This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(May 2016) |
Thursday Afternoon | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 1985 | |||
Recorded |
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Genre | Ambient | |||
Length | 60:56 | |||
Label | E.G. | |||
Producer |
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Brian Eno chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Mojo | [2] |
Pitchfork | 8.8/10 [3] |
Tom Hull – on the Web | B [4] |
Uncut | [5] |
Thursday Afternoon is the tenth solo studio album by Brian Eno, released in October 1985 on EG Records. Consisting of one 60-minute eponymous composition, it is the rearranged soundtrack to an 80-minute video production of the same title made in 1984.
Since recording Discreet Music in 1975, Eno had shown a strong interest in creating music that can influence the atmosphere of the space in which it is played, rather than be focused on directly. The Thursday Afternoon video was conceived as a series of seven "video paintings" which can be looked at in passing without demanding full attention from the viewer. Each of the segments depicts simple imagery that has been treated with visual effects, much in the same way as Eno's music is often made up of simple instrumental performances that have been treated with audio effects. The work was filmed on a Thursday afternoon and named as such.
Thursday Afternoon consists of multiple tracks of processed piano and electronic textures. The layers of the composition are phased so that their relationships to each other are constantly changing in a way similar to his previous Discreet Music piece. The album was also one of the first to take advantage of the (then new) extended running time of the compact disc format, containing only one 60-min track.
At just one track lasting 60 minutes, the music is ambient: beatless, flowing and ethereal. [6] Remixing and rearranging from the soundtrack to suit the CD medium, Eno stated: "... the music wasn't recorded digitally. It was recorded on a 24-track analogue machine, and then digitally mastered." [7]
An acoustic piano plays a series of notes and simple chords against a background of synths, which eventually dominate the entire soundscape. Though the composition sounds "static", in the sense that its length makes it seem like a solid "lump" of sound, it features many unstable elements that change in both timbre and volume over its entirety. [8]
The original video, made at the request of and released by the Sony Corporation of America, was filmed in San Francisco in April 1984 and treated and assembled at Sony in Tokyo. Produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, it features seven "video paintings" of actress and photographer Christine Alicino, a friend of Eno's, and has a running time of 82 minutes. It was filmed in "vertical format," which necessitated the viewer either lie on their side or turn the television on its side, which often proved impractical for many viewers, and it most affected the picture tube's color purity adjustments. The DVD reissue presents it in both portrait and landscape formats so that this is no longer necessary. The soundtrack was recorded at Lanois's studio in Canada and is a longer, different mix.
The content is a series of images that stay static for some time and then slowly move forward, often to pause again. Various video techniques were implemented, such as image feedback, to create a very different interpretation of video and the nude[ citation needed ].
Eno himself was aware of the newness of what he was doing. "I was delighted to find this other way of using video because at last here's video which draws from another source, which is painting ... I call them "video paintings" because if you say to people "I make videos", they think of Sting's new rock video or some really boring, grimy "Video Art". It's just a way of saying "I make videos that don't move very fast"." [9]
All tracks composed by Brian Eno.
The video has been repackaged with Eno's 47-minute ambient video "Mistaken Memories of Mediaeval Manhattan" (1981) as 14 Video Paintings (Hannibal Records, 2005/2006, HNDVD 1508) [10] (Region 1 NTSC, Region 2 PAL).
Country | Label | Cat. no. | Media | Release date |
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UK | E.G. Records | EGCD 64 | CD | 1985 |
Germany | E.G. Records | 827,494 2 | CD | 1985 |
UK | Virgin | ENOCD11 | CD | 2005 |
Japan | EMI | 68746 | CD | 2005 |
UK | Polydor | 827,494-2 | ||
USA | Caroline | 1518-2 |
Daniel Roland Lanois is a Canadian record producer and musician.
The Unforgettable Fire is the fourth studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, and released on 1 October 1984 by Island Records. The band wanted to pursue a new musical direction following the harder-hitting rock of their previous album, War (1983). As a result, they employed Eno and Lanois to produce and assist in their experimentation with a more ambient sound. The resulting change in direction was at the time the band's most dramatic. The album's title is a reference to "The Unforgettable Fire", an art exhibit about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
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.
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).
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.
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.
Roger Eugene Eno is an English ambient music composer. He is the brother of Brian Eno.
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Music for Films III is the third entry in Brian Eno's "Music for Films" series. Unlike entries in the past, this record features tracks credited to Brian Eno, Roger Eno, Michael Brook, and Harold Budd among others, with Brian Eno involved with the production of all tracks.
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The production and album discography of Brian Eno primarily consists of 29 solo studio albums, 22 collaborative studio albums, 18 compilation albums, one remix album, four video albums, nine extended plays, and 27 singles, as well as numerous productions credits from numerous artists & bands' singles, albums and compilations. Opal Records was launched in 1987 by Brian Eno as label for the US market, where it was distributed by Warner Bros until 1993. He further used the name for releases of the music of his installations.
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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 the ambient music and electronic genres, and for producing, recording, and writing works in rock, artistic pop and minimalist drone 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.
Leo Matthew Abrahams is an English musician, composer and producer. He has collaborated with a multitude of professional musicians, including Brian Eno, Katie Melua, Imogen Heap, Jarvis Cocker, Carl Barât, Regina Spektor, Jon Hopkins and Paul Simon. After attending the Royal Academy of Music in England, he started his musical career by touring as lead guitarist with Imogen Heap. Since 2005 he has released five solo albums, largely in an ambient style involving complex arrangements and a use of guitar-generated textures. He has also co-written or arranged a variety of film soundtracks, including Peter Jackson's 2009 release The Lovely Bones and Steve McQueen's Hunger. Abrahams has produced Regina Spektor's album Remember Us to Life. Hayden Thorpe's Diviner, Editors' Violence and Ghostpoet's Dark Days + Canapés.
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