January 07003: Bell Studies for The Clock of The Long Now

by

Brian Eno

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Twenty five years ago, I awoke on a Sunday morning in Cevio, Switzerland. The previous night, a dinner party featuring fresh ravioli, butter sautéed Sage, beets and shell beans provided the background for strangers and friends to come together. After dining, the party walked down to the river to watch the full moon rise over the mountain valley while singing Italian Folk songs accompanied by a mandolin. The old caretaker with his pet crow sat quietly passing two bowls of coffee, one bowl bitter and one bowl sweet. Long after everyone had gone to bed, the church bells peeled in the dark damp early morning, bouncing giant waves of sound off the stone buildings and the rocky walls of the valley. Where the bells originated was indecipherable - the source indeterminate. Sound oozed in through the thick walls and rolled around the room in slow motion, reverberating deep and long, layer upon layer. This CD reminds me of the timelessness of that morning, in the foothills of the Italian Alps, slowly waking to the bells which seemed to resonate inside my mind, rippling through my awakening body as if my being were immersed underwater, my submerged self gradually surfacing. Eno's CD is a great addition to his catalogue - music for caverns, echoes of long now.

Eno has captured my attention and imagination with a number of his diverse works. I never expect to find the same thing from him yet, with this particular departure, I never felt that it was a musical work but, rather, a series of bell studies. The title indicates this, so I wasn't surprised.

Listening to the CD, found myself distracted by the slightest thing yet, when my attention was focused, the material is wonderfully beautiful. I think my biggest reason for purchasing this frighteningly expensive disc is that the proceeds go to support the Clock of the Long Now foundation. Their efforts are, in my humble estimation, very important.

If you're new to Eno, this is not the place to start. If you're an avid fan, you might feel compelled to have this disc in your collection. For me, in the context of his other works, this felt, somehow, unimportant.