6. Fripp & Eno- The Equatorial Stars


What a delight! Two releases by the maestro of ambience in the same year and both of them of the highest quality!
With The Equatorial Stars Eno reunites with Robert Fripp who himself has been trying to reinvent himself by releasing several ambient albums. Their previous collaboration, Evening Star dates back to 1975 and the minimal, slightly cold light of that single star representing that album has given way to the myriad of constellations and starshine on this album...or, in normal English- The Equatorial Stars sounds much warmer and brighter. That starts with the appearance of a tapestry of background synths throughout the whole album. Then there's Fripps' guitarplay which only sporadically employs the Frippertronic-technique but is brilliantly dosed, phasing in and out like smokerings almost. Third difference is the use of electronic beats, sometimes like slow pulses but in Altair it gets really funky. It's a sensous album filled with interweaving gorgeous melodies brought by two masters with stars in their eyes, a far cry away from the tapeloops and the layered guitar sounds that they developed 30 years ago.