Nerve Net

by Brian Eno

Overview

For the record, Nerve Net was not Brian Eno's first attempt at rock & roll. Not counting his time with Roxy Music, he also made several solo albums in the 1970s that were clearly intended as approaches to pop music -- they were sideways approaches, of course, shaped by the intellectual distance he has always kept between himself and the music that arises from the forces that he puts into motion, and they were far from unqualified successes. But this is his most rocking solo album in years, and also his funkiest. That's not say it's either funky or rock & roll, but it does manage to be lots of fun in a slightly inhuman, claustrophobically funky sort of way. The list of participants includes several of the usual suspects (Robert Fripp, Robert Quine, Roger Eno), as well as a few surprises (Benmont Tench, John Paul Jones) and a raft of unknowns. The sound, which doesn't vary much from track to track, is compressed and dense, with lots of heavily treated and synthesized percussion. On "What Actually Happened," for example, drummer Richard Bailey plays a distinctly organic funk part through what sounds like a battery of effects, while a bassist and guitarist do indistinguishable things and Eno messes around with everything and throws in samples. "Juju Space Jazz" features both Quine and Fripp (the latter credited with "early '50s club guitar") as well as Eno playing such instruments as "African organ" and "tenor fax." Overall, this album is quite fun but nothing to get too awfully excited about. ~ Rick Anderson

Product Details

Release Date:	12/02/2014
Label:	All Saints
UPC:	0801061103118

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Fractal Zoom
2. Wire Shock
3. What Actually Happened?
4. Pierre In Mist
5. My Squelchy Life
6. Juju Space Jazz

Disc 2

7. The Roil, The Choke
8. Ali Click
9. Distributed Being
10. Web
11. Web [Lascaux Mix]
12. Decentre

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Brian Eno   Primary Artist,Multi Instruments,Bass,Organ,Piano,Guitar,Vocals,Voices,Arabesque,Keyboards,Sax (Tenor),Synthesizer,Animal Sounds
C.S.J. Bofop   Primary Artist
Roger Eno   Guest Artist,Piano,Sampling
Jamie West-Oram   Guest Artist,Guitar,Guitar (Rhythm)
Robert Quine   Guest Artist,Guitar,Guitar (Rhythm)
John Paul Jones   Guest Artist,Piano
Robert Fripp   Guest Artist,Guitar
Anita Patel   Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part,Voices
Neil Catchpole   Voices
Richard Bailey   Drums
Joyce Robinson   Voices
Cecil Stomper III   Frame Drum
Ernest Darling   Claves
Guy Barber   Voices
Maria Eno   Voices
Penny Moorby   Voices
Rupel Patel   Voices
Sophie Rawlings   Voices
King Hastings Kwesi Banana   Percussion,Sax (Baritone)
Helen May   Voices
Rod Melvin   Piano
Benmont Tench   Percussion
Robert Ahwai   Guitar
Romeo Williams   Bass
Roderick Melvin   Piano
Alice Ngukwe   Sax (Tenor)
John Moorby   Voices,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Cecil Stamper III   Drums
Sugarfoot Moffett   Drums
Isaac Osapanin   Congas
Gregg Arreguin   Guitar
Sunita Patel   Voices,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Winston Ngukwe   Congas
Curtis Pelican   Trumpet
Yogish Patel   Voices,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Wayne Duchamp   Sax (Alto)
Christine West-Oram   Vocals
John May   Voices,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Laurence Cottle   Bass
Duchess Nell Catchpole   Vocals,Voices
Ian Dench   Drum Loop
Markus Dravs   Drums

Technical Credits

Markus Dravs   Drum Programming,Mixing,Engineer,Producer,Treatments
Brian Eno   Design,Mixing,Artwork,Composer,Producer,Treatments,Cover Design
Nick White   Photography
Greg Jakobek   Design,Artwork
Charles Steel   Assistant Engineer
Sid Wells   Engineer
Arun Chakraverty   Mastering
Paul Mortimer   Assistant Engineer
Lee Phillips   Assistant Engineer
Peter Anderson   Photography
Andy Pendleton   Assistant Engineer
Peter Bech Sorensen   Photography
Andy Baker   Assistant Engineer
Kevin Metcalfe   Mastering
Chris Fuhrman   Engineer
Ben Fenner   Engineer
Gareth Cousins   Assistant Engineer