Fripp & Eno – The Equatorial Stars (Vinyl)
Robert Fripp, best known for his work with King Crimson, and producer Brian Eno literally invented a new musical form when they hooked up two Revox reel-to-reel tape recorders in 1973, allowing Fripp to layer an almost infinite number of loops to create a groundbreaking technique called Frippertronics.
On 1973's No Pussyfooting and the '75 follow-up, the more sublime Evening Star, Fripp truly developed the orchestral possibilities of the guitar, while Eno's studio finesse coaxed the sounds into hitherto unheard of aural landscapes.
Thirty years later, in 2004, the pair reuinited and made a follow up album - The Equatorial Stars , and the result is unquestionably the finest recording they have made to date.
Combining the all-encompassing textures of Eno's Ambient Music with Fripp's more sonically-broad Soundscapes, the two create a recording that may be steeped in technology, but feels somehow independent of it. While there is no way that untreated instruments could sound this way, the whole process feels somehow more organic than its two predecessors.
Fripp's tone is warmer and more subtle; Eno's processing creates lush and unique timbres. And while, with the exception of the heartbeat-driven "Lupus" and the more insistently pulsing "Altair" there is no real rhythmic or, for that matter harmonic, development, the end result is something that succeeds on two levels.
This is music that can be played at a quiet level, supplanting the other ambient sounds around it but in a completely subtle way; or it can be played at a louder volume, creating a hypnotic and wholly involving space that demands attention in a strangely non-intrusive fashion.
Vinyl, LP, Reissue, 200g
Tracklist:
A1 Meissa 8:08
A2 Lyra 7:45
A3 Tarazed 5:03
A4 Lupus 5:09
B1 Ankaa 7:01
B2 Altair 5:11
B3 Terebellum 9:40
Robert Fripp, best known for his work with King Crimson, and producer Brian Eno literally invented a new musical form when they hooked up two Revox reel-to-reel tape recorders in 1973, allowing Fripp to layer an almost infinite number of loops to create a groundbreaking technique called Frippertronics.
On 1973's No Pussyfooting and the '75 follow-up, the more sublime Evening Star, Fripp truly developed the orchestral possibilities of the guitar, while Eno's studio finesse coaxed the sounds into hitherto unheard of aural landscapes.
Thirty years later, in 2004, the pair reuinited and made a follow up album - The Equatorial Stars , and the result is unquestionably the finest recording they have made to date.
Combining the all-encompassing textures of Eno's Ambient Music with Fripp's more sonically-broad Soundscapes, the two create a recording that may be steeped in technology, but feels somehow independent of it. While there is no way that untreated instruments could sound this way, the whole process feels somehow more organic than its two predecessors.
Fripp's tone is warmer and more subtle; Eno's processing creates lush and unique timbres. And while, with the exception of the heartbeat-driven "Lupus" and the more insistently pulsing "Altair" there is no real rhythmic or, for that matter harmonic, development, the end result is something that succeeds on two levels.
This is music that can be played at a quiet level, supplanting the other ambient sounds around it but in a completely subtle way; or it can be played at a louder volume, creating a hypnotic and wholly involving space that demands attention in a strangely non-intrusive fashion.
Vinyl, LP, Reissue, 200g
Tracklist:
A1 Meissa 8:08
A2 Lyra 7:45
A3 Tarazed 5:03
A4 Lupus 5:09
B1 Ankaa 7:01
B2 Altair 5:11
B3 Terebellum 9:40