Neroli [Import]

I am a great fan of Brian Eno's ambient and minimalist albums, and while this is not my favorite one (that distinction would probably go to either "The Pearl" or "Apollo"), I cannot think of one that is more relaxing. There is absolutely no variation in volume, style or rhythm...it is just one, hour-long track of some of the most minimalist music I've ever heard, with a sound so light and wispy that even when played at maximum volume, it is completely undistracting. As such, it is the perfect background music for any activity that requires complete relaxation or concentration. I've put this album on my stereo and set it for endless repeat while napping or reading, and it definitely adds a new dimension to the experience. I can feel my blood pressure dropping as soon as the first few notes are played. The only other track I can think of that approaches this one for such purposes is the "Evening of Contemporary Sitar Music" track on Spacemen 3's "Dreamweapon" album (another ambient classic).

Brian Eno's ambient explorations have led in a number of directions-- much of his best work has consisted of two sympathetic themes of differing lengths looped with their volumes fluctuated to alter their interactions-- a minimal set of elements needed to create engaging music. "Neroli" takes this concept one step further-- on this recording, there is one musical phrase-- a single-note progression performed on a keyboard-- repeated over and over again, arhythmically and without consistent tempo.

What's truly remarkable is that something of this form could be so engaging when performed for nearly an hour.

The remaster sound is crisp and clean, although I had never heard the original, so I can't compare the quality of the two. The reissue does come with a brief essay about the piece, and the liner notes are nice enough.

It isn't quite as powerful as his best work, but it certainly is a good listen. I also think you sort of have to be ready to hear this-- if you don't have a background in ambient, minimalism, I'd suggest steering clear of this one until you've heard more of Eno's material.

Yes, it's another Brian Eno ambient masterpiece, yadda yadda. What makes this different from all his other ambient masterpieces? I would say that the main distinction of Neroli is that it's just about as minimal as music can be and still be classifiable as music. It's just a single phrygian scale in one octave, played over and over, usually no more than one note at a time. And yet, if you have it on in the background, it creates an extremely serene and restful environment which I find very pleasant. The phrygian scale necessarily makes the piece a little dark (for instance, when compared with the more serene "Thursday Afternoon"), but that doesn't detract from its effect. It's entirely possible that this piece was the result of a computer program generating a semi-random sequence of notes -- Eno is a pioneer in the field of "generative music" which explicitly does exactly that. But even if that's the case, so what? What Neroli shows is that music doesn't have to have structure in the traditional sense to be enjoyable. In fact, you're best off not thinking of it as music at all but as a sound painting. It's a lot like listening to the sound of wind chimes as you fall asleep; they don't make any particular melody, but they're soothing nonetheless.

I have to admit to being somewhat puzzled and amused by the negative reviews of this piece. It must be frustrating to try to find musical structure while listening to Neroli. The trick is that you don't have to and you shouldn't try. You just have to let go of the desire to find structure in everything and just let the music exist as it is. Furthermore, you don't have to play it softly to enjoy it. I play it at a low but quite audible volume, and then I go about whatever it is I'm doing (reading, surfing the net, writing, eating, whatever).

I once tried to turn my piano teacher (who is a great artist) on to Eno's ambient work. He couldn't get past the notion that this was music to be ignored; he claimed that he was physically incapable of ignoring music. If so, it's his loss. Music like Neroli is meant to be experienced at an unconscious level, and if you can accept that, you will find it very rewarding.