Customer Reviews

Small Craft on a Milk Sea

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

During the first ten years of the new century, Brian Eno has released some albums that come close to his classics of the seventies and eighties, for example DRAWN FROM LIFE, with Peter Schwalm, or the brilliant song cycle ANOTHER DAY ON EARTH. Now, the creator of ambient music has released his first solo album on Warp Records, specialists for experimental, electronic pop. And he is working with some soulmates, Leo Abrahams (guitar, laptop, weird sounds) and Jon Hopkins (piano, electronics, strange sounds).

Good companionship for a purely instrumental record that reaches far out - and starts almost too beautiful, with the ambient sugar of EMERALD AND LIME. But even this soft starter has some grainy elements of total emptiness in it - the picture of a silent sea springs to mind (a picture Eno has often recurred to in his songs). The following three soundscapes belong to the 1000 places you will have to go to before you die. COMPLEX HEAVEN, SMALL CRAFT ON A MILK SEA and the driving, irresistible rhythms of FLINT MARCH contain everything you expect from great Eno pieces, a sense of wonder, and an ambivalent field of emotion. On FLINT MARCH, the elastic drums add to an exercise of nearly uninhibited joie de vivre (but even here, as repeated listening reveals, some dark forces are working in the background).

This 15-track journey then continues with some wild pieces, a quiet foreboding of danger, and rough passages with frenetic guitar playing: sometimes Eno loves to push sounds to the verge of falling apart. The listener is getting lost in a very interesting way - between child-like moods, disturbing fields of sound, apparitions of naked beauty. And, finally, after some upheaval and dancing on a razorblade, the quiet atmospheres of the beginning re-enter the scenery: WRITTEN, FORGOTTEN & LATE ANTHROPACENE explore a quality of peacefulness and yearning beyond kitsch and wrong happy endings by just touching a deep zone of human experience. In his excellent review (NYT), Jon Pareles even suggests that these two final tracks play out like desolate elegies.

This is definitely a record Eno-friendly minds and a lot of newcomers will return to again and again. SMALL CRAFT ON A MILK SEA is so fresh, so full of wonder, so far away from being a repetition of any other Eno album. Of course, there are some spirits drifting: on COMPLEX HEAVEN Eno sounds like channeling his early piano treatments for Harold Budd. The first track, EMERALD AND LIME, has a kind of Roedelius flair. But, well, on this great work even the memories are inventive - playing tricks under a strangely coloured sky!

The review of this new Eno album in Rolling Stone has the subheading "The godfather of ambient rocks out -- finally!" When I started listening to Small Craft for the first time, I thought "where's the rocking out?" In fact, there are more ambient style or otherwise atmospheric pieces on this all-instrumental album than rockers, but there are definitely also times where the godfather "lets loose" too. The first such "rocking" place comes four tracks in, with "Flint March" and its tribal beats. Then "Bone Jump" has a nice funky bass tone, but I wouldn't exactly call it a "rocker." "Dust Shuffle" gets a good groove going, and "Paleosonic" even has something like an electric guitar solo. Anyway, I very much enjoyed all of those cuts, but the spacey stuff is what I really go to Eno for, and Small Craft contains some of his very best work.

Take the two bookend pieces, "Emerald and Lime" and "Emerald and Stone." They're beautiful piano/synth reveries - heavenly. For a more classic "ambient" sound, listen to the nearly eight-minute-long "Late Anthropocene" which closes the album. There, sustained tones overlap and weave in and out of each other in a sublime swirl of electronics, punctuated by mysterious artificial percussion noises that add background color to the piece. Marvelous! There are many fellow practitioners of this electro-instrumental genre (ex., Trent Reznor), but nobody does it as superbly as Brian Eno. Long may he reign!

Poetic, peaceful, intense and completely imbalanced. In one moment, you're floating along gently and in the next, there's a storm in that milk sea and you're gettin' whipped around on HIGH like a Dairy Queen Blizzard in the blender.

Brian Eno is a master of the Electronic/Ambient realms of contemporary music and he has a cult following when it pertains to his peaceful and looped Ambient works. This time out, there are also some louder elements presenting. Tracks #5, "Horse" & #6, "2 Forms of Anger" are respectively tribal-ish and Drum and Bass-ish, putting forth more aggressive vibes, especially with the latter building up into a crescendo of Eno as I've never heard him before. I'll stand behind my opening descriptors and WILL SAY that this one might cause you to wanna skip a track or two, especially the aforementioned titles with their more "headbanging" sonics.

If you're expecting to be lulled to sleep a la "Music For Airports" or "Plateaux of Mirror," there are places here which certainly support this, but as I have previously mentioned, there's something new happening here too; or OLD. Somehow, the more "techno" moments of "Nerve Net" come to mind, but on a much noisier level.

All in all, it's still Eno with the same degrees of concentration on the Ambient, but with some additional dabbling in the "experimental" and may take a few listens to fully digest and appreciate. Bring dramamine when you board. The milk sea features some turbulent tides.

Most reading this must be familiar with most of Eno's career, from Roxy Music, to cutting-edge solo career, to ambient, to collaborations, to production work and beyond. In recent years, releases have been few and oft times, just what you would expect. That's not a bad thing because there are no real surprises on this album as well, however, this release is one of the best in a long time.

After multiple plays, it goes beyond the initial impression that it is a later day Another Green World fused with The Pearl. On this release Eno truly solidifies what he is so skilled at: a cohesive finished product that includes elements from his entire career and done in manner that makes it seem easy. It is as if Eno has perfected Eno. For any one who enjoys what he does, no album better does it better.

The album begins ambiently enough, but after a few tracks, peaks with some clever rhythms before returning to ambience for the final tracks. The more you play it, the more you come to realize this is best release in a long time, and without over-production, is smooth sailing from start to finish.

Be aware there are actually six versions of this release:

[1] A single CD general release;

[2] A single CD from Japan with an exclusive bonus track: Invisible;

[3] A deluxe edition with 2 LPs and 2 CDs (the 2nd CD contains four exclusive tracks);

[4] A deluxe (and very expensive) limited edition of 250 containing a signed, numbered and unique Eno lithograph as well as 2 LPs and 2 CDs;

[5] A promotion only 2 CD set featuring the album plus a bonus CD containing the Japanese-only track and two of the four exclusive tracks from the deluxe edition.

[6] An iTunes only bonus track: Loose Rein (thanks to B. Huck for update)

To have all 21 tracks associated with this album, you would need #2, #3 (or #4), and #6. That is my one complaint with this release, the fact that the tracks associated with this album are spread out over many sources, which is a very costly endeavor for completists. However, whatever version, highly recommended to all, both new-comers and long-time fans.

Brian Eno has been making this kind of ambient, as well as been the pioneer of it, for quite some time now. His ability to think outside the box and innovate new ways to make music is absolutely astounding and has not seemed to diminish over the years. With that being said, "Small Craft on a Milk Sea" is a good album from Eno, but it's not up to par with his earlier, ambient work. Is it unfair to line this album up with something like, "Another Green World" or "Before and After Science"? Perhaps, but it's the closest (in my personal collection) similar album to SCOAMS. While the songs on the album are not awful, by any means, there are a handful that sound like you've heard them before; something that Eno has managed to avoid for most of his career. For example, "Bone Jump" while a great spooky piece, has a backing melody that mirrors John Carpenter's Halloween theme a little too closely. It is also rather obvious that he has been listening to other artists who have followed in his ambient footsteps. A clear example would be the song "Calcium Needles" and anything off of "Os Cantos Do Maldoror" by Steven Severin and you'll understand. The album also has some strange filler in the middle as well. What I mean to say is that the bookend tracks are classic Eno (you can hear the echos of "Another Green World" or even "Discreet Music") but the middle hearkens more towards his work with Robert Fripp. However, instead of producing another "(No Pussyfooting)" we have a strange breed between Eno, something Steve Vai-esque and midi-synthesizer sounds that seem like they were lifted directly from a video game (refer also to the song "The Whole Price of Blood" by Siouxsie & the Banshees). "Bone Jump" and "Paleosonic" are two of the worst offenders in this case.

All in all though, if you're looking for a good introduction to Brian Eno and his work, are a long time Eno fan or are just curious, the above grievances are only minor and this album is recommended.

Brian Eno - Small Craft on a Milk Sea (2010)

I've seen several misleading reviews, including the one in Rolling Stone, that imply this is somehow Eno's return to rock n' roll. There are indeed a few songs in the middle of the album that feature some invigorating propulsion, but over half of what's here is completely devoid of percussion, firmly entrenched in the ambient medium. There is so much to listen to here if you take the time to sit down, chill out, and REALLY listen. If you can appreciate this kind of music, SMALL CRAFT ON A MILK SEA is fantastic.

"Emerald and Lime" - The melody is absolutely beautiful, the most gorgeous track on the album. I would say it's composed of treated piano, harmonica and bass although it's hard to be sure considering Eno's unconventional methods.

"Complex Heaven" - creates a more mysterious mood featuring a contemplative guitar, heavily treated piano and ghostly effects. Spacey.

"Small Craft on a Milk Sea" - Subdued yet strident rhythms underlie this evocative, subtle mood piece.

"Flint March" - Here the album takes a dramatic turn with a militant techno beat full of pounding polyrhythms and icy waves.

"Horse" - is even more intense and hyper-kinetic, loaded with sputtering static electricity, staccato sounds and rhythms, sawing instruments and mechanical bass. Ominous.

"2 Forms of Anger" - a tribal beat enshrouded in electric insects, creepy noises and other trippy sounds, before it bursts into a full-on rock blast, presumably the "second form of anger." Lasting only a minute, this segment of "2 Forms of Anger" is argueably the only real "rock n' roll" moment on the whole album.

"Bone Jump" - A steady beat guides this strange track which would work well on a modern "Twilight Zone" update.

"Dust Shuffle" - Indeed, this one sports a shuffling hip hop-tinged techno beat, loaded with a dazzling array of intriguing sounds.

"Paleosonic" - a lurching, watery rhythm loaded with music that sounds like computer noises. Full of disorienting instrumentation. A Fripp-esque guitar workout which eventually builds in intensity to a mind-bending little climax.

"Slow Ice, Old Moon" - Returning once again to percussion-less atmosphere, this particular piece is perhaps more ambient (think Eno's ON LAND) than musical; its title is quite descriptive of its mood. Rather eerie.

"Lesser Heaven" - quite placid and beautiful, yet slightly unsettled.

"Calcium Needles" - a foreboding, airy track full of reverb and heavily distorted, clanging chimes. Hazy, uncertain.

"Emerald and Stone" - a slower, stately reprise of the opening track. Sublime.

"Written, Forgotten" - an amazing ambient piece full of wonder and awe, peppered with alien voices.

"Late Anthropocene" - Most of these tracks tend to be short and to the point, but this final track extends to nearly eight minutes. It's more calming and placid compared to the somewhat disturbed atmospheres of certain previous pieces. Stray radio transmissions drift in and out along with several other atmospheric textures that add their own particular mood and feeling.

After my wifes open heart surgery,I ordered this because she was buying crappy,cheap meditation music.

I grew up listening to all types of music and know what it is that I'm hearing....

Pretty good stuff that seems to relax her,otherwise,leave me to my Brian Eno,Music For Airports!

This greatly anticipated release is (at least) three "mini-CDs" in a single package. The first consists of those tracks that would have fit nicely on a *Music for Films IV* had Eno and his cohorts guitarist Leo Abrahams and keyboardist Jon Hopkins chosen to go that route. Several of these tracks are vintage ambient soundscapes: "Complex Heaven," "Slow Ice, Old Moon," "Lesser Heaven," "Written, Forgotten." Listeners who pine away for more *Music for Films* type fare, more *On Land* or more *Shutov Assembly* ought not to miss this CD for that reason alone. A second set of tracks breathes new life into some older and briefer Eno periods: "Bone Jump," for example, would fit nicely on *The Drop*; Paleosonic, on the other hand, is vaguely Nerve-Nettish. A third set of three tracks, interestingly all in one place, is more challenging. "Flint March," "Horse" and "2 Forms of Anger" will take you by complete surprise as they don't sound like anything Brian Eno has done before. These percussion-driven tracks display a darker and more industrial Eno. On the third, Abrahams cuts loose with his own brand of guitar abrasion. I'd place the otherwise unclassifiable "Calcium Needles" in this category despite its later appearance and more tranquil demeanor: this track, one of Eno's finest realizations ever, really does conjure up images of moving amidst thinly fragile stalactites deep underground. "Emerald and Lime" and "Emerald and Stone," the two most melodic tracks (variations on the same theme, obviously) seem like bookends of a sort. Only one track here strikes me as a tad lackluster: "Late Anthropocene," which goes on longer than it needs to. But that doesn't detract significantly from what is clearly a five-star accomplishment.

Overall, this CD might seem to lack focus with different groups of tracks pointing in different directions all over the map, but what it really lacks is predictability--which may have been the point.

While being one of the uncontested pioneers in ambient music, Eno's music has suffered because of the extreme variations in quality control. Do not worry this is not the case here. Indeed, sometimes, for being such a highly ranked producer, his recorded output has never really sounded good: take his masterpieces Apollo or thursday Afternoon for example: the tape hiss is very present and the music does not have much amplitude. This is not the case here: the sound is perfect. Also, while single pieces are usually exceptional, some of his collections are uneven: here the work is of outstanding quality and does not repeat itself. Musically some of the first pieces sound as if they could belong on a more traditional Eno record such as Apollo whereas some later pieces on the album are influenced by more modern electronica. A good return to form.

I've been a big Brian Eno fan from the beginning of his ambient work. I've reviewed other of his works. I like that he collaborates with lesser known musicians at times who, no doubt benefit greatly. However, let's face it. It is not that difficult to record, create and produce ambient music. Mr. Eno is not too old to tour, or produce rock albums with other bands that would benefit from his geatness. Maybe my expectations are too high for this gifted musican. Too much esoteric music theorizing and other pseudo intellectual pursuits, are hampering him from returning to his ambient roots and create something that is really superior. I'm still a big fan, but I'm waitng for something that he is capable of that has not been extant in recent works. I'm still waiting for better and I know Mr. Eno is more than capable.