s w e e t b e a t s
april.05.2001 - #541
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artist : Harold Budd & Brian Eno
album : The Pearl
year : 1984
label : EG
genre : Lo-Fi
quality : CD 192k HQ True Stereo
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01.Late October 04:42
02.A Stream With Bright Fish 03:56
03.The Silver Ball 03:31
04.Against the Sky 04:52
05.Lost in the Humming Air 04:22
06.Dark-Eyed Sister 04:41
07.Their Memories 02:57
08.The Pearl 03:14
09.Foreshadowed 03:53
10.An Echo of Night 02:27
11.Still Return 04:14
11 tracks | 42:49 mins | 58,9 MB
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Hearing Budd's piano slowly fade in with the start of "Late
October" is just one of those perfect moments - it's something very
distinctly him, made even more so with Eno's touches and slight
echo, and it signals the start of a fine album indeed. Acting in
some respects as the understandable counterpart to Ambient 2, with
the same sense of hushed, ethereal beauty the partnership brought
forth on that album, Pearl is so ridiculously good it instantly
shows up much of the mainstream new age as the gloopy schlock that
it often is. Eno himself is sensed as a performer on the album, if
not by his absence then by his very understated presence. The
merest hints of synth and whisper play around Budd's performances,
ensuring the latter takes center stage. Eno and Daniel Lanois
handle the production side of things, their teamwork once again
overseeing a winner. When they bring themselves a little more to
the fore, it still always is in the subtlest of ways, as with the
artificially higher-pitched notes from Budd on "Lost in the Humming
Air." Part of the distinct charm of the album is how the song
titles perfectly capture what the music sounds like - "A Stream
With Bright Fish" is almost self-defining. Another key point is how
Budd truly captures what ambience in general can and does mean.
"Against the Sky" is a strong example - it can be totally
concentrated upon or left to play as atmospherics and is also at
once both truly beautiful and not a little haunting in a disturbing
sense. Other highlight tracks include the deceptively simple title
track, as serene a piece of music as was ever recorded, and the
closing "Still Return," bringing Pearl to a last peak of beauty.
--AMG
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s w e e t b e a t s
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