Robert Fripp and Brian Eno's first collaborative effort was recorded while Eno was hard at work on his first solo album, Here Come the Warm Jets, and it marks not only Fripp's first foray into what would later come to be known as "frippertronics," but it also marks Eno's first experimental/Ambient recording. The music was created using two Revox tape recorders set up to play recorded sounds randomly and on a continuing loop, the volume descending slightly with each iteration in order to create a decay effect. On top of this repetitive yet dynamic soundscape, Fripp's beautifully serpentine guitar solos weave in and out, sometimes joining and melting into the loop themselves. While not entirely original (Terry Riley had experimented with this method years earlier), on No Pussyfooting, this all works to great affect, especially on "The Heavenly Music Corporation" suite, perhaps my favorite piece of "Ambient" music; with its melancholy drone and Fripp's aeronautical guitar antics, this is music paying homage to the depthless beauty of the arbitrary.
No Pussyfooting: Disc I
1. The Heavenly Music Corporation (Part I) (6:17)
2. The Heavenly Music Corporation (Part II) (3:08)
3. The Heavenly Music Corporation (Part III) (2:21)
4. The Heavenly Music Corporation (Part IV) (4:53)
5. The Heavenly Music Corporation (Part V) (4:15)
6. Swastika Girls (Part I) (7:32)
7. Swastika Girls (Part II) (11:27)
8. The Heavenly Music Corporation- Reversed (Part I) (4:35)
9. The Heavenly Music Corporation- Reversed (Part II) (4:21)
10. The Heavenly Music Corporation- Reversed (Part III) (2:30)
11. The Heavenly Music Corporation- Reversed (Part IV) (3:05)
12. The Heavenly Music Corporation- Reversed (Part V) (6:22)
No Pussyfooting: Disc II
1. The Heavenly Music Corporation- Half Speed (Part I) (12:45)
2. The Heavenly Music Corporation- Half Speed (Part II) (5:54)
3. The Heavenly Music Corporation- Half Speed (Part III) (5:04)
4. The Heavenly Music Corporation- Half Speed (Part IV) (9:44)
5. The Heavenly Music Corporation- Half Speed (Part V) (8:22)
6. Swastika Girls- Reversed (Part I) (10:10)
7. Swastika Girls- Reversed (Part II) (8:46)
Too much Eno? Never!
ReplyDeleteHi funky walrus, I agree; however, only one more to go in the Eno series. I still have more of his stuff in FLAC to post in the future. Keep coming back!
ReplyDeleteAgain I can't find my flac copy so thanks for the post.
ReplyDeleteno problem Scurfie. Do you happen to have the new Gang of Four?
ReplyDeleteLOL not in Flac. I will find it.
ReplyDeleteHow did i miss this one??! One of my all time favorite's (I know I might say this quite liberally, but it really does occupy a special place for me), and how could it not: the copious amounts of analog equipment these two must have had available to them, Robert's "frippertronics", and of course the immense creative synergy of King Crimson's Robert Fripp and ex-Roxy Music's Brian Eno. sidenote: Do you dig on the Crimson??
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I was getting to place where I could virtually play the damn album, on demand in my head, so a new presentation or reinterpretation of this classic is extremely welcome, VERY FUCKING COOL! If you could direct me to a place where I could find a tangible copy of this edition, I would be ecstatic!
Oh, and by the way, you win James I'm a begrudgingly but thankful new FLAC convert! Though I do convert the files to apple lossless for itunes, haha...
David, I like Crimson's earlier stuff (up through 1974); not a big fan of the later stuff (I'm not a big prog-guy in general). Like you, I convert to ALAC for itunes, and I'm glad you have taken to downloading FLAC because, unfortunately, there aren't many ALAC files out there. Here's a link to a fairly affordable copy of the "No Pussyfooting" box:
ReplyDeletehttp://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=307&item=120699211634
It's sad they killed MU.
ReplyDelete