”Everything is in a state of transition,” David Torn explained. “Mercury is an element that captures the essence of change.” The changing soundscape of improvisation in the mid-1980s informs the textures and colours of Cloud About Mercury, whose sonorities are closely related to progressive rock (the rhythm section is half of one incarnation of King Crimson) and to the experimental end of ambient music. Drummer Bill Bruford’s affection for this album is undying: “To this day, Torn’s guitar on ‘Three Minutes of Pure Entertainment’ from Cloud About Mercury makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.” Recorded 1986.