The record, divided into two side-long instrumental suites (further subdivided on later CD releases), is dominated by Fripp's "Frippertronic" experiments -- basically, pre-digital-era sound loops, droning guitar riffs recorded onto tape and looped on top of one another. Eno fleshes out the sound with his own electronic sound washes. The result isn't quite like Eno's later ambient works; it's not exactly soothing background music, Fripp's guitars at times a little more boisterous and jarring than pleasantly insomnia-remediating. Still, it walks that fine line between relaxing and energizing, something you can play after dark if you're in the right mood (perhaps with some chemical enhancement? Just sayin'...) and maybe, if you look at the stars just right, you might find some greater cosmic significance.
Great record (and story), a biotronic microcosm. Bowie discovered “Another Green World” and was so fascinated, he invited Eno to create “Low” (and later “Heroes” and “Lodger”) with him. Because Eno demonstrates masterfully and at the same time childishly naive, how important a creative and individual production is for an album.
Although Roxy Music was Ferry’s band, he had an equally influential alien entity by his side during the creation of the album. His name was Brian Eno, a mysterious figure who would influence music for decades to come. In the early days of Roxy Music, Eno was not actually considered part of the band. He would sit at the back of the stage, hidden by a stack of electronics or a pair of Revox reel-to-reel tape recorders. These were the devices that he used to create his “treatments” of the group’s songs. In interviews, he repeatedly described himself as “a non-musician.” Only later did Ferry and the others invite him to sit on stage with them as a full member of the band.
I like all Roxy Music. But you have to admit that it’s very, very different over time. Listen to the first two LPs on a good sound system and you’ll hear all sorts of weird crap happening musically. Like, really weird. After Eno left, Roxy Music became more and more of a Byan Ferry project. Much more traditional, musically. For a long time, that was just fine. Siren, for instance, is a great album. But that path can only be taken so far before it usually hits a dead end. Which is exactly what happened when Ferry went solo. Those early albums with Eno, the first especially, were groundbreaking and innovative in a way that later Roxy would never be again.
"HATEFUCK" is the third outing from Pussy Riot's forthcoming project that's due out later this year, following "" and "", and arrives with a Danin Jacquay-directed, NSFW video starring both artists.
