In the mid-’70s, King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp and ex-Roxy Music sound manipulator Brian Eno collaborated on two bizarre (for the era) and groundbreaking collections of minimalist, tape loop-based soundscapes titled “No Pussyfooting” and “Evening Star.” Though the records baffled most listeners then, they subsequently inspired many of the ambient, minimalist and techno recordings of the past 20 years. With minimal fanfare, Fripp & Eno have reconvened to record “The Equatorial Stars,” which essentially picks up where 1975’s “Evening Star” left off. Languid, hushed and spacey, the first three tracks (“Meissa,” “Lyra,” “Tarazed”) find the duo delicately coloring intergalactic sonic backdrops with drifting, pointillistic tone dots that coalesce into hypnotic, ethereal meditations. “Ankaa” and “Lupus” use softly whooshing smears of sound and muffled, deep, gamelan-like tones to more brooding effect. The one bad track is “Altair,” a mood-crashing, soft funk foray that recalls a soft-core porn soundtrack. It’s the only misfire on an otherwise alluring, though slow moving, space-scape.
