This came out in 2000 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
When I say that eclectic composer Russell Mills is a cover artist, I don’t mean he plays other people’s songs.
In his day gig, Mills is a visual artist — he did the CD book for Nine Inch Nails’ Downward Spiral, along with discs for Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Miles Davis, David Sylvian and plenty of others. Stepping from the artist’s studio to the recording studio for this second solo CD, he works the Rolodex and calls in a few favours, enlisting the support of Eno, Peter Gabriel, Bill Laswell and Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore. Not surprisingly, what ensues is an artsy affair. Instead of tunes, Pearl + Umbra is like a gallery, displaying a dozen varied sonic sculptures — electronic drones, jazzy trip-hop, muted industrial, snappy funk — built from sinewy basslines, bold sweeps of cinematic synthesizers, the occasional icy, esoteric vocal from the likes of Emma Townshend. I may not know art, but I know I like it. Oh yeah, the cover art is pretty cool, too.