Light On Dark Water

Brian Eno: This

Weekend Music

A few days ago I wanted to hear something different on my way to work, so I picked up a CD more or less at random from a group that I was using several years ago, before I got an external hard drive, to back up my mp3 files. Each CD contains a hundred or so tracks, and I had no idea what was on this one. The first album was reggae dub (King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown), and I ended up skipping it because the bass is such a major part of that sound and I can't hear it in my car. The second was Brian Eno's Another Day On Earth, and I really enjoyed hearing it again. It came out five or six years ago, Eno's first venture into non-ambient music in a long while, and as I remember the few reviews I saw were lukewarm. But I like it a lot. This (heh) is the first track. The lyrics are beautiful and beautifully fitted to the song. 

 

I wouldn't recommend the album to anyone who doesn't like pretty heavy electronic effects; it is definitely not an organic-granola sort of sound. But if you do like electronica, it's terrific. Most of it is similar to this track, very tranquil and reflective, except for the last track, "Bone Bomb," which is about a suicide bomber–it's pretty low-key musically, but disturbing when you realize what it's about.

5 responses to “Brian Eno: This”

  1. Marianne

    Like it. But should I be embarrassed to admit that I’d never heard of him before?
    Anyway, just looked him up on Wikipedia and learned that he wrote the Windows start-up music sound. And that he composed it using a Mac.

    Reply
  2. janet

    That is funny in about six differennt ways.
    AMDG

    Reply
  3. Mac

    I didn’t know that about the Windows startup sound. It is very funny that he used a Mac. I can’t remember what the Win95 startup sound was like. I’m sure it can easily be found online. I’m still using XP and I don’t much care for its sound, which I turned off long ago.
    No, you shouldn’t be embarrassed, Marianne. Somebody who’s not an avid pop music hound wouldn’t be likely to have heard his name, though you’ve probably heard of some of the people whose records he’s produced.

    Reply
  4. Marianne

    Found the Windows 95 sound: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miZHa7ZC6Z0
    Wavy, with a sense of expectancy.

    Reply
  5. Mac

    Oh yeah, I remember that. I have often wondered who creates these sounds, but had figured that at least in the beginning it was just some Microsoft (or Apple, as the case may be) employees with an interestin sound who thought it would be fun. It never would have occurred to me that Eno wrote this one–it sounds too bright.
    Music for Airports is the kind of thing he’s most known for. With this album he more or less invented what’s now called “ambient” music.

    Reply

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