No pussyfooting, indeed. This is one of the great '70s bong-hit soundtracks of all time, right up there w/ the second half of Can's Tago Mago and Don Cherry's Orient. Originally released in 1973, the same year as Eno's monumentally good Here Come The Warm Jets LP, No Pussyfooting sees Eno and King Crimson's Robert Fripp experimenting in tape loops and tasteful guitar noodling. You could accuse this of being rather formless indulgence on behalf of both participants, since that's likely a large part of what this is, but that doesn't make it anything less than great. Two tracks, one a side: "Heavenly Music Corporation" on A, and "Swastika Girls" on B, roughly 20 minutes a piece. That's 40 minutes of slo-mo guitar/synth/tape churn to bury your head in. The better of the two is the first: "Heavenly Music Corporation" evolves from a quiet, repetitive loop to a swarm of divebombing guitars, whilst "Swastika Girls" occasionally comes across as a little directionless and not fully formed, although the loop track creates a sublime murky quality, not unlike some of Philip Jeck's finer moments. The two tried this schtick again on 1975's Evening Star LP, a record I find to be a little less successful in results than its predecessor, though one still worth adding to the pile. Fact is, every record Eno played on as a headliner, co-headliner or under the Roxy Music banner between the years 1971-1983 is worth your time and trouble, but that's old news. No Pussyfooting remains one of his most inspired outings, right up there w/ Here Come The Warm Jets, Another Green World, Discreet Music and Apollo, and the futuristic/glam/sci-fi-style front-cover shot of the two is the icing on the cake. A cliche but a truism: No Pussyfooting is a timeless recording, one which wouldn't sound out of place being recorded tomorrow.
No pussyfooting, indeed. This is one of the great '70s bong-hit soundtracks of all time, right up there w/ the second half of Can's Tago Mago and Don Cherry's Orient. Originally released in 1973, the same year as Eno's monumentally good Here Come The Warm Jets LP, No Pussyfooting sees Eno and King Crimson's Robert Fripp experimenting in tape loops and tasteful guitar noodling. You could accuse this of being rather formless indulgence on behalf of both participants, since that's likely a large part of what this is, but that doesn't make it anything less than great. Two tracks, one a side: "Heavenly Music Corporation" on A, and "Swastika Girls" on B, roughly 20 minutes a piece. That's 40 minutes of slo-mo guitar/synth/tape churn to bury your head in. The better of the two is the first: "Heavenly Music Corporation" evolves from a quiet, repetitive loop to a swarm of divebombing guitars, whilst "Swastika Girls" occasionally comes across as a little directionless and not fully formed, although the loop track creates a sublime murky quality, not unlike some of Philip Jeck's finer moments. The two tried this schtick again on 1975's Evening Star LP, a record I find to be a little less successful in results than its predecessor, though one still worth adding to the pile. Fact is, every record Eno played on as a headliner, co-headliner or under the Roxy Music banner between the years 1971-1983 is worth your time and trouble, but that's old news. No Pussyfooting remains one of his most inspired outings, right up there w/ Here Come The Warm Jets, Another Green World, Discreet Music and Apollo, and the futuristic/glam/sci-fi-style front-cover shot of the two is the icing on the cake. A cliche but a truism: No Pussyfooting is a timeless recording, one which wouldn't sound out of place being recorded tomorrow.
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