features in: Album Chart of 1978 ● Album Chart of the Decade: 1970s ● 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die |
“Brian Eno? What does ‘e know?” I used to scoff, back in the day when I was an ignorant youth. Sorry about that Brian. Kids can be so cruel. He seems omnipresent in this era, both as creator and producer. With regards to this groundbreaking LP, the Wiki tells us that “the music was designed to be continuously looped as a sound installation, with the intent of defusing the tense, anxious atmosphere of an airport terminal. To achieve this, Eno sought to create music 'as ignorable as it is interesting.' Though it is not the earliest entry in the genre, it was the first album ever to be explicitly created under the label 'ambient music'.”
For me, the best track on this double LP was the opener (side 1, track 1 hence the title) which was the only track not to be solely credited to Eno himself. It was co-composed with former Soft Machine drummer and vocalist Robert Wyatt, and with producer Rhett Davies. Talking about the piece, Eno said:
“I had four musicians in the studio, and we were doing some improvising exercises that I’d suggested. I couldn’t hear the musicians very well at the time, and I’m sure they couldn’t hear each other, but listening back, later, I found this very short section of tape where two pianos, unbeknownst to each other, played melodic lines that interlocked in an interesting way. To make a piece of music out of it, I cut that part out, made a stereo loop on the 24-track, then I discovered I liked it best at half speed, so the instruments sounded very soft, and the whole movement was very slow.”
I fear I may never be able to sing “Eno Collaboration All Across The Nation” with quite the same heartiness ever again. Brian's alright. Think I’m maturing!
The Jukebox Rebel
11–Mar–2016
Tracklist |
A1 | [16:30] Brian Eno - 1/1 (Brian Eno) Ambient |
A2 | [08:20] Brian Eno - 2/1 (Brian Eno) Ambient |
B1 | [11:30] Brian Eno - 1/2 (Brian Eno) Ambient |
B2 | [06:00] Brian Eno - 2/2 (Brian Eno) Ambient |