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25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Dry, December 14, 2000
This disc and its accompanying 96-page booklet were put together by Materiali Sonori, an Italian label which has specialized in collecting obscure and previously unreleased stuff by cult artists for odd 'rarities collections' and then selling the whole thing at an excessive price. Granted, the booklet is quite informative and well written, featuring an interview with Eno as well as information about other ambient/neo-classical artists like Erik Satie and John Cage. Plus, you can also take a look at Eno's discography and at a list of official/unofficial web sites. It's a solid introduction, but I think there are much better books on the market which deal with Eno's groundbreaking early work and ambient music in general; for example, David Toop's classic "Ocean of sound", or Eric Tamm's "Brian Eno - His music..". The 53-minute audio disc primarily contains material from Eno's latter-day albums ("Neroli", "The drop", "Spinner"), and these selections prove that cult stars usually get less adventurous and often bland with age. It's not very clever to represent Eno's contributions to ambient music with his latter-day work, since his recent albums not only showed a downward sales pattern but also confirmed a growing belief that he's no longer at the top of this genre. Contrary to popular belief, the three tracks ("Distant hill", "Radiothesia III" and "Stravinsky) from the unreleased "Glitterbug" soundtrack are not exclusive to "Sonora portraits"; you can pick up these three pieces much cheaper with the fabulous sampler "Future perfect". This compilation (along with "Glitters is gold" and "All Saints calling") from the All Saints label also features tracks by Harold Budd, Roger Eno, ambient supergroup Channel Light Vessel, and others. "Stravinsky" is really a brilliant neo-classical piece with bright violin arpeggios so typical for Stravinsky's own compositions. The slow-moving "Distant hill" is also worth mentioning, an organ-loaden piece with various metallic sounds clattering away in the distance. Beyond that and a couple of beautiful, atmospheric cuts from 1988's "Music for films III", there's just not much substance here. Eno simply doesn't sound as gripping and focused as he once did with his early ambient efforts; much of what is here never settles on a definite approach and seems underdeveloped and listless. And the schmaltzy pop song "Spinning away", featuring none other than John Cale on vocals, is a little out of place. It would be wrong to say that the "Sonora portraits" compilation is a complete failure, but there are quite some questions: Why nothing from the great "Shutov Assembly" album and the aggressive "Nerve net"? Why not some pieces which cannot be found elsewhere? The selections are useless for those who already own Eno's latter-day albums and only give a slight hint at what Eno is capable of. The fact remains that "Sonora portrait" is an item for completists and devoted Eno fans.
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
majestic velvet, October 2, 1999
By A Customer
Not for the hard core Eno fans as its all compilation but for anyone who likes ambient/electro drone that fits into a lock like a worn key.... this is a must. The songs meld into one another from instrumental to lyrics and back. As for the book its nice but give me TAMMS book on Eno any day.
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2.0 out of 5 stars
It's okay, but..., March 31, 2000
The big problem was that I didn't like "Spinner" and this CD seems like its half spinner edits. But I did like "Saint Tom" and I REALLY like "Strawinsky". Something to ponder over: does Strawinsky use the open (aka No Pussyfooting) looper? I think it does. Oh well...
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Interact With Your Music: Discover, listen to, and buy new music, all from the pages of SPIN's digital edition, free to Amazon customers.
by Brian Eno 
