EVENING STAR

This record is an awesome example of the collaboration between Robert Fripp and Brian Eno. The way of using frippertonic-loops have matured dramatically since "No pussyfooting" record, done two years earlier. I guess Robert had more time to concentrate to this style of his playing, as red nightmares of King Crimson had dissolved a year before this release. The music emerges as vibrating large carpets of sound, multiple layers of fast guitar picks forming solid and stable tonal layers. The stagnation of the opening curtain starts pouring down like streams of a river, waving eternal peacefulness with subtle keyboard support from Brian. I see this "Wind of Water" as a part of following title track, creating an integral musical entity. The overall impression appears like the abstract album cover, night time ceasing the wind on the lake surface, small guitar picks shimmering like stars on the vast landscape. From the depths Robert elevates a long guitar solo which I personally consider his best on any recording I have yet heard. "Evensong" harks to vesper bell of soft, minor scale progression, harmonizing the interesting concept of day turning night by the waterside via musical expression. On the instrumental approach, I think this album is less dogmatic to music production methods, and I usually think most beneficial is to start form restricted, minimal starting points, and expand carefully beyond the refrained starting points, being wary not to break the goals being set earlier. A short excerpt from Brian Eno's "Wind on Wind" gives a glimpse to his ultimate half-hour long suite of meditative rejoice from record "Discreet Music". This short interlude prepares the listener for epic "An Index of Metals", allowing more culminated guitar motives let the elements be settled on Dmitri Mendeleev's periodic table. The sound collage is not in my opinion oppressive, but quite alien, like many familiar things might be when separated from their original context. The analogue recording technics deserve their appraisal on the end, where the volume peaks increase along with the metal element's atomic masses. On the album cover I felt this listing of heavier elements might be related to the mountain seen in the distance. These heavier elements being borne from stellar nucleosynthesis, I felt there could be a concept of an evening star, which gives birth to these substances at the hour of its evensong. These atoms then form the molecular basis to geology and biology for life on earth, nurturing themselves calmly under the wind-sheltered waters. This process would eventually lead to our humanity, exploring, exploiting and wondering about their chemical compositional aspects. I believe all this is just my own interpretation, but possibility for such is a fine quality in arts, allowing for example this record to grow as icon of simple but profound concepts larger than life. Robert and Brian did also some concerts based on this album's material, but I'm uncertain if their recordings have been released officially. All of them, this album and the concerts too, are standing as highlights of thoughtful, disciplined and empowering music for deeper realizations.