Michael Brook » Works » Solo » Cobalt Blue / Live At The Aquarium

Cobalt Blue (1992, 4AD) Shona Bridge Breakdown Red Shift Skip Wave Slipstream Andean Slow Breakdown Ultramarine Urbana Lakbossa Ten Hawaii

Live At The AQUARIUM (1993, 4AD) Shona Bridge After Image/Urbana Andean Ultramarine Lakbossa Cascade Red Shift

[Note: Michael Brook’s second solo effort, Cobalt Blue, and the subsequent concert recording of that album’s material, Live At The Aquarium, are currently available — both complete as originally issued — only as components of a single anthology CD.]

Cobalt Blue was begun during Michael’s residency at Brian Eno’s Wilderness Studio in Woodbridge, Suffolk, with the majority of recording taking place during the early 90's at Michael’s flat in London’s Ladbroke Grove neighborhood. The new album shared elements with its predecessor, Hybrid: affectionate nods to the musical cultures of India and the Middle East twinned with the sustaining timbres of Michael's invention, the Infinite Guitar. The sessions drew an impressive cast of contributors: former SPK drummer James Pinker, who later toured extensively with Michael in support of Cobalt Blue, provided percussion and keyboard bass; others included Hahn Rowe (violinist from the band Hugo Largo), and vocalist Jo Burgess. Renowned producer Daniel Lanois returned to help out, as did Brian Eno, the latter creating string arrangements (played by Nell Catchpole) and programming drum machine tracks; the cod-Arabic ululations of ‘Ben Arion’ (an anagram of Brian’s name) enhanced “Skip Wave.”  Roger Eno, whose own recording career was then in its nascent stage, added accordion and vibraphone.

Despite its cast of cohorts, Cobalt Blue was largely the product of over a year’s solitary practice and concentration on Michael’s part. The effort to expand upon Hybrid’s promise proved successful but was personally taxing for its author. Cobalt Blue was to be released initially on Opal. Owing to complications with foreign distributors, it was withdrawn from Opal's release schedule and then presented to Ivo Watts-Russell for issue on his 4AD label; 4AD would also release Michael’s follow-up, Live at the Aquarium. This latter title was literally the recording of a live gig staged at the London Aquarium to commemorate Cobalt Blue’s release. Michael was positioned opposite the shark tank as he played (he remembers this as a faintly unnerving experience). This also marked the beginning of extensive touring in the company of James Pinker on behalf of Cobalt Blue; a solo tour was booked by Michael, making canny use of a United Airlines fare special then in existence. Later, Messrs. Brook and Pinker opened for Velvet Underground founder John Cale on an American tour in 1992.