01	Arrival						05:01
	02	Doggie Dog						01:52
	03	Slow Town						02:34
	04	Preparation						03:18
	05	Miscalculation						01:44
	06	Aftermath						04:39
	07	Tunnel						05:00
	08	Albo Gator						04:18
	09	The Promise						04:36
	10	The City						05:46
	11	The Kicker						01:28
	12	Exit						04:15
	13	Ill Wind (You're Blowing Me No Good)						03:34

4*A*D
Year: 1997
Catalog Number: 9 46504-2
Import
Produced by: Michael Brook, MB & Flea (track 13)


Michael Brook
Born in Toronto, Canada

The innovative guitarist and producer Michael Brook was born and raised in Toronto. While studying electronic music and the arts at the University of Toronto, he met trumpter Jon Hassell, with whom he later toured; through Hassell, Brook also was introduced to minimalist composer LaMonte Young, under whom he studied Indian music. A period working as the house engineer at producer Daniel Lanois' famed Grant Avenue recording studio led to a tenure playing guitar with the Canadian pop band Martha and the Muffins during the late '70s; at the same time, Brook also met Brian Eno, guesting on the 1980 Eno/Hassell collaboration Possible Musics. In 1983, he also played on Harold Budd's Magic Realism.
In 1985 Brook made his solo debut with Hybrid, an influential ethno-ambient work recorded with Eno that discovered the middle ground between Western and Indian musical aesthetics and established his unique, heavily-processed "infinite guitar" sound. He spent much of the remaining decade working with Eno, helping create video sculptures and sound installations across the globe; he also became a sought-after producer, helming records for such diverse talents as Roger Eno, Pieter Nooten, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Balloon, and the Pogues. In 1990, Brook returned to world music, producing Youssou N'Dour's acclaimed Set; more importantly, he began a continuing collaboration with Pakistani qawaali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan with the seminal Mustt Mustt, a fusion of Western ambient and pop sounds with the sacred spiritual music of the East.

After producing Khaled, a 1991 project for the Algerian rai vocalist Cheb Khaled, Brook returned to the studio to record his first solo effort in seven years, 1992's stellar Cobalt Blue; a rare concert performance given at a party celebrating the album's release was subsequently issued as the limited-edition Live at the Aquarium. A pair of projects with the Indian mandolin wizard U. Srinvas, 1994's Rama Sreemrama and the next year's Dream, followed; in 1996, Brook reunited with Ali Khan for Night Song, trailed by work on the score for the Kevin Spacey-directed crime noir Albino Alligator. - Jason Ankeny

1985 Hybrid EG
1992 Cobalt Blue 4AD
1993 Live at the Aquarium: London Zoo 21 May 1992 4AD
1995 Shona Sine
1997 Albino Alligator Warner
Time Walk Electronical




Albino Alligator
Date of Release Feb 11, 1997

Translating Brook's evocative guitar art into soundtrack music for a Kevin Spacey-directed neo-noir thriller might seem an unusual choice. However, his work here turns into an interesting blend of his own style and smoky late night jazz and darker, moodier incidental guitar, interspersed with a variety of other instrumental touches. One of his sharpest moves lies in the mixing of performers he brings to the effort. Besides stand-up bass and sax, the ney, udu, and srinivas guitar figure into the rotating lineup of instruments he and his various collaborators tackle. Brook himself also plays keyboard on nearly all the tracks, as well as handling a good amount of the bass and drum programming. Given the project's origins, it's striking if not totally surprising that most of the pieces hold up as well on their own as do Brook's separate efforts. "Albo Gator" underscores the collaborative nature of the project, with some of Christian Forte's lines from the movie played over the gentle chime of the piece, provided in large part by Jason Lewis' tuned percussion. "Preparation" alone is worth the investigating, one of Brook's serene guitar drones and gentle performances, leading into a Morricone-western melody echoing into the distance. Hints of the intense plucking and drive that he brings to many of his pieces bubble under the mix in contrast. "Arrival" starts the album and sets the tone for both film and disc wonderfully, merest hints of Brook's trademark style coming through as a four-performer setup conjures up ghosts of legendary past jazz-noir scores. "Miscalculation" is a more upbeat if no less mood-setting effort, Hafez Modirzadeh's short sax tones and Lewis' quick work on tabla and tom-drum setting the tone. A fine, unexpected touch comes with the final track, a cover of the old Harold Arlen number "Ill Wind," with Jimmy Scott and Michael Stipe on vocals and Flea on bass. - Ned Raggett

1. Arrival (Brook)
2. Doggie Dog (Brook)
3. Slow Town (Brook)
4. Preparation (Brook)
5. Miscalulator (Brook)
6. Aftermath (Brook)
7. Tunnel (Brook)
8. Albo Gator (Brook)
9. The Promise (Brook)
10. The City (Brook)
11. The Kicker (Brook)
12. Exit (Brook)
13. Ill Wind (Arlen/Koehler)

Little Jimmy Scott - Vocals
Michael Brook - Bass, Guitar, Arranger, Keyboards, Producer, Engineer, Vibraphone, Drum Programming
Tom Carr - Engineer
Tony Cousins - Mastering
Flea - Bass, Arranger, Producer
John Keane - Engineer
James Pinker - Cymbals, Drums, Tambourine, Engineer, Shaker, Hi Hat
Michael Stipe - Vocals
Chris Bigg - Design
Vaughan Oliver - Art Direction, Design
Hafez Modirzadeh - Saxophone, Ney
Dominic Davies - Photography
Albert Sanchez - Photography
Jason Lewis - Percussion, Drums, Marimba, Tabla, Udu, Hi Hat
William Fichtner - Harmonica (Amplified), Voices
Amanda Scheer-Demme - Executive Producer, Music Supervisor
Kevin Spacey - Executive Producer
Anton Schwartz - Saxophone
Jim Sheldon - Photography
Bill Jackson - Mixing
Veronica Albano - Soundtrack Coordination
Bob Adams - Organ, Piano, Bowed Bass, String Bass

1997 CD Warner Brothers 46504