1) Guitar – Leo Abrahams (tracks: 1, 4, 14) Instruments [Plays All Instruments Except As Noted] – Brian Eno Management [Brian Eno Managed By] – Jane Geerts Mastered By – Mandy Parnell Music By – Brian Eno Producer – Brian Eno Recorded By [Drums And Guitars] – Leo Abrahams (tracks: 1) Technician [Technologicality] – Peter Chilvers Viola – Nell Catchpole (tracks: 7) Violin – Nell Catchpole (tracks: 3, 4) Voice – Anastasia Afonina (tracks: 8), Aylie Cooke (tracks: 7, 11, 13), Brian Eno (tracks: 1, 8, 12, 14, 16), Caroline Wildi (tracks: 3, 5, 10), Elisha Mudly (tracks: 6), Grazyna Goworek (tracks: 2), Laura Spagnuolo (tracks: 4), Nick Robertson (4) (tracks: 8), Rick Holland (tracks: 8) Words By – Rick Holland I haven't (yet) found proper composition credits, but I think that all the music is by Eno and all words by Holland. Which is what the Discogs credits say. There is a limited version with instrumental tracks as well. Wikipedia link: Drums Between the Bells - Wikipedia Discogs link: Brian Eno And The Words Of Rick Holland - Drums Between The Bells Here is the 'Background' from Wikipedia. Brian Eno met Rick Holland in the late 1990s, through the collaborative 'Map-Making' project. After creating their first music together in 2003, they met infrequently to work on new compositions. Following the release of Eno's Small Craft on a Milk Sea in 2010, the pair decided to complete their project. Drums Between the Bells is the result of their meetings (although their 2003 work does not appear on this album). According to Wikipedia, this album contributed to the coining of the word 'poetronica'. Here is an interview concerning the album. I haven't listened to the interview yet, and hence it might be a straight-laced interview. Or it might be something unexpected and bizarre. Here is the not very informative Wikipedia page about Rick Holland. And, here is a podcast where 'MCCU Cricket Coach, Poet, and Musician' Rick Holland discusses a number of sport and other topics. SS15 - Rick Holland: MCCU Cricket Coach, Poet and Musician If we have two days for this album, then we can have one day for the companion EP Panic of Looking. I'm not sure if we are due a rest/catch-up/anything day then.
I found the interview with Brian posted above quite interesting. It's not a joke, nor is it (to my ears) in any way pretentious. It sounds to me as if Brian is speaking quite openly about his feelings about making music, his thoughts on digital versus analogue, modern methods of collaboration, his inability to repeat a formula, and his reactions to criticism. The interview with Rick Holland is interesting too. There's quite a bit about creativity in it.
I hung around with writers when I was in my twenties, and back then I was fully immersed in so-called avant garde poetry readings: one reader after another, speaking in halting, inexpressive monotones — "Pause in weird places!" "Be unemotional!" "Don't interpret the text!" "Try to sound like you've never seen this poem until now!" When I heard Drums Between the Bells, I was like, really?! I thought this kind of thing got laughed out of arts happenings decades ago! The is the album where Brian Eno lost me. I much prefer the all-instrumental second disc of the deluxe edition, but even then it's far from essential listening.
The instrumental version of the album is far more enjoyable. The words are sadly pretentious and overbearingly earnest and the various reciters are almost all way too serious and consequently sound rather silly. Which I’m sure wasn’t the intention. But musically, whilst breaking no new ground, there’s much to enjoy. The music tracks of pieces like The Real or Breath If Crows are excellent and there’s a lot more variety in the music compared with, say, Small Craft…. I’ve not played the Words version for years (until today) and it was a slog to get through so I doubt I’ll be playing it again for a long time. However, the instrumental disc is currently grooving gently in the background and I’m thoroughly enjoying it.
Drum Between the Bells Just finished listening to this for the first time and must say that it didn't grab me at all. It's OK, but to my ears it gets boring after a while. The voices are just not that interesting and the lyrics lack the humor and soundbites that make Laurie Anderson's early albums so effective memorable for example. Funny enough, the only song in the YT playlist that really caught my attention was the bonus track "Instant Gold". There, I think, they managed to hit the right balance and created something interesting and memorable. It's perhaps not fair to compare this with Laurie Anderson, but if you want to make something along the same lines some 30 years after Big Science, you better bring your A game. Well, imo they didn't. As someone who regularly posts in the RS 500 album-by-album thread says: Miss!
Drums Between the Bells I have dozens of Eno CDs, and this thread is bringing me to realize I could throw the majority of the collection in the trash and never miss it. But you know what, rather to my surprise, I found DBtB to be a keeper. The poetry may be pretentious twaddle, but I don't attend too closely in cases like this. If you don't try to assemble the words, they drift pass harmlessly. A couple tracks may be reheated Laurie Anderson, but that's not an awful thing. After 60 years of listening to reheated Chuck Berry and Robert Johnson, its nice to hear a different template exploited. To my ears, this record has the, if I may misappropriate a phrase from our esteemed host, 'breath of life' that has been so grievously missing in the previous 30 years. Certainly not a classic, but satisfying in the right circumstances. We've gotten away from stars, but it may be useful to summarize: *** 1/2
Just rolled the bonus disc. Again, surprisingly, I think I prefer the vocal set. There a few jittery places in there where it sounds like the CD is skipping, hate it when they do that. There was a raucous bit in there I gotta identify. It could be very useful in deterring intruders. And I mean that in a good way. ‘Are you sure you want to mess with a guy who listens to this for fun?’
Small Craft on a Milk Sea: I like this album. It has enough light and shade (and beats) to rise above the ambient pack. There are a bunch of additional tracks to note from this release: Surfacing - Deluxe edition bonus disc Square Chain - Deluxe edition bonus disc Bimini Twist - Deluxe edition bonus disc Abandoned Ship - Deluxe edition bonus disc Invisible - Japanese CD Loose Rein - iTunes exclusive track And now that we're onto Drums Between the Bells, there are even more additional tracks: Seeded Pour Bird Dreaming Itch Fiercer Aisles Real Spaced Dense Air Another Title Nikkei Cloud 5 Alienated As If Your Eyes Monomedia Crows - an alternative, instrumental version of the album included as a bonus disc with the deluxe edition. Imagine New Times - advance download track In the Future - Japanese bonus track (later included on the Panic of Looking EP) Instant Gold - iTunes bonus track This Climate - Panic of Looking Japanese bonus track.
