The Shutov Assembly
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4.3
Average of 3 reviews
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I genuinely appreciate Eno's ambient albums, and I stumbled upon this one from 1992 much later than his other ambient works I own. The music is captivating, whether played in the background or foreground, and it sets a unique atmosphere—darker and more electric compared to his other ambient albums. It's a bummer that this release doesn't include the bonus tracks, which are easily accessible from this label. They could've added them to the MP3 download code, but unfortunately, they didn't. The All Saints website claims these tracks are available when purchasing this version of the LP, but they weren't. I reached out to their website and Facebook page multiple times, but my messages were ignored. Terrible customer service. EDIT: After a 4-month wait, the website handling the downloads finally responded to me and added the bonus tracks to my download account. I'm glad it's resolved and hope the issue is fixed for anyone buying the LP and expecting the bonus tracks as MP3s.
Trailblazing Ambient minimalism…Following his exit from the glamorous Roxy Music, the self-proclaimed non-musician stepped into the rock & roll scene as an outsider. But with his art school background and skill in handling mechanized tape loops and manipulating found sounds, his early solo works didn't gain much traction. However, when he merged his interest in abstract music with albums featuring Robert Fripp and David Bowie, he played a pivotal role in shaping the Ambient Music genre, of which this album is a stellar example. Initially dropped in 1992, the ten “themes” serve as a homage to multi-talented artisan Sergei Shutov. The Russian-based craftsman was a long-time admirer of Eno’s soundscapes that often convey emotion over melody. Eno gifted Shutov -and his followers- with a tribute album of sorts. Initially, the pieces, recorded between 1985 and 1990, were envisioned as symphonic works. Yet, Eno ultimately leaned into his signature synthesized sound to reach his objectives. (It's worth mentioning that the Amsterdam Metropol Orksest performed the pieces in June of 1999). The second disc includes bonus instrumentals created during this era, though the style diverges from the Shutov recordings. These extra tracks are more aligned with Eno’s 1970’s “Music For Films” promotional recordings. Accompanying the newly remastered music is a hardbound digipak with a vintage essay focused on Eno’s thoughts on the categorization of various art forms and musical genres, many of which he was a key collaborator in. A more fitting companion to the original album would be the Netherlands ensemble’s evocative acoustic interpretations of his music. It stands as a testament to the legitimacy of electronic music, sometimes unfairly dismissed as mere background noise.
Got myself this awesome LP (in my opinion, one of his finest Ambient works), gave it a good clean, played it, and slipped it into a poly inner sleeve...The cover and gatefold are sharp and nicely put together. Both records have a slight warp (easy to fix), both have some light surface noise, the holes are a bit oversized, but the sound is fantastic (volume is high, fades are smooth, I'd suggest at least one sub for the deep bass undertones, great sparkle in the highs, solid depth, and separation) on my humble setup...The download card still doesn't include the bonus tracks from the 2CD set but does have Cavallino from the original CD release, which is alright...(Fluance RT-82 w/Acrylic Platter, ATN-XP cart/5 stylus. Nobsound T3 Phono Amp, Aiyima A07 Pro, Kicker KB6B, & 2x Polk PSW10 Subs...Simple Low Cost Setup)...Enjoy the tunes!
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