ROGER ENO & PETER HAMMILL: THE APPOINTED HOUR

According to the ratings table (and admittingly some of the music contained) this is a 2-star album only but deserves at least one or even two more stars simply for the idea behind it. Hammill and Brian's brother Roger Eno apparently only met once on a tour bus years ago, kept in touch and decided quite some time later to embark on a collaboration. Their busy schedule did not allow the two to meet so Hammill came up with the following plan: both musicians would record a solo studio set on a certain day at an 'appointed hour' for that hour. They would then exchange the recordings hoping to find some moments, that would 'interact' or could be used after overdubbing. To their (and undoubtingly the listener's) surprise no dubbing was needed and the two tracks flowed into each other when played simutaniously, which is how this album was finally released: no overdubs, just two guys making music at the same time in two different places. Don't be fooled by the tracklisting - this is one continious track, and yes, suprisingly the experiment works, at least for most of the hour. There is little in terms of melody or song structures, and lots of keyboards, pianos and some of Hammill's unmistakable guitar playing. No, it is not prog music in the traditional sense, the closest categorization would probably be to call it an 'ambient jam session'. And no, this is no place to start if you don't know any of Hammill's work. Nevertheless, it is an intriguing piece, well worth a listen or two.