CHAMBER OF DREAMS (MUSIC FOR THE INVISIBILITY EXHIBITION)

In the early 80s countless artsy guitar slangers from early 70s prog-rock dinosaurs, as well as already burned out late 70s post-punk ensembles were trimming down to small mobile units and recording interesting mostly instrumental albums. Guitarists such as Robert Fripp, Robert Quine, Jody Harris, Andy Summers, David Byrne, Phil Manzenera and Bill Nelson all seemed to hit a similar style and recording approach at about the same time. Drawing on influences such as Eno, Satie, Kraftwek, 60s exotica records, soundtracks and incidental music for adverts, these records represent one of the bright points in an otherwise disappointing decade.

Like his many cohorts at this time, Nelson eschews flashy guitar technique in favor of electronic textures, catchy minimalist melodic structures and an overall 'modern' approach and sound that was as far from the 70s as you could get at that time. Everything on here sounds synthetic, most of the instruments used are guitar synths, keyboards, sequencer/drum machines and those classic grainy vocal samples that were so popular at this time, but Nelson makes all this work to his favor as he builds a very pleasant subtle 80s exotica sound. These songs are short, and many are kind of 'catchy', but there is nothing shallow about this album. Very imaginative and never boring, I would highly recommend Chamber of Dreams for fans of Eno, Manzenera and Fripp-Summers.