Eno • Hyde - High Life

Eno • Hyde
High Life
30 June 2014
Warp

4 stars out of 5

 

Coming less than two months after their previous LP, Someday World, Brian Eno and Karl Hyde present us with their second full-length LP, High Life. Contrary to what you might expect, the latest LP isn’t comprised of outtakes from the sessions of the first; in fact, it was conceived and executed in its entirety after the earlier record had been completed. At this rate we should have another three or four LPs by the duo by the year’s end, right?

The album gets of on the right foot with “Return,” a two chord dirge that packs so many tiny sonic details into its nine minutes that it never fails to fascinate. It’s not quite E2-E4, but its exploration of the possibilities of an incredibly simple progression still thrills and fascinates. The vaguely Afrobeat “DBF” recalls Eno’s association circa 1980 with Talking Heads. “Lilac” juxtaposes a kind of pastoral folk hymn overtop a busy guitar-centered base of polyrhythms. “Moulded Life” is a neo-industrial piece that actually invokes industry: there’s a vast, toxin-filled, concrete urbanscape within the track, at once oppressively and excitingly modern. The almost free-form “Cells & Bells” ends things on a note that is both angst-filled and optimistic—our technology has brought us to this place, and only our technology can bring us out of it.

Far more interesting and compelling than the somewhat stale-sounding Someday World, the longer pieces on High Life give the impression that Eno and Hyde are hitting their stride in their work together. Given Eno’s tendency to flit from flower to flower in his collaborative work, it’s not a sure thing that he will continue to work with Hyde in the near future, but if the duo continue to produce fruit like High Life, let’s hope that he does.

reviewed by Richard Krueger

Eno • Hyde - Someday World

Eno • Hyde
Someday World
5 May 2014
Warp

3 stars out of 5

 

Someday World is the result of a collaboration between Underworld’s Karl Hyde and the ubiquitous Brian Eno. If you’re envisioning a mash-up between “Born Slippy .NUXX” and “Sky Saw,” you’re out of luck, though Hyde’s trademark one-note vocal melodies are present here throughout the record. Instead the record is sometimes engaging but never challenging. Hyde’s lyrics are evocative and focused and Eno’s music is adequate enough, but the work as a whole is uneven and its three or four moments of brilliance are unable to counter the effects of the alternately awkward and tedious balance of the record.

“Man Wakes Up” sounds like King Crimson’s Discipline crossed with Talking Heads’ Remain in Light. Perhaps this isn’t all that surprising, considering Eno’s frequent collaboration with the former’s Robert Fripp and production of the latter. Hyde’s vocals are unmistakeably his own but also evoke Adrian Belew’s delivery on tracks like “Elephant Talk.” “Man Wakes Up” and the similarly textured “Strip It Down” and “When I Built This World” are high points of the album. Not much of the rest of Someday World approaches the same heights, unfortunately. Works like Another Green World and My Life in the Bush of Ghosts were sparks that launched thousands of creative experiments in the works of others. By contrast, Someday World feels safe, any experimentation contained within it being carefully restrained or rendered essentially invisible.

If you’re a dedicated fan of either Eno or Underworld, you will find moments on Someday World to make a listen or three worth your while, though be warned: musically this doesn’t resemble Underworld in the slightest, although Hyde’s career wasn’t always dedicated to electronica (can I get a “doot-doot”?). Myself, I’m waiting for the .NUXX remix of “Mother of a Dog.”

 

reviewed by Richard Krueger