ENO & WOBBLE: SPINNER

The music contained on "Spinner" was originally composed for "Glitterbug", the last film of director Derek Jarman. Bizarrely, the Internet Movie database comments " If you like this title, we also recommend I Was a Jewish Sex Worker". "Glitterbug", which was released posthumously, consisted of super-8 film taken by Jarman over a twenty year period. As such, it was never going to be a blockbuster.

When looking to release the music as a soundtrack album though, Eno came to the conclusion that it did not stand up well on its own, as it was an integral part of the film. Eno therefore decided to use the music as the basis for a collaboration with Jah Wobble, who receives co-billing on the CD. Wobble took Eno's master tapes, and set about reworking the pieces to greater of lesser degrees.

The results certainly retain the signature of Brian Eno, with Wobble's contributions adding some interesting new dimensions to some tracks.

Two pieces, the opening "Where we lived" and "Space diary" are exactly as Eno recorded them. Others, such as "Steam" use the original material solely as an "atmosphere" for a completely new composition. As it turns out, "Steam" is one of the strongest tracks on the album, with definite simiralities to the music of TANGERINE DREAM. Aside from his compositional and behind the scenes contributions, Wobble's participation tends to be restricted to bass guitar which is well forward in the mix, plus occasional keyboards and drums.

Words such as "treatments" and "atmosphere" feature regularly in the instrumental line up, offering a clear indication of the type of music to expect. Spacey sounds are mixed with repetitive rhythms and themes in an understated ambience. The seven minute closing track "Left where it fell" is the most dynamic of the bunch, with aggressive stereo effects, and a pulsating rhythm. Five minutes after it concludes, a hidden unnamed 8 minute bonus track kicks in.

While Eno may have hoped that Wobble's intervention would create something more substantial than music for a film, essentially that is what it remains. Fans of Eno, or electronic ambience in general, will find this album agreeable. For the rest, it is an inoffensive nonentity.

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