The worst thing about wrapping up leftovers and putting them in the fridge is that there is usually a reason that they are left over. Perhaps you, glutton that you are, overdid it the first time around; perhaps they are the leftover spuds that no one particularly wanted; perhaps it just wasn’t very good the first time around. Sixteen minutes of the leftovers of Brian Eno and Rick Holland’s ambient-electronica-meets-spoken-word previous exertions provokes a similar response as opening the fridge door the following day. I’m still struggling to stomach it.
It is worth acknowledging at this point that Brian Eno really is very, very good, and that if anyone is to be entrusted with painting a convincing intergalactic electronic soundscape, it is probably him. For the most part, Eno’s contribution is taut and textured as ever, and his background sonics are by no means the worst part of the EP. ‘In The Future’ is the most listenable example. These are as minimal as you might expect – and sometimes so much so as to be rather difficult to engage with. At its best, it is moody and poignant; at its worst, desultory, or even boring. Eno can still do what he has always done, and there are some truly stunning misty moments of crepuscular atmosphere.
So much for the background, what of the words? Lots of people who ‘know’ seem to think that Rick Holland is a reasonable poet. I don’t know whether my failure to appreciate it represents a Philistine tendency on my own part – I can only very barely read – but I’m not feeling it. Even my heartiest attempts at serious engagement with the EP are dashed when I hear the expression ‘sex-face’. Worst of all, I realize that it is all over when I start to make comparisons to the William Shatner covers.
In conclusion: Eno is good, I don’t really like Holland, spoken word is really weird. The fusion sits a little heavily. I anticipate similar responses from the rest of the uninformed masses – though I suspect that Eno junkies or macramé wearing spoken word fans may see the EP as a glorious sixteen-minute study. For everyone else – you might find yourself, as I did, bored, bothered and bewildered. Frankly, I don’t give a damn.
