I'm a big fan of Brian Eno. Not of everything he writes, records and produces, but of the way I perceive that he thinks about music and recording. Systems approaches, how a system (a complex effects route, for example) is set up and variables (a guitar, as another example) are entered into it, are one of the many recording techniques Eno has espoused that I use day to day in my own record- ing experiences. Apparently, Tollefson is a big fan of Eno's as well. All these "mood scapes" were created from an electric guitar with delays, distortion and other effects, changing the sound of the guitar into electronic washes and streaks. Layers were created on a four track cassette and more treatments and mixing were done later by M. Griffin at Chromostatic II. It's a stately, dreamy, hypnotic record but with that "undercurrent of doubt" that keeps it from being a "New Age" feel-good wall- paper recording. And it reminds me of Eno's Apollo or Music for Films, two of his best "ambient" works. (Hypnos, P.O. Box 6868, Portland, OR 97228)
Music Reviews | No. 11
In New Zealand CD
by Larry Crane
The first thing I noticed about this CD is that it is short. Less than 32 minutes, and that made me wonder. Would I know if it was on vinyl? Between flipping the sides and not having a digital counter...