This one-off collaboration between Michael Brook of Infinite Guitar fame and Clan of Xymox's Pieter Nooten is an absolute stunner, a largely forgotten gem in the expansive 4AD catalog that ranks with the best of the label's eighties-era releases. Similar in tone to This Mortal Coil but far more focused and sumptuous, Brooks' always impressive guitar work weaves and melts into meticulously constructed soundscapes, which are further fleshed out by cellos and ambient keyboard washes. While much of the album is instrumental, Pieter Nooten provides hushed vocals on several tracks, all of which rank among his finest performances on record. Released in 1987, Sleeps with the Fishes sounds like a logical (and quite beautiful) progression of both the dream-pop and dark ambient genres that bloomed during the eighties, and, in some ways, presages the direction Dead Can Dance would take on their final albums. Not to be missed.
