Search - Roger Eno :: Flatlands

Offering a very scenic sort of modern, chamberlike music characterized by the genteel interaction of oboes, clarinets, saxophone, violins, cello, and piano, Roger Eno's sixth solo album is a disarming, beguiling affair. Presenting 18 refined instrumental selections, some improvised, some structured, nearly all quite brief and suggestive of something cinematic, The Flatlands offers an intelligent charm and an admirably subdued sense of stateliness. Eno is joined by 10 additional musicians (including fellow Channel Light Vessel collaborator Kate St. John) on this project, though little additional information is yielded by the CD booklet. Instead, its eight pages are devoted almost entirely to evocatively abstract photography, a fitting aesthetic flourish. The album's overall mood is that of a deeply shaded forest floor, with shifting slivers of radiance penetrating the thick canopy of melancholy. Its subtle, elusive beauty grows more evident with each listening. "I was interested in the intimate textures that a chamber group allows, the accidents that chance brings with it and how apparently mutable time can appear," Eno states in the album's press notes. "In short, I wished to make a record which was both satisfying to write and to live with, one that plays with time yet rests comfortably on the ear." Mission accomplished. --Terry Wood