Peter Murphy, Dust (Metropolis) 9
Peter Murphy ranks as one of a small handful of aging artists (David Byrne, David Sylvian and, um, er…) from the post-punk era who manages not only to avoid embarrassing themselves, but remain relevant. Dust is his first full album of new tunes since 1995's Cascade. The traces of Middle Eastern influences in Cascade have expanded into a full-blown exploration of the genre, particularly of the trance music of Turkey, which has reportedly been Murphy's adopted home for some time. Turkish musicians mix bows, kanuns, uds, and tablas with Western musicians, including Michael Brook, who has collaborated with the great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Those looking for catchy pop songs like "Cuts You Up" or "I'll Fall With Your Knife" will be disappointed. Aside from opening track "Things To Remember," there are no obvious, memorable hooks, melodies or choruses. The nine songs have an average length of seven minutes. Those patient enough to appreciate the more meandering structures of Peter Gabriel's Arabic-influenced work and David Sylvian's Dead Bees On A Cake might enjoy the layered atmospherics and polyrhythms here. Mercan Dede mixes in sampled electronic sounds on cuts like "Girlchild Aglow" and "Your Face," keeping it from sounding like a generic world beat excursion, although Brian Eno did a much more interesting job over 20 years ago on My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts. Even those who don't appreciate the exotic instrumentation can make use of its overall beauty as the post-goth mash album to have this year.
