The Plateaux of Mirror - The Music

The Music

The bulk of the instrumentation is Budd on acoustic piano with treatments by Eno. "The Plateaux of Mirror" and "Wind in Lonely Fences" are performed on electric piano. Budd composed "Not Yet Remembered" in California, with a melodic line intended for vocals, and mailed the composition to Eno in New York City. Eno then reversed the melodic phrase, recorded it and played it to Budd for the first time over the telephone. The basic theme of "The Chill Air" was repeated on "Their Memories," a piece on Budd and Eno's 1984 release The Pearl. While the theme is recognisable by its melody line, the treatments are more pronounced.

Tracks 2, 4, 7, 8 and 10 are mostly piano-oriented, with little in the way of heavy electronic tinkering by Eno; track 1, also piano-based, has some light synthesizer treatments towards the latter half. Tracks 3 and 9 feature syncopation, mostly in the form of light chimes, while track 6 has wordless vocal-style effects accompanying the piano. Track 5's piano is backed with some warm synthesizers, the most uptempo composition on the album.

Because the album was recorded on analog equipment, the listener can hear the hiss of the tapes Eno used for his treated sounds in several of the tracks.