Fripp & Eno - "Evening Star" 1975

An album that I found after I started getting into Brian Eno... and that helped me realize how awesome Robert Fripp is. This music has left its mark on me, especially Fripp's guitar sounds and free soloing style on some of these songs. A big influence, and a brilliant combination of ambient and psych, electronic tape music and drone.

Fripp & Eno - Evening Star
Island, 1975

















After hearing a couple of Brian Eno albums and really getting into the roots of all this electronic/drone/ambient music coming out today (Tim Hecker, Stars of the Lid, Oren Ambarchi, Machinefabriek.... to name just a few of MY favorites....) I decided to check out some of Eno's collaborations. Being a huge King Crimson fan-- well, the early days-- I thought that this should be interesting. However, I had only heard In the Court of the Crimson King at this point in time, so I didn't really know what Robert Fripp was capable of or how experimental he could be. I totally fell in love with this album and hunted the vinyl down, along with their first collaboration "No Pussyfooting" (which you'll probably see here eventually if you're patient;-) Evening Star is more polished, as if they know what they're doing better or have a clearer goal in mind. So it's a good starting point. But I highly recommend their other two studio albums: No Pussyfooting (debut) and Equatorial Stars (from a few years ago).

Some reviews:
""An Index of Metals" offers a glimpse into an "Enossification" of the King Crimson aesthetic. Unlike the more passively subdued territory that Eno and Fripp usually chart in their collaborations this gargantuan track is full of a sinister intensity and a lethal focus, humming menacingly for over 28 minutes without a moment of wasted or superfluous input. "Wind on Water" is the other peak, Janacek's string quartets teleported to the 21st century. The trio of songs in between display clear-eyed wonder and breathtaking grandeur on microcosmic levels. As a whole Evening Star is a masterpiece of sustained tension and majesty that never fights for your attention but commands it in its hushed power." --unearth

"The second collaboration between the two highbrow British art/prog rockers, Evening Star pairs Fripp's "Frippertronic" guitar, layered and sustained indefinitely through use of analog tape loops, with synthesizer and various treatments from Eno, for an ambient match made in heaven. The serene first side is highlighted by the beautiful title track, which borders on melodic, while still maintaining the minimalist style of Eno's ambient works. Conversely, the second side, titled "An Index of Metals," quietly builds layers of ever more dissonant guitar, developing an unnerving atmosphere. This is an album that effortlessly creates a distinctly reflective mood, and is an essential item for fans of either artist." --bpnicast

And a longer review from Julian Cope's Head Heritage site HERE


















FILL YOUR EARS side A
FILL YOUR EARS side B
(decided to give Sharebee a try for the first time... we'll see how it goes)