Customer Reviews

Spinner

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

 

 

Here's the deal: Brian Eno does soundtrack bits for one of British filmmaker Derek Jarman's final productions, "Glitterbug". Then Eno turns over said tracks to dub/world-meister Jah Wobble for further tinkering. Result: amazing! This is one of those instances where the mysterious and elusive 'third mind' that so many have spoken of in quality collaborative work has come out in force and created something that's perhaps a bit beyond the scope of either of the two participants, taken alone. The 'action' here keeps moving, in a very cinematic manner, throughout the tracks that make up this release, and you get the feeling of being drawn along in a complex musical journey through spaces that seem at once familiar and suddenly very alien. Signposts do appear: a dub bassline here, a North African snippet there, and tinges of ambience and senses of drama that seem to even hearken back to Eno circa "Another Green World" color the skies of this strange landscape. Of the recent Eno works, this and "The Shutov Assembly" are the definite peaks, and for my money, this is Eno at perhaps his best form since "AGW" or his collaborative albums with Cluster, David Byrne, or Jon Hassell. An excellent argument piece for those who think Eno's 'lost it' in all of his attentions to pop production during the 1980s and 90s.

Don't play this album thinking it's some of that cool ambient stuff you've heard about that you can chill or fall asleep to. It's creepy, high-tension sound that doesn't ask nicely for your attention, instead seducing you away from your concerns with dark, foreboding tones and slow, rising musical phrasing. Eno's mastery and Wobble's attitude really shine through.

I got this CD for Christmas a few years back, was living in London at the time. It was of course quite cold. I listened to it and thought it was a reasonable album - 3 or 4 star job. Nothing spectacular, just a nice album to be played occassionally. Then I discovered something odd. I was playing it on a very, very hot day and it suddenly fit so much better - it just seems to capture the mood of a slow, hot day, or even better a slow hot night. The hotter and more sultry it gets, the more I like listening to this album. I know it sounds odd, and I don't have any other albums that are "weather dependent", but there you go...

...I consider Spinner to be one of the best Eno albums of the 90's. It has a sense of menace, an implied threat, a deep brooding quality, that seems to change with every listening. It's always compelling, always dark, but I sense different undertones and patterns each time I play it. Wobble's bass is simply incredible. One listen will be enough to make your subwoofer pay for itself three times over. I suspect a cheap sub will simply distort on these notes, but a good unit will simply blow you away. I cannot tell you how many times I've listened to this album, but I do know that every listening experience seems even better than the ones before.

The artistic journey for Brian Eno and Jah Wobble works incredibly well since they begin at two different points and end in the same location.

Eno devises atmospheric frameworks that Wobble can work within, but not overwhelm what are minimalist settings. The 10 numbers are a soundtrack to a Derek Jarman film - Glitterbug - and provide harsh, but quite descriptive soundscapes.

With the proper focus, Eno can still create incredible backdrops for ambient music. And within a true collaborative effort, the numbers can take on significant dimensions of sound and vision.

This one took a while to sink in with me, I must admit. But I took it on a long drive and found it hard to avoid afterwards. It starts with Riley-esque (I heard a lot of Sri Camel in the first part) detachment, but then builds into very funky subliminal suggestion. It has replaced the soundtrack to Koyaanisqatsi as my fave for long drives...for now. It does show Eno's ongoing influence, regardless.

According to the liner notes, Eno recorded some basic tunes and mailed them to Jah Wobble to play with. Jah did his thing, adding light drums, simple guitars, and of course bass. Mailed them back to Eno, who then did the final tweaking. The end result is abstract, pensive keyboard meanderings (Eno), underlain by dark, driving, train-track-like repetitive rhythms, plus assorted disturbing sounds (Wobble). Or is it the meandering keyboards that underly the driving rhythms? These are very subtle tunes, and all in all, a great album from two great musicians.

This is a good ambient album, but not Eno's best. With his collaborator, Jah Wobble, he's written and recorded a series of gentle, elegant instrumentals. The music is an interplay of bass guitar, synthesizers, and subtle percussion. Most of the songs are full of repetition, but they never feel that way. Eno has a knack for making simple music sound beautiful *because* it's so simple --- he never bores you or takes the easy way out by just repeating the same thing over and over. If you haven't heard Eno's ambient work before, I suggest you start with "The Pearl" or "Music for Airports" first. If you like those, you'll like this.

Ditto the review below. This album grew on me. The music tends to be contemplative, but themes are dropped before they become stale. At the same time, the album as a whole is very coherent. One of the few ambient records that maintains my interest.

only kidding but that's what it is.. It's typical ENO instrumentals with JAH WOBBLE doing some basslines along with his band. Not every track has wobble but most of them do. Unfortunately, there are better bass lines in Wobble's other works. There's NO vocals so this is a nice Cd to get romantic with or under the covers with your lover. It's sinister at times, romantic at other times but always atmospheric.