Customer Reviews

Neroli

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a great fan of Brian Eno's ambient and minimalist albums, and while this is not my favorite one (that distinction would probably go to either "The Pearl" or "Apollo"), I cannot think of one that is more relaxing. There is absolutely no variation in volume, style or rhythm...it is just one, hour-long track of some of the most minimalist music I've ever heard, with a sound so light and wispy that even when played at maximum volume, it is completely undistracting. As such, it is the perfect background music for any activity that requires complete relaxation or concentration. I've put this album on my stereo and set it for endless repeat while napping or reading, and it definitely adds a new dimension to the experience. I can feel my blood pressure dropping as soon as the first few notes are played. The only other track I can think of that approaches this one for such purposes is the "Evening of Contemporary Sitar Music" track on Spacemen 3's "Dreamweapon" album (another ambient classic).

Brian Eno's ambient explorations have led in a number of directions-- much of his best work has consisted of two sympathetic themes of differing lengths looped with their volumes fluctuated to alter their interactions-- a minimal set of elements needed to create engaging music. "Neroli" takes this concept one step further-- on this recording, there is one musical phrase-- a single-note progression performed on a keyboard-- repeated over and over again, arhythmically and without consistent tempo.

What's truly remarkable is that something of this form could be so engaging when performed for nearly an hour.

The remaster sound is crisp and clean, although I had never heard the original, so I can't compare the quality of the two. The reissue does come with a brief essay about the piece, and the liner notes are nice enough.

It isn't quite as powerful as his best work, but it certainly is a good listen. I also think you sort of have to be ready to hear this-- if you don't have a background in ambient, minimalism, I'd suggest steering clear of this one until you've heard more of Eno's material.

Yes, it's another Brian Eno ambient masterpiece, yadda yadda. What makes this different from all his other ambient masterpieces? I would say that the main distinction of Neroli is that it's just about as minimal as music can be and still be classifiable as music. It's just a single phrygian scale in one octave, played over and over, usually no more than one note at a time. And yet, if you have it on in the background, it creates an extremely serene and restful environment which I find very pleasant. The phrygian scale necessarily makes the piece a little dark (for instance, when compared with the more serene "Thursday Afternoon"), but that doesn't detract from its effect. It's entirely possible that this piece was the result of a computer program generating a semi-random sequence of notes -- Eno is a pioneer in the field of "generative music" which explicitly does exactly that. But even if that's the case, so what? What Neroli shows is that music doesn't have to have structure in the traditional sense to be enjoyable. In fact, you're best off not thinking of it as music at all but as a sound painting. It's a lot like listening to the sound of wind chimes as you fall asleep; they don't make any particular melody, but they're soothing nonetheless.

I have to admit to being somewhat puzzled and amused by the negative reviews of this piece. It must be frustrating to try to find musical structure while listening to Neroli. The trick is that you don't have to and you shouldn't try. You just have to let go of the desire to find structure in everything and just let the music exist as it is. Furthermore, you don't have to play it softly to enjoy it. I play it at a low but quite audible volume, and then I go about whatever it is I'm doing (reading, surfing the net, writing, eating, whatever).

I once tried to turn my piano teacher (who is a great artist) on to Eno's ambient work. He couldn't get past the notion that this was music to be ignored; he claimed that he was physically incapable of ignoring music. If so, it's his loss. Music like Neroli is meant to be experienced at an unconscious level, and if you can accept that, you will find it very rewarding.

clocking in at just under fifty-eight minutes, this, like his masterpiece "thursday afternoon," is a single brian eno composition that explores the dreamworld of tones softly (very, very softly) drifting in a hushed soundscape. this is beautiful and sublime stuff, a perfect late night listen, great for relaxation, meditation, or as a sonic background to reading. the rough and tumble mechanics of daily life can use an anodyne like this. don't miss.

This hour long single composition is not background or sleep music as other reviewers may lead you to believe. This is deep hypnotic ambient expressionism. Eno's composition expands your consciousness allowing your thoughts to wander a slow open circle around the prairie of your mind. A potent vehicle to surmount time and grasp inner patterns. This is a well phrased composition that despite its long track time does not dilute itself. Vertical slow musical strokes break allowing a relaxing void which together convert into a wholeness, a continum. The structure of this composition depends as much on the silence between notes as on the notes themselves. This is true "ambience".

Devoid of the darker, more disturbing elements of ambient, this 57 minute "song" is perhaps the warmest, most transcendent example of meditative music I have ever heard; its minimalism cannot be overstated. Eno applies such a soft touch that it inevitably balances with whatever else you happen to be doing.

Highly recommended.

I remember seeing Ambient 1 on the rack in a record store just after it came out. It changed the way I listened to music. All of the Ambient records have their own individual fingerprints which is a tribute to Eno's ability to explore new territory with each record.

Other reviewers have called Neroli the most relaxing of the batch, but I find it bracing - like a straight Islay malt scotch. It charges the atmosphere when it plays, pulling the sounds of the environment into the structure of the music.

I have a vivid recollection of driving down the highway with Neroli playing. It was the 500th time I had heard it, but an incredible arcing high melody appeared where I had not heard one before. Turns out, it was the shimmering sound of an 18 wheeler coming up fast on my left. Truck sounds are supposed to be mechanical and irritating right? But Neroli provided a harmonic frame for the sound to become a melody.

This CD has the distinction of perennially holding the number one spot in my 301 disk CD player and it will continue to do so. I find that life has those moments when I need to concentrate on something and need silence to think. Very often that is made difficult by the ambient sounds over which I am powerless without plugging my ears or generating sound of my own, one way or another. I have probably the finest ear plugs anywhere but often what occurs to me is to play Eno's Neroli. Subtitled, "Music for Thinking," if I recall correctly, it is the perfect antidote for noise pollution. There's no discernible meter or melody, nothing to hook your mind and you can think about whatever you want. The music itself is unobtrusive. It's hard to describe. It doesn't demand attention, it's just there, taking the place of what was there, just the thing when I need to obscure distracting noise. Is this all it's good for? Probably not, but in this capacity alone this gem is to me invaluable.

I think the headline is as close as I'll get to evoking the sound of this recording in the form of prose. First of all, it's such a brilliant idea to compose music that so strikingly sets a mood but yet simultaneously need not be 'listened to' at all. It's almost completely passive music, not meant to impress you with is cleverness, virtuosity, dynamic range or melodic invention. It squeezes every sweet little bit of mystery and feeling out of a simple arpeggio defined by a mode that if often used to evoke "exotic otherness" when used in Western music (popular or classical). Close your eyes, relax, and it's as though you're entering a serene world of warm shadows that has always existed, slowly percolating in a dimension that exists right next to ours, one you can join at will. It will quiet your thoughts if you're capable of allowing it to do so. It may even overpower your will to prevent it from doing so!

"Neroli" is well-known as a scented incense, and is associated (for many folks) with 'Indian-ness.' Similarly, this recording echoes the effect of the slow, almost formless 'alap' section of an Indian raag (or "raga"). Tonally speaking, it definitely has a great deal in common with any number of raags, but without the development of motifs and ornaments typical in a raag performance. Instead, it seems intended to evoke the rich drone of ringing notes and overtones one may hear in a sitar's sympathetic strings as melodies fly about on top.

Eschewing melodies, chord changes, instrumental solos, vocals and other musical devices that might make us "listen to" the music, "Neroli" is the perfect accompaniment to a great massage. Find a quiet room, light a few candles, press play, and it will be as though a magical spell has been cast.

I admire Brian Eno, and I enjoy some of his work, so when I saw this MP3 on Amazon for a buck I thought I couldn't go wrong. I was right.

This is basically an hour of ambience. It is very minimalist music. I didn't count the notes used in the music but I'd be surprised if there were many more than eight or ten. I'm not sure about the instrument but it sounded to me like a piano played back with the tape slowed down and sent through a lot of studio effects. The notes are played slowly and somewhat repetitiously, and they are held with long sustain generating heavy harmonic overtones. That's basically it.

The effect is not dissimilar to the ambient music program that I have heard on the new iPhone -- which was also designed by Brian Eno.

This is a nice recording to have for a buck in MP3. Certainly worth it if you are into experimental or ambient music! If you like incense burning and meditating, this is nice music for that. I don't think I'd spring for the CD, however.