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A journey. Physical and mental. A shift, almost a leap into the void, an unknown city and an unknown album that Fate, or whoever on her behalf, decided to bring to my attention. As a novice, I approach an author of whom I know little or nothing, with the innocence of a child discovering the world, ignoring (or thereabouts) what was before and what will come after.
"Before and After Science", before the advent of the digital age brought all the tracks together on a single side, was composed of two distinct parts: the A side, lively and experimental, and the B side, soft and ethereal, almost minimalist; the experimentation and energy of funk juxtaposed with the poetry of pure melody. The metallic days of "No One Receiving" have that very seventies bass that unwittingly makes me think of the soundtrack of a porn film from those years; "Backwater" is a non-sense divertissement where the words seem like a nursery rhyme subjugated to the music; "Energy Fools The Magician" breaks the rhythm, giving a glimpse of the variation that will occur on side B; "King's Lead Hat" recalls the style of Talking Heads (of which, by the way, the title is an anagram).
The tone changes with "Here He Comes", which leaves behind funk, synthesizers, and dynamic rhythms to transition to a classically pop, romantic, and poetic ballad. The first shimmering lights of the evening fall, the percussion is abandoned, and the atmosphere becomes as soft as the imperceptible roll of the waves in "Julie With…". The sea, then a river: water is a recurring element in the album, almost representing the flow and clarity of the music, especially in this latter part (after all, this discovery takes place in a coastal city, so the coincidence couldn't be more appropriate). The current leads to the gentle notes of "By This River", the time marked, the piano loop repeated throughout the song, the murmur carrying us to what will be the perfect symphonic finale of "Spider and I" and the ship moving away, taking with it all our morning dreams.
Vivid images that create ten small sound paintings, as intended by the original edition, which enriched the work with four more (real) paintings by Peter Schmidt, a friend of Eno. A visual journey, as well as a mental one, that reveals a little of what truly lies before and after science.
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