Brian Eno is MORE DARK THAN SHARK

INTERVIEWS, REVIEWS & RELATED ARTICLES

Synapse SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1976 - by Danny Sofer

ROBERT FRIPP AND BRIAN ENO: EVENING STAR

Wind On Water / Evening Star / Evensong / Wind On Wind / An Index Of Metals

Turn of the century French Impressionism and electronic drone music are the major influences in this second collaboration of ex-King Crimson Robert Fripp and ex-Roxy Music Brian Eno.

The album opens with Wind On Water, a group of synthesizer tape loops, forming a drone that breathes like calm ocean waves, very serene. In fact, the result is very much the same as that created by the opening glissandi of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé; similar chordal composition, all sorts of synthesizer sequenced twinkles reminiscent of piccolo trills, a similar palette of timbres.

This dissolves to Evening Star: arpeggios played by Fripp on guitar and then looped by Eno; to which Fripp plays a cello-like fuzz guitar, at times through a tape delay. The background loops change gradually adding synthesizer and piano parts to create a continuously moving cloud of sound, all consonant and very soothing.

Side two, An Index Of Metals, is a bit more harsh. Where the waves are calm on side one, they are choppy on this side. There is dissonance and more tension here. I hear perhaps a train station where all the engines are fired up but the passengers are still boarding. The structure of this side is the same, sound loops dissolving into each other - synthesizers (synthi/AKS), guitar, pianos... but the psychological effect is more intense.

Anyway, this is a nice change of pace; a good album for spacing out and losing oneself in the drone zone.