The musical experiments of King Crimson guitarist, founder Robert Fripp and electronic music pioneer, former Roxy Music member Brian Eno were definitely groundbreaking when they were released in the early to mid '70s. The pair released two albums, 1973's "No Pussyfooting" and 1975's "Evening Star", which paved the way for ambient and so-called 'new age' music.
With the 1994 compilation "The Essential Fripp and Eno", we are offered an excellent sampling of the noise that these two musicians made so long ago. The compilation includes the "No Pussyfooting" album in its entirety plus two tracks from "Evening Star" and the previously unreleased "Healthy Colours Parts 1-4" which was recorded in 1978.
"No Pussyfooting's" "The Heavenly Music Corporation" and "Swastika Girls" consist mostly of Robert Fripp performing fluid sustained guitar lines which are manipulated by Brian Eno using tape machines and a primitive synthesizer. It's beautiful and frantic at the same time.
"Wind on Water" and the title track from "Evening Star" have a more quieter surreal mood to them. "Evening Star" in particular has beautiful melodic parts with simplistic piano and guitar lines.
The unreleased "Healthy Colours" suite is quite different from the previous music made by the duo. Each of the four sections consist of repeated rhythm guitar patterns, a bouncy elementary synthesizer line and various tapeloops of speech all set to a primitive drum machine. This music is quite minimalistic and dry-sounding.
All together, "The Essential Fripp and Eno" covers the basics of what Robert Fripp and Brian Eno did as a musical force. Since they only released two albums together, I personally think that releasing this as a 2-disc set with "Healthy Colours" tacked onto the end would have been a better idea (The lenghty "Index of Metals" from "Evening Star" is an essential piece in my opinion). However, I have no complaints with the way this compilation is put together. The sound quality is stellar on this CD and so is the music. Here's hoping that Robert and Brian will reunite for something new real soon.
With the 1994 compilation "The Essential Fripp and Eno", we are offered an excellent sampling of the noise that these two musicians made so long ago. The compilation includes the "No Pussyfooting" album in its entirety plus two tracks from "Evening Star" and the previously unreleased "Healthy Colours Parts 1-4" which was recorded in 1978.
"No Pussyfooting's" "The Heavenly Music Corporation" and "Swastika Girls" consist mostly of Robert Fripp performing fluid sustained guitar lines which are manipulated by Brian Eno using tape machines and a primitive synthesizer. It's beautiful and frantic at the same time.
"Wind on Water" and the title track from "Evening Star" have a more quieter surreal mood to them. "Evening Star" in particular has beautiful melodic parts with simplistic piano and guitar lines.
The unreleased "Healthy Colours" suite is quite different from the previous music made by the duo. Each of the four sections consist of repeated rhythm guitar patterns, a bouncy elementary synthesizer line and various tapeloops of speech all set to a primitive drum machine. This music is quite minimalistic and dry-sounding.
All together, "The Essential Fripp and Eno" covers the basics of what Robert Fripp and Brian Eno did as a musical force. Since they only released two albums together, I personally think that releasing this as a 2-disc set with "Healthy Colours" tacked onto the end would have been a better idea (The lenghty "Index of Metals" from "Evening Star" is an essential piece in my opinion). However, I have no complaints with the way this compilation is put together. The sound quality is stellar on this CD and so is the music. Here's hoping that Robert and Brian will reunite for something new real soon.
Track List:
1. The Heavenly Music Corporation
2. Swastika Girls
3. Wind On Water
4. Evening Star
5. Healthy Colours I
6. Healthy Colours II
7. Healthy Colours III
8. Healthy Colours IV
2 comments:
Pt.1
http://lix.in/5eec84
Pt.2
http://lix.in/f32673
I always want to know the works of Eno and Fripp. That´s mu opportunity you are offering us now. Thanks!
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