Robert Fripp &

Brian Eno

No Pussyfooting

Using the tape-loop system Eno had devised, the pair released the experimental No Pussyfooting in 1973. The cover image says it all:

Fripp & Eno sitting in a roomful of mirrors with visual reflection upon reflection redefining what is seen.

Fripp & Eno: No Pussyfooting

When I received it by mail from the U.K. at the grand old age of 15 (it wouldn't be released in Australia for a while)...I loved it...but considered the whole idea something of a joke...after all, this wasn't rock music! A few years later, when my tastes had changed (especially after David Bowie had released Low) I appreciated No Pussyfooting a lot more...and still do.

Split into two tracks, I much prefer the first, The Heavenly Music Corporation, which involves Fripp's guitar and the tape delay, breathing dreamy, ethereal waves of dramatic sound, quite different to the created-to-be-virtually-ignored Ambient music, which Eno would then continue to explore for the rest of his career.

It's surprising how quickly 20 minutes of drone guitar jamming (?) can go, especially when when other major guitarists of the time (e.g. Clapton) were R&B based...and Fripp is...well, I don't know what...maybe downer European? However, Time flies...and I still find the piece wonderful late-night music, especially the wild fade-out!

According to this Rolling Stone interview, The Heavenly Music Corporation cost $12 to make, while the second track, Swastika Girls, named after the pornographic playing cards visible on the cover cost 7500% more, clocking in at $875!     

That's a travesty, because Swastika Girls  is far less interesting, with Fripp absent for the first 7 minutes and...Eno's synthesizer loop becoming a little dull for me. Once Fripp pops in, things start to improve...but I usually find the wait has been too long. Swastika Girls is er...interesting...but the real joy is The Heavenly Music Corporation, easily worth the price of No Pussyfooting's admission.

Fripp & Eno: No Pussyfooting

"...To me, this album is almost perfect..." Amazon reviewer Bill Haneline

"...Galvanising, life-enriching stuff; the very finest aural wallpaper money can buy..." Amazon reviewer undeletablearchive 

"...Track one, even though it was recorded more than thirty years ago, still sounds new and fresh, even after scores of listenings. It is made up of two guitar lines - but one of them is an incredibly complex, ever-changing loop that continually unfolds out of itself and interacts with the lead line...but beware the sonic onslaught of the track's last three minutes - if you don't have good speakers the low notes will probably rip your woofers apart..." Amazon reviewer rubidium84

"...if your dad had an old stereo that played 78's, 45's 33&1/3's and 16's, and you set the speed to 16 then you heard "No Pussyfooting" as Fripp and Eno intended, so record the CD on reel-to-reel @ 7&1/2ips and play it back @ 3&3/4ips...You won't be sorry..." Amazon reviewer Bobby & Vicki

Here's what this esoteric duo then had to say about No Pussyfooting.

Evening Star

If Fripp & Eno's No Pussyfooting is a must-have both for it's originality and its stunning first half, The Heavenly Musical Corporation, then Evening Star is not. That's not to say it isn't interesting... just that it's not a must-have.

You'll have to forgive me but I'm not very confident talking about instrumental music:

• there seem to only so many adjectives one can use without sounding silly &
• I don't have a musical theory background so I can't accurately describe what's happening on the piece   

Consequently, I'll keep my comments brief.

Side 1 of Evening Star consists of four pieces, one of which is an excerpt from Eno's Discreet Music, the first ever ambient music album.

I'll refer only to the Fripp & Eno pieces, which once more utilise the guitar + tape-loop technique pioneered on No Pussyfooting. All three pieces are gentler, quieter pieces, bordering on ambient...but with a little more grunt. 

I'm going to quote one Amazon reviewer, simply because he says it so much better than I could:

"...(Fripp's) performance is nothing short of inspired and the loops provide an intriguing bed for him to work on. Of particular note is the title track, "Evening Star", built around a simple clean-tone guitar riff and harmonics, Fripp solos in fuzz tone in an overwhelmingly delicate and powerful mode..." Amazon reviewer Michael Stack

Track 2 (then Side 2)'s An Index Of Metals is an altogether different beast, demanding attention in much the way that some King Crimson instrumental tracks do, starting off pretty quiet...and getting more and more diffucult.

Warning: An Index Of Metals  isn't easy listening...but when the mood is right, it's astonishing. At other times...it's awful. At half an hour, you have to be prepared for the onslaught...and quoting Michael Stack again:

"...An Index of Metals", finds Fripp layering distorted (although not in the Led Zeppelin-ish sense) guitar line upon distorted guitar line until a mush of dissonance takes over. The resulting sound is haunting and brooding and develops nicely over the nearly half hour it spans..." Amazon reviewer Michael Stack

Robert Fripp: Evening Star

"...When I first heard this album in the mid-seventies in a hazed-out mind, I thought I had gone to hypnotic heaven. Later while in college it helped me to study. This is the most multi-layered, hypnotic dream state composition I have found to date. Fripp's simple guitar play and Eno's heavily layered over-lapped keyboard work makes pure magic. This album was way ahead of it's time..." Amazon reviewer Martin A. Hogan

"...An Index Of Metals is quite possibly the most astounding piece of music in all of Eno's amazingly desperse canon, foreshadowing not only his pure ambient pieces, but the forthcoming industrial movement, as well, with his tape loops and prepared use of Fripp's guitar. An astounding number, to be sure - bleak, sparse, yet emotional and full of life..." Amazon reviewer Sean M. Kelly

As you may gather, Evening Star is less interesting to me than No Pussyfooting...but it's still pretty good. At the moment, copies are clocking in at about $55...which is, admittedly, a bit steep.