ENO, MOEBIUS & ROEDELIUS: AFTER THE HEAT

This album came from the same sessions which produced the 5 star masterpiece Cluster and Eno and the song By This River on Before and After Science. This is another splendid album, but it lacks the cohesiveness and sustained other worldly atmosphere of their previous release. It's also a rather more uptempo album a lot of the time, although the overall mood is still tranquil with some nagging dark undercurrents.

One major difference between After The Heat and Cluster & Eno is the inclusion of Eno's vocal on a few tracks. This is particularly effective on T'Zima N'arki, which sounds as though Eno is singing his lyrics backwards or possibly is just singing nonsense syllables with bizarre inflections. This track also features Can's Holger Czukay on bass, and has some dub reggae styled sound effects - all in all, an oddly enjoyable musical confection. The Belldog, on the other hand, sounds like a track from an Eno solo album - a perfectly good song in its own right, but not quite in keeping with the rest of the album. The instrumental tracks mostly recall the spacy soundscapes of Cluster & Eno, which itself called to mind the best moments of Another Green World and Music for Films.

After the Heat is a strong album from a remarkably productive collaboration, and is highly recommended, but to hear these musicians at their best go for Cluster & Eno.