I mentioned before that after Polar Bear shut up shop in Sheffield, the bloke who ran it moved to their Leeds shop, and I visited him there once in May 2002. I bought this CD that day. I don't really know why. It wasn't much to do with the album; more to do with the slightly odd social situation, killing time, being alone in a shop with someone I knew, and liked, without knowing his name. It wasn't pity that made me buy it (though I didn't and wouldn't envy someone in independent music retail) but I think I just needed to do something to justify my presence, to make me look busy — checking my watch wouldn't have been enough, and lighting a cigarette was not an option (I didn't have any) — so buying a CD was the solution staring me in the face.
The back of the CD reads:
By prior arrangement Roger Eno and Peter Hammill recorded improvisations in their respective studios on April 1st 1999, between 1300-1400 GMT. This CD is a combination of that work and their mutual concentration. No overdubs or time-slippage have been applied. The resultant music is a faithful document of one particular and appointed hour.
April Fool? The above may be strictly true, but I'm pretty sure that one or other of the contributions is mixed down to the point of inaudibility in a few short passages.
Musically it's OK, not very remarkable in any way. What holds it together is what Peter Hammill calls the "Art Glue" of the concept, which opens up various questions about improvisation and collaboration. Free improvisers are credited for the level of their listening, so what to make of two improvisers who are separated by hundreds of miles and cannot hear each other, at least with their ears. Then there's John Cage's rejection of intentionality in composition, which he used to open up the moment. So how can you have two composers/performers sharing the same moment but at the same time not sharing it?
It's a curiosity in every sense.
 MusicBrainz entry for this album
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