Eno - My Squelchy Life (1991)

'My Squelchy Life' was recorded by Brian Eno in 1991, sent out to reviewers (with some reviews hitting the stands), then withdrawn suddenly after he decided it was a minor effort that needed extra work. A year later 'Nerve Net' was released, and while it is undoubtedly a more polished, adventurous, and mature album, 'My Squelchy Life' is a splendid pop album, and a fine follow-up to his collaboration with John Cale, 'Wrong Way Up'. Bootlegs abound of this album (albeit with an annoying glitch on one of the tracks), and most of the songs found their way onto the Eno Vocal Box Set, including the dreamy 'Under' and 'Over', and the upbeat 'Stiff', while 'I Fall Up' wound up on the b-side of 'Ali Click' a year later. That still leaves a number a fine tracks that are not that easy to get hold of, until the whole album was added to the deluxe re-issue of 'Nerve Net' in 2014. That should have satisfied anyone who still hadn't heard this elusive album, but as I found when trying to upgrade my bootleg copy, it's nigh on impossible to find a decent copy of the new 'Nerve Net' online, so to save you a frustrating search on the net, here it is in all its glory. As well as the tracks which have already been used elsewhere, 'The Harness' is a  slow, pulsing number similar to 'The Roil, The Choke' from 'Nerve Net', all grandiose and golden, and 'Tutti Forgetti' is a rhythmic workout similar to his work with David Byrne. 'Everybody's Mother' features a distorted vocal over an instrumental that would turn up on 'Shutov Assembly', and 'Little Apricot' is a solo piano composition, similar to 'Nerve Net's 'Web'. I think it's a great album, and can't see what he was thinking when he pulled it, but you can now hear for yourself here and make up your own mind.

Track listing

01 I Fall Up
02 The Harness
03 My Squelchy Life
04 Tutti Forgetti
05 Stiff
06 Some Words
07 Juju Space Jazz
08 Under
09 Everybody's Mother
10 Little Apricot
11 Over