But I guess we're here to talk about a record. This week's selection is a collaboration (just like the coffee... that was actually a coincidence... neat!) between Karl Hyde (best known for the band Underworld), and the Man, the Myth, the Legend.... Brian Eno (can you tell I'm a fan?!?), who is best known for being awesome. Seriously, though, if you don't know Eno you should do yourself a solid and check out his stuff.
Honestly, I don't know anything about Karl Hyde. I bought this record based solely on my love of Brian Eno's work (both behind the scenes and as an artists), especially the album he made with David Byrne of The Talking Heads several years before this album. I wasn't disappointed. Although when I'm in the mood for Eno I often reach for one of his solo records, this one is quite good as well. Let's drop the needle and dive in.
One of the things I really like about this album is that while it maintains the cool experimental vibe that a fan would expect from Brian Eno, it's also quite accessible. It opens on the track "Return" with guitars, drums, and bass (building upon each other in that order) playing simple rhythms, the vocal melody is soothing yet melancholy. Any Catalog listener will come to find out that opening tracks mean a lot as far as my album experience goes, and this one definitely starts out well. What I love about it is throughout the nine-minute length of the song the sixteenth note guitar rhythm never stops. It loops through the whole songs as other parts come and go, finishing in a swirl of looping synths and new rhythms that completely change the way the song sounds and feels by the time it's over. Normally I wouldn't spend so much time on a single song here, but the thing is 9 minutes and I was still typing.
For a listener who is less into epic pieces of experimental looping, I would still suggest certain tracks on this album. "Slow Down, Sit Down, Breathe" (track 2) is still a loopy experiment, but it's shorter and more vocal driven. In fact, the record is broken up into pairs of shorter songs and longer songs, with the exception of Side D which contains 2 songs at just under six and just under eight minutes. I guess what I'm saying is if this album sounds at all interesting but you're unsure about committing to multiple songs over 8 minutes, check out songs like "Slow Down, Sit Down, Breathe", "DBF", or "Moulded Life" before diving into a song like "Lilac", which in my opinion is the highlight of the album. Clocking in at 9:24, it's the longest song here, and I love all 564 seconds of it. Again, you have loops that are maintained for the duration of the tune, broken up and reinvented by other layers of instruments and voice. It seems like it would make for a simplistic sonic palette, but that couldn't be further from the truth. This album is full of depth and movement. Every time I listen to it I hear something new. Right now is actually the first time I've ever listened to it on headphones, and I'm kicking myself for not doing so before. I've shut off everything but this music and these words. The coffee is gone, and it's just us now. "Moulded Life" is currently making me want to get up and dance... that's right. I've been chilling this entire time, but at the end of Side B, it's time to boogie.
Side C... time to crack a beer. How did it take me this long to realize I should drink a High Life while listening to High Life? I don't know what's wrong with me. The album really changes for me at this halfway point. There are elements of Fusion, Disco, and Rock mixing together, there's a song where Eno and Hyde are both crediting as Backing Voice, but nobody appears to be singing lead. The whole thing starts to feel even more experimental, but in all the right ways. Some experiments do fail, but not these. I'm really digging the tremolo, glitchy, almost underwater sound of this Backing Voice.... and bring on the fuzzy synths. I can't tell if it's being programmed to sound like that or if it's an old piece of analog gear with dirty electronics (in a good way)."On a Grey Day", the first song on the final side of the record (only released on the vinyl version, from what I understand) brings things down to a chilly slow minimalistic mood that you expect from the title of the track. Personally, I wouldn't call it sad. The calm, introspective feel is continued through the "Cells & Bells", the album closer.
This album is actually quite a journey. The harmony vocals of "Cells & Bells" (words by poet Rick Holland) are filling my ears as I reflect on the last 45 or so minutes and think "Has it really only been 45 minutes?" Thank you for coming with me this evening. I hope you give this one a spin some Sunday.
Peace, Love, and Respect.
-squirrel
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