Yeah, the horrible truth about Ambient 1: Music for Airports, one that no one wants to talk about, is that it's pleasant, in the worst way possible. I mean, pleasant, the same way handjobs given from an inexperienced girl who has never seen the equipment or is unused to moving her hands in a certain way is pleasant, because its better than nothing. This is certainly a step above John Cage's "4'33" (oh, man, he did not go there) but why listen to Ambient 1: Music for Airports when you can listen to anything else at all is beyond me. Why settle for a clumsy handjob when you can have the world? So because people think that Ambient 1: Music for Airports is the first ambient record, it has been romanticized to the moon and back (and nothing beats romance like the moon. That thing's been following the Earth since it formed and it's been too scared of rejection to get cozier and too scared of loneliness to leave). For those who've come to believe that this is the first ambient release--it's not! I mean his own Discreet Music, that little oddball that no one likes talking about, came three years before this. The only reason this one gets a little more attention is because that one wasn't named Ambient 0: Music for Hospitals, which is essentially what it was. And this one wouldn't even work in an airtport, which is normally so busy you wouldn't be able to hear ambient music, or else so dead that you'd rather listen to anything else. Another thing, have you seen these track titles? I mean, do you ever get together with your friends and say things like, "Man, do you like Brian Eno?" "Sure, I like Brian Eno." "What's your favorite Brian Eno song?" "Oh, I gotta say it's probably '1/1.'" "Really? I much prefer '1/2.'" You guys will sound absolutely nuts, I tell you.
I liked Ambient 2 better personally, but Ambient 1 was alright, you just need to get that stick out of your ass. 1/1 is beautiful, but the rest of Ambient 1 just sounds like it's trying to recreate its majesty. Ambient 2 however, is consistantly good all the way through.
>>61632199
Ambient music is easily misjudged on a first listen. Coming from other genres, you are liable to think nothing is happening. You are liable to hear emptiness where you think the sounds ought to be. But if you think there is nothing going on here, you haven't listened to these tracks enough. There are subtle musical motifs which weave in and out of the tracks, and if you persist with this long enough, every note seems to bloom icily.
In terms of texture, it is lush and rich. 2/2 is a particularly lovely tapestry of sounds. To me this music seems both melancholic and hopeful, rich and austere. Boundaries seem to blur. On 2/1, for example, it is hard to tell between a synth and the human voice, and try distinguishing which parts of this music are light and which parts shade.
And then we come to the question of influence. Before Eno's ambient music, films and TV shows tended to have scores. If I watch a movie from the 1930s to the 1960s these days, I am often taken aback by the heavy use of orchestras to set the mood. All of this changed in the late 1970s when Eno-style ambient music came into popularity instead. Rather than composing a score, film makers increasingly used textures and ambient soundscapes as mood indicators. I don't think it would be an exaggeration to call the impact of Eno's work revolutionary in this respect. Strange as it may once have felt to me, I would now easily rate this is one of the seminal albums of the 1970s.
Ambient 4 is his best work by far
Dunwich Beach is his best song
Fight me
Is Ambient 3 worth listening to?
Voices From The Lake from 2012 is better than all of Eno's Ambient series. I do agree that his ambient stuff is romanticized.
this is a rym review isn't it
>>61632199
Yeah, the horrible truth about The Money Store, one that no one wants to talk about, is that it's pleasant, in the worst way possible. I mean, pleasant, the same way handjobs given from an inexperienced girl who has never seen the equipment or is unused to moving her hands in a certain way is pleasant, because its better than nothing. This is certainly a step above Dalek's From Filthy Tongue of Gods and Griots (oh, man, he did not go there) but why listen to The Money Store when you can listen to anything else at all is beyond me. Why settle for a clumsy handjob when you can have the world? So because people think that The Money Store is the first experimental hip-hop record, it has been romanticized to the moon and back (and nothing beats romance like the moon. That thing's been following the Earth since it formed and it's been too scared of rejection to get cozier and too scared of loneliness to leave). For those who've come to believe that this is the first experimental hip-hop release--it's not! I mean his own Exmilitary, that little oddball that no one likes talking about, came out a year before this. The only reason this one gets a little more attention is because that one wasn't named The Cash Store, which is essentially what it was. And this one wouldn't even work in a store, which is normally so busy you wouldn't be able to hear experimental hip-hop music, or else so dead that you'd rather listen to anything else. Another thing, have you seen these track titles? I mean, do you ever get together with your friends and say things like, "Man, do you like Death Grips?" "Sure, I like Death Grips." "What's your favorite Death Grips song?" "Oh, I gotta say it's probably 'Get Got'" "Really? I much prefer 'Hacker.'" You guys will sound absolutely nuts, I tell you.
well it is what it says on the package, ambient music for airports
>>61632199
I can't remember, but isn't the whole thing about this record that Eno actually wanted to sell this to international airports? Either he approached a representative who decides what gets played there or they approached him.
If a track doesn't particularly strike you: fine. Read your Economist, your flight leaves in about half an hour.
>>61632302
I wouldn't say by far. Thursday Afternoon is a close 2nd. Neroli was rather a letdown after that, though whenever I put on Shutov Assembly I'm surprised by how good it is. I actually kind of hate Lux, though I'm not sure why. Maybe I haven't heard it in the right circumstances yet.
>>61632383
Why the fuck would you compare Voices from the lake to Eno?
>>61632678
One has elements of ambient music but is pretty simple shit and loved for being the first ambient. Other has elements of ambient and actually doing interesting stuff with it. I hope you're not letting that techno tag on VFTL fool and have actually listened to them.
>>61632644
the video for thursday afternoon is pretty good
i had the vhs but it went astray
>>61632736
I have listened to it dozens of time and I love it, but it is first and foremost a techno-record with ambient influences. Comparing it to Enos series of albums is stupid.
