Welcome back, music lovers. This is diary 100 in the series. I did not expect this to continue this long.
Last week I mentioned that you could probably characterize me as an Eno prog – Brian Eno was certainly associated with progressive rock as it existed in the 1970s (as well as progressive strands of post-punk, etc. thereafter), and his work has resonated with me for a very long time. Although what we think of as ambient music certainly existed before Eno, he at the very least popularized the genre, which still produces active recording artists. An example:
Supposedly, the story behind this track, and the whole album (“Music for Airports”) was that it was intended to prepare air passengers for their potential mortality. Whether or not that is true is probably pretty debatable, but it was a story that seemed to float around in the circles I hung out in a few decades ago. All that said, this does seem like an appropriate track, to the extent that perhaps on some level it touches on the rather delicate connection that each of us as organisms has to existence.
I will post a bit more as time permits, including some of his first solo rock tracks. They are delightfully deranged gems, to say the least, as well as his forays into ambient. Next week I will focus on some of his collaborations as those were often fascinating in their own right.
Today is National Pie Day, so for the 100th edition of Midweek Cafe and Lounge, I’m serving Pumpkin Pie Jello Shots from Tipsy Bartender.
I already have a drink planned for tomorrow, which is National Peanut Butter Day. In the meantime, the bartender is taking requests.
In the time zone where I live, it is already January 24th, so it’s now National Peanut Butter Day. To mark the occasion, I’m serving Pumpkin Pie Jello Shots from Tipsy Bartender.
Tomorrow is Irish Coffee Day, so I have another drink planned to celebrate. In the meantime, I am still taking requests.
Forgot the image for the day.
Irish Coffee Day! I am celebrating with a classic Tipsy Bartender, which I originally included in Happy Irish Coffee Day and Happy Birthday to Coffee Party USA! at Crazy Eddie’s Motie News.
I have one more recipe to post tomorrow. In the meantime, the bartender is still taking requests.
Now we’re talking. 🙂
Here’s one I was hearing on college radio easily a decade after its initial release. This was from Brian Eno’s first solo recording after leaving Roxy Music. Always loved that solo by Robert Fripp (who was already beginning to collaborate with Eno).
The song title was an anagram for Talking Heads, a band Eno began to produce around 1977 (and his collaboration with David Byrne was quite the revelation when it was released in 1981). More guitar work by Robert Fripp. This was from the last overtly rock album Eno would release in a good long while, as he shifted his focus to ambient and 4th world music and to production duties.
“Third Uncle” is one of those well known songs from Eno’s second solo LP, Taking Tiger Mountain. This song would be covered quite aptly by Bauhaus a few years later. A reviewer wrote at the time of this album’s release that it was “sick, sick sick, but oh so good.” That seems about right. If I want a go-to rock album from Eno, this is usually the one.
The opening track to 1975’s Another Green World, an album that marked Eno’s transition away from purely rock albums. This track and the second may well have been the closest to progressive rock songs on the whole album. This was recorded the same year as Discreet Music, in which he unveils his first overtly ambient work.
“Becalmed” was also from 1975’s Another Green World. This has more of an ambient flavor to it. There is just something about 1970s electronic music I cannot shake. This is one of my go-to tracks when I need to chill.
Here’s a track from 1983’s Apollo LP. Eno struck gold with Ambient 1: Music for Airports and continued to record consistently excellent ambient LPs for a good number of years thereafter.
Two more from Here Come The Warm Jets that are best heard together.
Some more recent ambient music:
A little something from the early 1990s:
I recall hearing this and thinking of it as an excellent response to the newer artists of the time who were drawing heavily on Eno’s influence.
Just an excerpt, but gives you an idea of what Eno’s been up to lately as a solo artist:
There’s also a generative app version of this same track because, of course there would be. Eno’s been fascinated by the possibilities and drawbacks of modern technology over the duration of his now very lengthy career. Here’s hoping he has a few more albums left in him.
Go through enough of Eno’s ambient work and YouTube begins recommending pieces by Satie and Debussy (which as it turns out is fine by me). Not surprised in that there is a certain atmospheric quality to music created during the Impressionism era – or at least comes across in the pieces of the artists with whom I am familiar. When I hear a lot of Eno’s work, I ponder the future, but I also am hearing a call to Eno’s musical ancestors.
I’ll keep posting stuff as long as this remains on the rec list. This is an artist I’ve been pretty passionate about for a few decades now. Always happy to interact with anyone who is curious about his work. Next week, I’ll turn to some of his collaborative efforts. There is plenty to work with there as well. Since he inserted himself into the studio with some of the artists he produced (Talking Heads comes to mind), we might include those as collaborations as well.
Well, this fell off the rec list. So, I’ll leave you all with one more for the road.
This was the opening track to 1977’s Before and After Science. It’s a fun album, and like 1975’s Another Green World pointed at the direction Eno was intending to take for much of the remainder of his career.
Next week, let’s see what mischief he can create as a collaborator – with everyone from members of Roxy Music (his former bandmates) to Bowie, to German progressive artists, Talking Heads members, and even a certain post-punk bassist. It’ll be lit.