Ambient 1: Music for Airports

Last updated

Ambient 1: Music for Airports
Music for Airports.jpg
Studio album by
Brian Eno
Released1978
Recorded1978
StudioLondon and Cologne
Genre
Length42:20
Label
Producer Brian Eno
Brian Eno chronology
Before and After Science
(1977)		Ambient 1: Music for Airports
(1978)		 Music for Films
(1978)

Ambient 1: Music for Airports is the sixth studio album by Brian Eno, released in 1978 by Polydor Records. It is the first of Eno's albums released under the label of ambient music, a genre of music intended to "induce calm and a space to think" while remaining "as ignorable as it is interesting". [1] [2] While not Eno's earliest entry in the style, it is credited with coining the term.

Contents

The album consists of four compositions created by layering tape loops of differing lengths, and was designed to be continuously looped as a sound installation, with the intent of defusing the anxious atmosphere of an airport terminal. Eno defined his approach in opposition to "canned" Muzak and easy listening practices. The album was the first of four albums released in Eno's Ambient series, which concluded with 1981's Ambient 4: On Land .

In 2004, Rolling Stone credited the album with defining the ambient genre. [3] In 2016, Pitchfork ranked it the greatest ambient album of all time. [4]

Background and concept

Eno became interested in ambience when he suffered an automobile accident that sent him to the hospital in the mid-1970s. His friend Judy Nylon visited Eno in the hospital and left an album playing quietly before leaving. [5] The sound blended with the rain outside the room and, unable to get up and adjust the volume, Eno allowed it to create an ambience aligned with his fluctuating attention. [6] The album Discreet Music (1975), per Eno's own judgement, was his first foray into ambient music. [6] [7] [8] [9]

After spending several hours waiting for a flight at Germany's Cologne Bonn Airport and becoming annoyed by its uninspired atmosphere, Eno conceived an album of music "designed for airports". He intended for the album to still function within various other situations. [10] [11] [12] Ambient music was then a "relatively modest field", "more a concept than a genre", and mostly created against the context of dominant muzak practices. [7] [13] [14] Eno's concept was distinct from elevator music and easy listening's "derivative" background noise approach, [4] and was instead to be used as a means of creating space for thought. [15] In the album's liner notes, Eno explained:

Whereas conventional background music is produced by stripping away all sense of doubt and uncertainty (and thus all genuine interest) from the music, Ambient Music retains these qualities. And whereas their intention is to `brighten' the environment by adding stimulus to it (thus supposedly alleviating the tedium of routine tasks and levelling out the natural ups and downs of the body rhythms) Ambient Music is intended to induce calm and a space to think. Ambient Music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting. [16]

Eno later named the Ray Conniff Singers and the "Borgesian idea" of a self-generated "world in reverse" which is centered around music as inspirations during this period. [17] [18]

Recording and composition

All tracks were composed by Eno except "1/1", which was co-composed by Eno with former Soft Machine drummer and vocalist Robert Wyatt and with producer Rhett Davies.

Music for Airports makes use of spliced tape loops. [19] Recalling its creation, Eno said it was "conceived as deliberately austere and unemotional" and "was essentially made by machines". [17] [20] He began work during the creation of David Bowie's Low. [21] With regards to their instrumentation, dynamic range, timbre, harmony, tonality and texture, the tracks are confining and feature a "contained repertory of pitches, gestural shapes, and motivic content that lasts throughout its entirety". [9] [22] Variations of timbre are seen when comparing the tracks, such as the warm "1/1" contrasting with the cold and dark "1/2". [9] They are without backing rhythms and instead irregular repetition. [23]

He has stated a connection to death. Not wanting it to be "all bright and cheerful", Eno, a self-proclaimed "nervous flyer", considered the feelings that arise from being at an airport, including the supposed mortality salience and hoped the album would bring solace: "Really, it’s music to resign you to the possibility of death". [24] [25] John L. Waters described the album as a "logical progression from the work of the experimental and systems-based 'serious' musicians (John White, Gavin Bryars, Christopher Hobbs, Michael Parsons, Michael Nyman) that Eno recorded and championed for his label Obscure". [26] David Stubbs noted similarities to the work of Erik Satie. [27]

"1/1", features piano loops performed in an arrhythmic manner – piano being the dominant instrument throughout the album. [6] [28] The track arose from two pianists improvising whereby neither could clearly hear the other, leading to separate yet complementary melodies being played. [29] Various motifs, played in a fitful manner, are featured. [30] Philosopher of art John Lysaker, while discussing the album's general sense of aimless direction, noted that "1/1" "holds together no better (and no worse) than a cloud". [6] [lower-alpha 1] The music throughout is down-tempo, without "distinct melodic or harmonic development[;] no highs or lows". [12] "1/1" is the only track to feature a melody. [31] [ clarification needed ]

"2/1" and "1/2" make use of vocal loops; the former designed to have them fluctuate in synchrony. [32] The disparate lengths of "2/1" were the result of each singer's differing capabilities. He modified the tape recordings offhandedly to loops, [33] desiring "a silence at least twice as long as the sound" and "complicated rather than simple relationships". "And then I started all the loops running, and let them configure in the way they chose to configure". [34] Music professor Victor Szabo described the track as "ghostly", writing that the "non-vibrato" tape loops are "uncannily lifeless": "Through such compositional techniques and affective-expressive codes, ‘2/1’ intimates human absence more overtly than any other track". [9]

"2/2" was performed with an ARP 2600 synthesiser. Brian Eno described how this piece was recorded:

[...] The second piece on the second side of Music for Airports was done with an ARP 2600. It's a beautiful sound, I think, and one that I couldn't have got from any other synthesizer that I know of. The thing that makes it so luscious is that it's slowed down, and it has three kinds of echo on it. [35]

Release

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [36]
Christgau's Record Guide B [37]
Mojo Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [38]
Pitchfork 9.2/10 (2004) [39]
10/10 (2024) [40]
Record Collector Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [41]
Rolling Stone (2004)Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [13]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [42]
Slant Magazine Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [43]
Spin Alternative Record Guide 4/10 [44]
Uncut 10/10 [45]

The first album of ambient music to become popular – and later recognised as the "first deliberately 'ambient' recording" – it was initially dismissed by critics, audiences and some of Eno's peers alike, bewildering some of the former. [12] [46] [26] [47] [48] It only became more favoured by the 1990s, having "entered the modern musical canon". [49] [31]

Blandness was a very common critique in the initial reviews, a possible by-product of its unvarying and populist conception, wrote Szabo. [9] In a 1979 review for Rolling Stone , Michael Bloom found Ambient 1 self-indulgent and lacking focus. "There's a good deal of high craftsmanship here," Bloom said. "But to find it, you've got to thwart the music's intent by concentrating." [50] In another contemporary review for The Village Voice , critic Robert Christgau wrote that "these four swatches of modestly 'ambient' minimalism have real charms as general-purpose calmatives. But I must also report that they've fared unevenly against specific backgrounds." [51] He later called it "a bore". [9] Writing for The Globe and Mail , around the time of its release, Alan Niester categorized the album as alien, calling it "background grunge" that was best suited for "dish-doing [and] bed-making". [52] In a 1979 interview with Eno for Musician , critic Lester Bangs described Music for Airports as having "a crystalline, sun-light-through windowpane quality that makes it somewhat mesmerising even as you half-listen to it," and recounted a personal experience in which the album induced him into a dream state featuring Charles Mingus. [53]

PopMatters journalist John Davidson was enthusiastic in a retrospective review, deeming Music for Airports a masterpiece whose value "can only be appreciated by listening to it in a variety of moods and settings. Then you are likely struck by how the music allows your mind the space to breathe", Davidson wrote, "and in doing so, adapts itself to your mood". [54] AllMusic reviewer Linda Kohanov stated that "like a fine painting, these evolving soundscapes don't require constant involvement on the part of the listener [...] yet the music also rewards close attention with a sonic richness absent in standard types of background or easy listening music." [36] Sasha Frere-Jones wrote that, by strength of its compositions, Music for Airports fails to facilitate an easily disregarded listening experience: "the album is too beautiful to ignore". [55] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine described the effect of the compositions as "sheer weightlessness." [43] Q described it as "soothing and sublime, a useful album when you're feeling particularly delicate." [56] In a positive review, Pitchfork 's Grayson Haver Currin wrote that "to hear Music for Airports as more than a background balm, these four tracks remain wondrous and transformative, able to rearrange the air in a room." [40]

Legacy

Ambient 1 was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . [57] Chuck Eddy from Spin later named it the fourth most essential ambient album. [58] In September 2016, Pitchfork named the record the best ambient album of all time. [59]

The album has been recognized as a seminal and influential release, an icon of the genre and Eno's discography. [6] [24] [21] [60] [61] J. D. Considine wrote in The Rolling Stone Album Guide that the record defined the ambient aesthetic while providing a name for the genre. [3] Chris Richards of The Washington Post wrote that it "taught an entire generation of musicians to consider music as a texture". [62] Reflecting on the album, Jon Caramanica called it the best of Eno's work which shortly followed Roxy Music. [13] Due in part to Music for Airports, perception of Eno's career shifted and he became aligned with highly influential minimalist composers: Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Terry Riley, and La Monte Young. [63] Artists such as Pauline Oliveros, Riley and Harold Budd would expand on Eno's style of ambient music, which would feature prominently on his following albums; Music for Airports acted as a genesis for Eno and collaborators exploring the style, such as in the numbered Ambient series (1978–82). [9] [64] [65] His conception would soon become more mallable and less reliant upon locations. [9]

Over the years, the album has sold over 200,000 copies, making it one of his best-selling solo albums. [66]

Installation and covers

The album has been installed and performed in at least five airports; it has been met with resistance from some travellers and workers, who deem it disruptive. [9] [67] Clinics and hospitals have used the albums to soothe patients. [68] In 1998, Bang on a Can performed the album live, favouring a "technicolour style". [31] Discussing their performance, Eno described it as the ensemble "trying to act like machines, but they don't sound like machines at all, they sound like people and it's quite touching when that appears". [20] He felt the rendition's emotive quality was the result of the supposed human element; it moved him to tears, he said, and others he knew – such as Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson – had similar reactions. [17] Critics echoed Eno's praise, including that of the rendition's superiority. [31]

In 2010, The Black Dog, by means of their ninth studio album, Music for Real Airports , issued a "musical rebuttal", chastising the perceived dehumanisation of airports and Eno's supposed intention of "lull[ing] customers". [9] [69]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."1/1" (Acoustic and electric piano; synthesizer.)Brian Eno, Rhett Davies, Robert Wyatt 16:30
2."2/1" (Vocals; synthesizer.)Eno8:20
Total length:24:50
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
3."1/2" (Vocals; acoustic piano.)Eno11:30
4."2/2" (Synthesiser only. Lasts 9:38 in the "Working Backwards" box edition (1983) and on the CD.)Eno6:00
Total length:17:30

The track labelling refers to the album's first release (1978) as an LP, and so the first track means "first track, first side", and so on. The CD pressing adds 30 seconds of silence after every track, including "2/2".

The album's back cover features four abstract graphic notation images, one for each track, representing their structure and instrumentation. [6] [70]

Personnel

Recording
Design
Recording Location

Release history

CountryLabelCat. No.MediaRelease Date
USPolydorAMB 001LP1978
FrancePolydor2310 647LP1978
CanadaGRT9167–9835LP1978
ItalyPolydor2310 647LP1978
USEditions EGEGS 201LP1981
UKEditions EGEGED 17LP1983
UKEditions EG, VirginEEGCD 17CDAug 1990
USEditions EGEEGCD 17CDAug 1990
UKVirgin RecordsENOCD 6,
7243 8 66495 2 2		CD2004

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [71] Silver60,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Usage

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Eno, Brian (1978). Ambient 1: Music for Airports (liner notes). Brian Eno. PVC Records. PVC 7908 (AMB 001). Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  2. ↑ LeBlanc, Larry (2018). "In the Hot Seat with Larry LeBlanc: Brian Eno, musician, artist, producer, thinker". Celebrity Access.
  3. 1 2 Considine 2004, p. 279.
  4. 1 2 Sherburne, Phillip. "The 50 Best Ambient Albums of All Time". Pitchfork. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  5. ↑ Synthhead (5 January 2016). "Brian Eno Tells The Origin Story For Ambient Music". Synthtopia. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lysaker, John (2017). "Turning Listening Inside Out: Brian Eno's Ambient 1: Music for Airports". The Journal of Speculative Philosophy. 31 (1): 155–176. doi:10.5325/jspecphil.31.1.0155. JSTOR   10.5325/jspecphil.31.1.0155. S2CID   152129690.
  7. 1 2 "Ambient 1: Music for Airports". Mixmag . June 2013.
  8. ↑ Eddy, Chuck (August 2011). "Essentials – Spurning Melody, Rhythm, and Lyrics, Ambient Is Music's Quiet Revolution". Spin . Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Szabo, Victor (2017). "Unsettling Brian Eno's Music for Airports". Twentieth-Century Music. 14 (2): 305–333. doi:10.1017/S147857221700024X. ISSN   1478-5722. S2CID   191536723.
  10. ↑ O'Brien, Glenn (June 1978). "Eno at the Edge of Rock" . Interview . Vol. 8, no. 6. Retrieved 24 December 2019– via Rock's Backpages.
  11. ↑ Baskas, Harriet (12 March 2008). "Better branding through music: Original airport theme songs". USA Today . Archived from the original on 16 March 2008. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  12. 1 2 3 Albiez & Pattie 2016, p. 98-99.
  13. 1 2 3 Caramanica, Jon (25 November 2004). "Brian Eno: Ambient 1: Music for Airports". Rolling Stone . No. 962. p. 94.
  14. ↑ Johnson, Phil (26 April 1998). "Ambient: Now that's what I call music for airports". The Independent .
  15. ↑ H. Lisius, Peter (March 2010). "Music for Airports". Notes . 66 (3).
  16. ↑ Eno, Brian (1978). Ambient 1: Music for Airports - Liner Notes.
  17. 1 2 3 Gill, Andy (June 1998). "Brian Eno: To Infinity and Beyond". Mojo .
  18. ↑ Gill, Andy (November 1993). "Brian Eno: Towards An Understanding of Pop Past and Present". Q .
  19. ↑ Perry, Richard (27 September 1998). "Lunar Serenade". Ottawa Citizen .
  20. 1 2 Barnes, Mike (March 2009). "Brian Eno". Mojo .
  21. 1 2 Hewett, Ivan (5 January 2016). "How Brian Eno created a quiet revolution in music". The Telegraph . ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  22. ↑ Adkins, Monty; Cummings, Simon, eds. (2019). Music Beyond Airports - Appraising Ambient Music. University of Huddersfield Press. p. 85. ISBN   978-1-86218-161-8.
  23. ↑ Lysaker 2018, p. 1.
  24. 1 2 Roquet, Paul (1 February 2016). Ambient Media. University of Minnesota Press. pp. 4, 55. doi:10.5749/minnesota/9780816692446.001.0001. ISBN   978-0-8166-9244-6.
  25. ↑ Rose, Cynthia (1979). "Oblique Strategies". Harper's Bazaar .
  26. 1 2 L. Walters, John (30 April 1998). "Music: Flying Away on Muzak" . The Independent . Archived from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  27. ↑ Stubbs, David (12 March 1994). "Aphex Twin: 'Phex And Drugs And Rock'N'Roll". Melody Maker .
  28. ↑ Sullivan, Jim (11 June 1979). "Brian Eno pulls coup with background music". Bangor Daily News .
  29. ↑ Albiez & Pattie 2016, p. 38.
  30. ↑ Pareles, Jon (29 April 2020). "Brian Eno's 15 Essential Ambient Works". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  31. 1 2 3 4 Sun, Cecilia (2007). "Resisting the airport: Bang on a can performs Brian Eno". Musicology Australia. 29 (1): 135–159. doi:10.1080/08145857.2007.10416592. ISSN   0814-5857. S2CID   191980585.
  32. ↑ Eno, Brian (1996). "Generative Music". inmotionmagazine.com. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  33. ↑ "How Brian Eno Created "Ambient 1: Music For Airports"". reverbmachine.com. 11 July 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  34. ↑ Tannenbaum, Rob (1985). "John Cage & Brian Eno: A Meeting of Sound Minds". Musician .
  35. ↑ Aikin, Jim. "Brian Eno: Keyboard Wizards, Winter 1985".
  36. 1 2 Kohanov, Linda. "Ambient 1: Music for Airports – Brian Eno". AllMusic . Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  37. ↑ Christgau 1981.
  38. ↑ Barnes, Mike (October 2004). "Brian Eno: Discreet Music / Music for Airports / On Land / The Plateaux of Mirror". Mojo . No. 131. p. 127.
  39. ↑ Singer, Liam (7 October 2004). "Brian Eno / Harold Budd: Discreet Music / Ambient 1: Music for Airports / Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror / Ambient 4: On Land Album Review". Pitchfork . Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  40. 1 2 Haver Currin, Grayson (7 January 2024). "Ambient 1 (Music for Airports)". Pitchfork . Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  41. ↑ Rathbone, Oregano (January 2019). "Brian Eno: Music for Airports". Record Collector . No. 488. p. 98.
  42. ↑ Considine 2004, p. 278.
  43. 1 2 Cinquemani, Sal (2 November 2002). "Brian Eno: Ambient 1: Music for Airports". Slant Magazine . Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  44. ↑ Powers 1995, p. 129.
  45. ↑ Pinnock, Tom (January 2019). "Brian Eno: Discreet Music / Ambient 1: Music for Airports / Music for Films / Ambient 4: On Land". Uncut . No. 260. p. 38.
  46. ↑ Beta, Andy (1 September 2021). "Things Fall Apart: How William Basinski's life prepared him to make a beloved musical memorial to 9/11". Texas Monthly . Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  47. ↑ Mitchell, Nick (5 January 2017). "How Brian Eno proved the potential of ambient music". I . Archived from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  48. ↑ Lysaker 2018, p. 5.
  49. ↑ Kosman, Joshua (10 May 1998). "'Airports' lands on the stage / ensemble arranges eno's seminal album for instruments". San Francisco Chronicle . ProQuest   411295433 . Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  50. ↑ Bloom, Michael (26 July 1979). "Ambient 1: Music for Airports". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  51. ↑ Christgau, Robert (2 July 1979). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice . Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  52. ↑ Niester, Alan (26 May 1979). "Ambient 1 - music for airports brian eno". The Globe and Mail . ProQuest   387027077 . Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  53. ↑ Bangs, Lester (November 1979). "Lester Bangs Interviews Eno". Musician . Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  54. ↑ Davidson, John (20 December 2004). "Brian Eno: Ambient 1: Music for Airports [reissue]". PopMatters . Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  55. ↑ Frere-Jones, Sasha (30 June 2014). "Ambient Genius". The New Yorker . Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  56. ↑ "Best Chill-Out Albums of All Time". Q . No. 154. July 1999. p. 151.
  57. ↑ Dimery 2006.
  58. ↑ Eddy, Chuck (August 2011). "Essentials". Spin . Vol. 27, no. 7. p. 78. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  59. ↑ "The 50 Best Ambient Albums of All Time". Pitchfork . 26 September 2016. p. 5. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  60. ↑ Roquet, Paul (2009). "Ambient Literature and the Aesthetics of Calm: Mood Regulation in Contemporary Japanese Fiction". The Journal of Japanese Studies. 35 (1): 87–111. ISSN   0095-6848. JSTOR   27756619.
  61. ↑ Sheppard 2009, p. 457.
  62. ↑ Richards, Chris (2 September 2007). "How Brian Eno Helped Travelers Check Their Emotional Baggage". The Washington Post . ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  63. ↑ Cateforis, Theo (2011). Are We Not New Wave? Modern Pop at the Turn of the 1980s. University of Michigan Press. p. 204. ISBN   978-0-472-02759-0.
  64. ↑ King, Jason (2007). Listen Again: A Momentary History of Pop Music. Duke University Press. p. 185. doi:10.2307/j.ctv11sn0sw. ISBN   978-0-8223-9055-8. JSTOR   j.ctv11sn0sw.
  65. ↑ Sinker, Mark (October 1992). "Taking Modern Culture By Strategy: Brian Eno". The Wire .
  66. ↑ Sheppard 2009, p. 301.
  67. ↑ Stump, Paul (1997). The Music's All that Matters: A History of Progressive Rock. Quartet Books Limited. p. 328. ISBN   0-7043-8036-6.
  68. ↑ Sheppard 2009, p. 387.
  69. ↑ Lysaker 2018, p. 7.
  70. ↑ Fink, Robert (2005). Repeating Ourselves. University of California Press. p. 144. doi:10.1525/9780520938946. ISBN   978-0-520-93894-6.
  71. ↑ "British album certifications – Brian Eno – Ambient 1 - Music for Airports". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  72. ↑ "Mistaken Memories of Mediaeval Manhattan". IMDb.
  73. ↑ "Ryko link". Archived from the original on 15 March 2007.
  74. ↑ "Minimalism: More Or Less (1998, CD)". Discogs.
  75. ↑ "Makyo". Discogs.
  76. ↑ Music For Airports / In The Ocean , 2008
  77. ↑ "Creation of the Universe". IMDb.
  78. ↑ "Nine 1/2 Weeks". IMDb. 21 February 1986.
  79. ↑ "The Lovely Bones". IMDb. 15 January 2010.
  80. ↑ "The first music played on Beats 1 is Music For Airports". FACT Magazine: Transmissions from the underground. 30 June 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  1. ↑ Szabo further theorised on the perceived direction, noting that juxtaposed with the album's function it evokes a "distance from human affairs", as does the aversion to musical conventions and abstract replication of a map. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambient music</span> Music genre

Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes tone and atmosphere over traditional musical structure or rhythm. It may lack net composition, beat, or structured melody. It uses textural layers of sound that can reward both passive and active listening and encourage a sense of calm or contemplation. The genre is said to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual", or "unobtrusive" quality. Nature soundscapes may be included, and the sounds of acoustic instruments such as the piano, strings and flute may be emulated through a synthesizer.

<i>Another Green World</i> 1975 studio album by Eno

Another Green World is the third solo studio album by Brian Eno, released by Island Records on 14 November 1975. The album marked a transition from the rock-based music of Eno's previous releases toward the minimalist instrumentals of his late 1970s ambient work. Only five of its fourteen tracks feature vocals, a contrast with his previous vocal albums.

<i>Before and After Science</i> 1977 studio album by Brian Eno

Before and After Science is the fifth solo studio album by Brian Eno, originally released by Polydor Records in December 1977 in the United Kingdom and by Island U.S. soon after. Produced by Eno and Rhett Davies, it is the first of Eno's popular music works to be published under his full name.

<i>Selected Ambient Works Volume II</i> 1994 studio album by Aphex Twin

Selected Ambient Works Volume II is the second studio album by Aphex Twin, the pseudonym of British electronic musician Richard D. James. It was released by Warp in March 1994. Billed as a follow-up to James' debut Selected Ambient Works 85–92, the album differs in sound by being largely beatless ambient music. James claimed that it was inspired by lucid dreaming, and likened the music to "standing in a power station on acid."

<i>Discreet Music</i> 1975 studio album by Brian Eno

Discreet Music is the fourth studio album by Brian Eno, and the first released under his full name. The album is a minimalist work, with the titular A-side consisting of one 30-minute piece featuring synthesizer and tape delay. The B-side features three variations on Canon in D Major by Johann Pachelbel, performed by the Cockpit Ensemble and conducted by Gavin Bryars.

<i>Evening Star</i> (Fripp & Eno album) 1975 studio album by Fripp & Eno

Evening Star is the second studio album by British musicians Robert Fripp and Brian Eno. It was recorded from 1974 to 1975 and released in December 1975 by Island Records.

<i>Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror</i> 1980 studio album by Harold Budd and Brian Eno

Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror is a 1980 studio album by Harold Budd and Brian Eno. A work of ambient music, it is the second installment of Eno's Ambient series, which began in 1978 with Ambient 1: Music for Airports. Ambient 2 consists mainly of minimalist composer Budd playing improvisational piano in soundscapes produced by Eno. The album received positive reviews and led to Budd and Eno collaborating again for the sonically similar The Pearl (1984).

<i>Ambient 4: On Land</i> 1982 studio album by Brian Eno

Ambient 4: On Land is the eighth solo studio album by Brian Eno, released in March 1982 by EG Records. It was the final edition in Eno's ambient series, which began in 1978 with the release of Ambient 1: Music for Airports. The album was released to critical acclaim, and is, along with the rest of the ambient series, recognised as a landmark album in the history of the ambient music genre.

<i>Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks</i> 1983 studio album by Brian Eno with Daniel Lanois & Roger Eno

Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks is a studio album by the British musician and producer Brian Eno, the Canadian producer Daniel Lanois, and Brian Eno's brother, composer Roger Eno. It was released on 29 July 1983 by EG Records. The music was originally written for For All Mankind, a documentary film by Al Reinert about the Apollo program, though the film was not released until 1989. The score was written and performed by the trio.

<i>The Pearl</i> (album) 1984 studio album by Harold Budd and Brian Eno

The Pearl is the second collaborative studio album by Harold Budd and Brian Eno, released in August 1984 by Editions EG and produced by Eno and Daniel Lanois in Hamilton, Ontario. The Pearl is similar to Budd and Eno's previous collaboration, Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror (1980), consisting mostly of subtly treated piano textures, but with more pronounced electronic treatments and nature recordings. The album has been well received by music critics, and is considered by some as a landmark work in ambient music.

<i>Here Come the Warm Jets</i> 1974 studio album by Eno

Here Come the Warm Jets is the debut solo album by Brian Eno, released on Island Records on 8 February 1974. It was recorded and produced by Eno following his departure from Roxy Music, and blends glam and pop stylings with avant-garde approaches. The album features numerous guests, including several of Eno's former Roxy Music bandmates along with members of Hawkwind, Matching Mole, Pink Fairies, Sharks, Sweetfeed, and King Crimson. Eno devised unusual methods and instructions to coax unexpected results from the various musicians.

<i>Get Up with It</i> 1974 studio album by Miles Davis

Get Up with It is a album by American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer Miles Davis. Released by Columbia Records on November 22, 1974, it compiled songs Davis had recorded in sessions between 1970 and 1974, including those for the studio albums Jack Johnson (1971) and On the Corner (1972). In The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), J. D. Considine described the compilation's music as "worldbeat fusion".

<i>My Life in the Bush of Ghosts</i> (album) 1981 album by Brian Eno and David Byrne

My Life in the Bush of Ghosts is the first collaborative studio album by Brian Eno and David Byrne, released in February 1981. It was Byrne's first album without his band Talking Heads. The album integrates sampled vocals and found sounds, African and Middle Eastern rhythms, and electronic music techniques. It was recorded before Eno and Byrne's work on Talking Heads' 1980 album Remain in Light, but problems clearing samples delayed its release by several months.

<i>Music for Films</i> 1978 studio album by Brian Eno

Music for Films is the seventh solo studio album by Brian Eno, released in September 1978 on EG Records. His third release of experimental electronic material, it is a conceptual work intended as a soundtrack for imaginary films, although many of the pieces had already appeared in actual films. It charted at #55 on the UK.

<i>Fourth World, Vol. 1: Possible Musics</i> 1980 studio album by Jon Hassell and Brian Eno

Fourth World, Vol. 1: Possible Musics is an album by Jon Hassell and Brian Eno. It was recorded at Celestial Sounds in New York City and released in 1980 by Editions EG, an imprint label of E.G. Records. "Fourth world music" is a musical aesthetic described by Hassell as "a unified primitive/futuristic sound combining features of world ethnic styles with advanced electronic techniques." The album received praise from many critics.

<i>The Drop</i> (album) 1997 studio album by Brian Eno

The Drop is the fourteenth solo studio album by Brian Eno, released on 7 July 1997 through All Saints Records. The album continues in the same style as much of his work of the period exploring impressionistic, ambient instrumental soundscapes rather than more conventional songwriting. The 2014 reissue includes the 77 Million Paintings album as a bonus disc and edits the track "Iced World" from its original 32 minutes down to 18 minutes – the same duration on both vinyl and CD.

<i>Lux</i> (Brian Eno album) 2012 album by Brian Eno

Lux is the twenty-fifth solo studio album from Brian Eno, released through Warp on 13 November 2012. The album is a collection of ambient soundscapes that have been installed in art galleries and airport terminals. Critical reception has positively compared it with Eno's previous ambient work and noted that it is both relaxing as well as challenging music for those who engage it critically. In 2013, Brian Eno created a number of limited edition prints featuring the cover artwork from Lux made available only from his website.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Eno</span> British musician (born 1948)

Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno, also known by the mononym Eno, is an English musician, composer, record producer and visual artist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambient music and electronica, and for producing, recording, and writing works in rock and pop music. A self-described "non-musician", Eno has helped introduce unconventional concepts and approaches to contemporary music. He has been described as one of popular music's most influential and innovative figures. In 2019, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Roxy Music.

<i>(No Pussyfooting)</i> 1973 studio album by Fripp & Eno

(No Pussyfooting) is the debut studio album by the British duo Fripp & Eno, released in 1973. (No Pussyfooting) was the first of three major collaborations between the musicians, growing out of Brian Eno's early tape delay looping experiments and Robert Fripp's "Frippertronics" electric guitar technique.

<i>Reflection</i> (Brian Eno album) 2017 studio album by Brian Eno

Reflection is the twenty-eighth studio album by Brian Eno, released on 1 January 2017 on Warp Records. It is a piece of generative ambient music produced by Eno, which plays indefinitely via an app, modulating its output at different times of the day. A pre-recorded version of the album is available on CD and vinyl, which runs for 54 minutes. Digital streaming versions of the album update on a seasonal basis. It was nominated for the 2017 Grammy Award for Best New Age Album and was released to a positive acclaim by critics.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.