ANGELS IN THE ARCHITECTURE

This sampler album is fairly much a lot of background music ideal for nodding off to sleep to or studying to. It is dreamy music for the most part with a few shining moments worth making it an effort to get hold of, preferably borrowing from a library as I did as the majority is not really worthwhile returning to over and over.

The highlights are easy to find as they are the tracks featuring Fripp and Bruford and for that matter the strange but compelling music of Penguin Cafe Orchestra. Split Seconds by Bill Bruford and Patrick Moraz is a delightful track with some ambience and shades of light and dark.

Prelude and Yodel by Penguin Cafe Orchestra is quirky and grows on you. As does the aptly named The Sound of Someone You Love Who's Going Away And It Doesn't Matter by Penguin Cafe Orchestra clocking in at 11:41 and the longest track. You do need some patience to take this track in but it tends to build and has moments of tension and release as all good melodies embody.

Europe 80-1 by Phil Manzanera is OK and a nice change in pace but my pick of the album is definitely 1988 by Robert Fripp. It is only 6:36 in length but it is worth returning to and features some of Fripp's most accomplished playing. He also appears on the short and sweet The Chords That Bind.

So there you have it. A very patchy album with some great tracks but I definitely would never purchase this as it is way too sleepy and dull apart from a few little nuggets to savour.