THE SERPENT (IN QUICKSILVER)

This brief EP followed hot on the heels of Budd's seminal collaboration with Brian Eno, the Plateaux of Mirror, and continues in a similar ambient style focused on Budd's minimalist piano playing. Mostly ambient in nature, the main distinction between it and the album it followed is the more or less total lack of any sound treatments or other production tricks, leaving Budd's playing naked and exposed to the listener without any chicanery. The end result is perfectly pleasant to listen to, with the occasional unexpected turn. (Very rarely I hear a slight jazzy air creeping into Budd's playing, reminiscent perhaps of Hatfield and the North's Dave Stewart on a massive dose of sedatives.)