Customer Reviews

All Saints Records: Compounds & Elements

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a fascinating guide to ambient music, past and future. All the major innovators of the genre are present, Brian Eno, Harold Budd, Jon Hassell and John Cale demonstrate their own unique talents over an array of classic tracks drawn from the All Saints Records back catalogue. However, this is only part of the story, after an extended period of silence All Saints have recently begun releasing albums by new acts and Compounds showcases tracks by two of their recent discoveries including the highly acclaimed, Marconi Union, who contribute their dazzling track, Sleepless to the album, and effectively map out their vision of future directions for this music, while demonstrating just why they are being seen as important new voices on the European electrionic music scene. Alongside this Spanish duo Vacabou add their beguiling brand of trip-hop to the mix and we are left with the sense that ambient music is alive, well and flourishing in safe hands.

I have been following Brian Eno since his days with Roxy Music. I was actually fortunate enough to meet him during an interview at CJOM a radio station in Windsor, Ontario during the mid-'70's. He is truly one of the musical geniuses of our time. If you look at his body of work over the past 35 years, including production of such bands as the Talking Heads, David Bowie, and U2, it is a veritable who's, who in music. To be honest, I didn't really like the "Ambient" series Eno recorded during the '80's, but this compilation of artists from his "All Saints" label is incredible. Very listenable and consistant from track one to eighteen. Anyone who is remotely interested in this style of music, especially you Massive Attack fans, should check this out.

I tagged this onto an Amazon order to qualify for free shipping. Being a fan of Eno, I figured that for the price I could not go wrong. Well, I was right. Though there is nothing earth shaking here, this is solid as a piece and a very good bargain. The best tracks to my ears, FRACTAL ZOOM, SLEEPLESS, LIKE ORGANZA and CORDOBA certainly are worth the money. As a whole, this makes great background music and holds up to closer scrutiny.

Some of the highlights on this compilation are the Eno tracks from The Drop, Nerve Net, and The Shutov Assembly. The non-Eno tracks are consistently good as well, particularly Budd's track from The White Arcades. For a sampler, the album has a really good sequence to it. It has a sort of This Mortal Coil effect on you, where every track is unique but it adds up to a consistent whole. Aural Wallpaper indeed.

Problem one: When you try to download this album with the Amazon MP3 Downloader, it instead sends you to a completely different album titled "The Elements" with an Italian-language label. The present MP3 download WILL NOT get you the album the others on this list are reviewing! Nor is the genre the same: the Italian album is guitar-based adult-contempo-New-Age stuff, not minimal techno. I'm sending this info to Amazon and will modify this review if things change (and Amazon tells me), so check back - but right now if you're looking for an album featuring Brian Eno, you won't get it if you download what Amazon sends you!

Problem two: The tracks on this incorrect album are not complete songs in any event. They go a couple minutes and cut off abruptly in the middle.

Problem three: The download labels the artist for each track as "Various Artists," so even if you decide you like a track, you can't tell who did it in order to find it elsewhere.

Even for the price, even if you're looking for adult-contempo-New-Age stuff, it's not worth it to buy this album.

I bought "Distance" by Marconi Union and had this CD as part of the package. I couldn't believe that it was only $2.99, and after listening to it, I still don't believe that it was going for that price. This is an excellent array of talent on a sampler CD, worth many times the price, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to find out what All Saints records is all about.

I bought this with My Life in the Bush of Ghosts -Byrne and Eno. After a long day, I listened to it before bed and became so peaceful. After 4 tracks I knew this CD was worth more than 3 bucks. There is a lot of peaceful tracks and some bizarre and some vocals. All around, a great purchase for Eno fans and ambient fans.

This was recommended to me by Amazon.com after I had bought a couple of techo & trance CD's. This does not fit under that category, and I didn't enjoy it...

This is an incredible compilation that highlights the variety of music that has been issued on this label that was founded in 1991 and named after a street in West London.

There is an interesting flow to the 18 tracks and provides a fabulous and inexpensive means to experience the art of Brian Eno, John Cale, Harold Budd, Wobble and others. It is much more than a sampler thrown together and tossed into the marketplace.

This compilation CD, offering a sampling of artists on the All Saints Records label, is proof that some things in this world *aren't* too good to be true -- 18 tracks of thoughtful, evocative ambient music, for a mere $2.99! Even if you're familiar with some of the artists here, others may well be new to you, as they were to me. This is ambient music at its best, both haunting & blissful, that should have you investigating full-length works by these artists. I'll soon be ordering several new CDs myself! Honestly, you can't go wrong here -- highly recommended!