Brian Eno - My Squelchy Life

What an appropriate name for a Brian Eno album.

This 1991 release was shelved by Eno shortly before it's release date, although promos had been mailed and the album was reviewed by at least one publication. Some of the tracks appeared on Eno's Nerve Net album and others saw release via varying compilations, but the full album has never seen the light of day, at least in a legal sense.

My Squelchy Life had been touted as a return to vocal work for Eno, with some claiming it to be classic Eno pop, but this is certainly no Warm Jets 2. The best comparison might be to Another Green World as there are songs next to instrumental pieces, but even that is a bit misleading as Green World was still a youthful album, whereas Squelchy is filled with recollection and darkness. Older, yes, but no less intriguing or gripping.

Eno sings in a tone quite similar to that of his friend and collaborator, David Byrne, but sometimes he hits chords that are thoroughly unexpected. On Over, he conjures the spirit of an Elvis Presley ballad, while on Tutti Forgetti he sounds like a parody of Byrne and soul singers. Stiff is a glorious ode to welcoming death, and yet it's probably the poppiest number on the album. On Everybody's Mother, his vocals are processed in a way that you could listen to the story, but if you treat his vocal like an instrument you're greeted by what sounds like a quiet voice over a short-wave radio, all with the sound of a thunderstorm in the background. There are also wonderful instrumentals like the tinkling piano of Little Apricot and the dark vocal collage of the title cut, leaving a truly unsettling feeling. Beauty like this covers the album, leaving the listener fascinated if not a little disturbed.

As to why the album was not released, a clear answer has never been given. It's assumed part of the problem stemmed from the end of Eno's Opal Records partnership with Warner Bros., but that's only a logical assumption rather than a sturdy explanation. Regardless, it's unfortunate that My Squelchy Life never saw release as it was intended.

Regarding this version, I received a lossless rip of the album from someone who got it from a popular music downloading site. I investigated it's spectral data and everything looks to be from a lossless source, although some files cut off a little below the full frequency range of a standard CD. Is this a collection of tracks from different sources put together? Is this a pre-master? Was this the master and Eno simply not concerned about such details? Whatever the answer, this is a serious upgrade from the version of the album I previously had and I'm sure anyone listening will find it thoroughly pleasing. Enjoy!


Brian Eno - My Squelchy Life

UPDATE: HERE is another download link for the album, this time in ZIP format as requested. To the Anonymous poster that requested this ZIP file, I still don't understand what difference this makes but I hope it helps you out. The original link located above still works just fine and has a recovery archive, which the ZIP version does not.

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 / Step Up My Boys
10 Little Apricot
11 Over


PS - Two little notes. First, I'm sure that the art featured above couldn't be official. It certainly is cheesy looking, isn't it? Second, does Juju Space Jazz live up to it's name or what?