Mixing Colours (Expanded Edition)

環境音楽の第一人者、イーノ兄弟が《ミキシング・カラーズ》に新曲7曲をコンバインした2枚組
《ロジャー・イーノ&ブライアン・イーノ～Mixing Colours Expanded》

今年3月に初のデュオ・アルバム『Mixing Colours』を発表したブライアン・イーノと弟ロジャーのイーノ兄弟。その後続編としてリリースしたEPに収録されていた新曲7曲をコンバインし、2枚組の拡大版がここに登場!

The first full-scale collaboration between brothers Roger and Brian Eno is a lengthy set of tone poems meant to evoke different colors and shades. Recorded over a 15-year period, the album simply began with Roger improvising melodies using a digital MIDI keyboard and sending them to Brian, who altered their timbres and textures. While Brian added treatments to Rogers 1985 solo debut, Voices, the pieces on Mixing Colours dont feel quite as windswept, nor do they get quite as dramatic. Much of the album consists of sparse, gentle notes that resound clearly, with sound waves reverberating from the center like ripples on a pond. Many of the compositions seem simple enough to be played on an acoustic piano, but Brians sonic manipulations add so much character and take them just enough into the realm of the unfamiliar that the record doesnt directly resemble any other. Moodwise, much of the album tends to be eerie and mysterious but not quite foreboding, and occasionally sad and blue yet not as if its bawling its eyes out. Burnt Umber seems like music for a reflective scene in a mystery film, with a slightly ominous bell-like melody and carefully paced chords. Obsidian is more of a drifting, glowing organ drone, and the biggest departure from the clearer melodies of most of the records tracks. Moments like Blonde and Rose Quartz are sweet and wistful, mingling sadness with joy. The album seemingly becomes more spaced out towards the end, but the concluding Slow Movement: Sand feels like a solemn resolution and is one of its more affecting tracks. ~ Paul Simpson

ブライアンとロジャーの〈イーノ兄弟〉による名義では初のアルバムがドイツ・グラモフォンからリリース。1曲を除き色に関するタイトルがつけられた計18曲は、主に弟が楽器で作曲した素材を兄が加工して戻すという、さながら2人の会話を音にしたようなもの。その中には2005年頃に書かれ曲もあるというから、およそ15年の歳月を経て完成したことになる大作だ。ピアノを筆頭に楽器の催眠的かつドラマ性ある演奏が、それらを包み込むシンセや抽象的な音響の処理により瞑想へと導かれ、アルバムを聴き進めていくほど音の奥底へと潜り込んでいく感覚にさせられる。美しくも極めてディープなアルバムである。
intoxicate (C)青木正之