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I first picked up NO PUSSYFOOTING on vinyl in 1975 and after one listening thought I'd wasted my money: just two side-long walls of sound that droned on and on and on... On a second listening I thought, "This is actually kinda neat ..." Third listening: "This is cool!" Each listening I heard things I hadn't noticed before, and eventually realized I'd learned a whole new way of listening. Reading some of the interviews Brian Eno was giving at the time helped. Eno told us that Side One ("The Heavenly Music Corporation" HMC) was made for the price of the tape. He and Fripp recorded Side Two ("Swastika Girls" SG) a few days later. Both tracks feature Eno's infamous tape delay system, in which the signal from the instrument (guitar or VCS3 synthesizer) is recorded by one tape recorder and then looped to a second which plays back the signal delayed. A single performer can play off preceding lines and create cathedrals of sound (many of Robert Fripp's solo recordings do just this). He has to know what he is doing, though - otherwise he ends up with a cacophonic mess. That is, the performer has to know when to play and when not to play - a realization both Eno and Fripp seem to have hit on independently at right about the same time. This "upgraded" reissue contains two CDs. On the first CD are the familiar versions (slightly remixed by Fripp) of HMC and SG, and - are you sitting down? - HMC tracked backwards! I wasn't sure what to expect but was sure of one thing: Fripp knows what he's doing! And the track works extremely well! It recognizably *is* HMC - but begins differently and has a quite different feel to it, and if you hadn't read the liner notes you wouldn't realize you were listening to something tracked backwards! The only notable exception is the rather abrupt ending - mirroring the abrupt beginning of the original. The second CD includes HMC tracked at one-half speed, resulting in a very dark 41-or-so minutes. Again it really *is* HMC, but given a whole different feel. The remainder of CD-2 offers SG tracked backwards, and the above comments for HMC apply to this track as well. The original recordings were made in the early 1970s, and the fight Fripp and Eno had with their management company to get them released in the first place is now legendary. Among devotees of various forms of ambient and trance music, they have had amazing staying power. I should note that these are among the best of the best; most of what passes as "ambient" today has little to do with what Eno originally brought forth (this has not gone unnoticed by Eno himself and probably explains why he records almost no ambient music anymore). This 2-CD set, out on Fripp's label (DMG), is a limited edition and may someday be as collectible as the original vinyl NO PUSSYFOOTING (on the now-almost-unfindable Antilles label). As with most of Eno's and Fripp's things, not for everybody - but you know who you are. Devotees of Moby, The Orb, Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, and other recent musical soundsculptors might find it worth while to check this out. And if you plan to obtain U2's newest - NO LINE ON THE HORIZON is out today as I pen this - one of the producers is none other than Brian Eno. You might find it interesting to take an excursion into those sonic landscapes Fripp and Eno painted before U2 came to the latter's attention. Listen closely, and you'll hear what gives this group its amazing depth and resonance.Read full review
Music for those who like Electronic Tranquillity. The Reverse (Backwards) tracks and the slowed down title cut are an excellent surprise. For Eclectic Tastes.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
One of my all time favorites. The roots of drone music.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
This is the only music my cat reacts to and it can not be ignored. .............................FRIPP RULES.........................
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