Brian Eno’s new album Small Craft on a Milk Sea, his first solo album since 2005, comes out in just two weeks. With that in mind, this seems the perfect moment to look back at a genre to which he’s contributed a great deal over the years: ambient. Eno’s work throughout the ‘70s was pretty much unmitigated genius – the unhinged creative freedom of his solo debut Here Come the Warm Jets and its follow up Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy, the lush grandeur of Another Green World, the collaborations with Robert Fripp – but even so, his quartet of ambient records were a particular high point. After all, not many people can claim to have created (or at least defined) a genre.
If you thought ambient was all whale calls and new age noodling, then think again: in the first installment of a monthly Mixtape Primers series, Tom Hawking gives us his essential ambient collection… designed to fit right onto a C60 for your listening pleasure! Go track by track after the jump, and listen to the whole mix at the end of the post.
SIDE ONE
1. Brian Eno - “1/1 (excerpt)” (6:12)
From Music for Airports, 1978
OK, so in fairness, Eno might not have been the first to come up with the idea of music that eschewed rhythm and melody for atmospherics and texture, but he was the first to put a name to it, and his ambient records from the late ‘70s have been hugely influential on the development of the genre. This track is where it began: the first piece from his first entirely ambient album, 1978’s Music for Airports (apparently the idea of music designed to offset the generally unpleasant atmosphere of airports came to him after being stuck in a terminal for several hours). It introduces several of the concepts that Eno considered crucial for ambient music: the idea of a utilitarian sound designed for a specific purpose, which to some extent creates itself – the music on “1/1″ is several tape loops of different length played simultaneously, interweaving and creating both dissonance and harmony as they do so.
Comments (16)
Thanks for reminding me how much I fucking hate Ambient music.
like, you couldn’t put together a playlist on youtube at least? what is the point of an ambient playlist if the songs don’t blend together?
really cool to see Basinski and Gas, but this mix is a little sleepy and bit one-dimensional, yeah? all roads do not point to Eno, though he was a prominent player. what the hell is Philip Glass doing on a primer for ambient music? Luc Ferrari would have been a more relevant choice. and what about Tim Hecker or Greg Davis or PanSonic or Burning Star Core? surely Stars of the Lid trumps Eluvium, and I definitely would have included the compelling and current Oneohtrix Point Never, but that’s just me.
So Boring: A pleasure.
Stephanie: No.
Kristin: Interesting suggestions. Philip Glass features because the whole point of that film (and, specifically, the music) is that it provides an immersive experience wherein the soundtrack is designed to induce a mood, which for mine ties into the philosophy of ambient music, even if it doesn’t have a conventionally ambient sound. Ideally I would have included some of the music from Eraserhead but it’s dead difficult to find. I thought about Pan Sonic (and Donnacha Costello, who you should def check out if you like ambient techno) but didn’t want to make the mix too techno heavy. Good point on Oneohtrix Point Never, though… And thanks for taking the time to comment.
Excellent compilation of top-drawer tunes. Thanks for reminding me how much I fucking love ambient music. However, were The Stars of the Lid not a contender for a spot?
Thanks JA! It was a coin toss between Stars of the Lid and Eluvium, to be honest – and the latter ended up in there because I really love that track :)
you guys are really my favorite music newsletter at this point. none of the pretense of pitchfork, thought provoking ideas. keep it coming.
Nice mix. I love ambient music, affects me like no other.
More ambient articles would be cool too, it doesn’t tend to get a lot of coverage. Perhaps about lost gems or such like…
tom – methinks it’s you who needs a primer in ambient music. Sorry but your mix is grossly distorted and misinformed. Next.
According to “The Ambient Century” (an interesting read, with an introduction by Eno) one of the early inspirations apparently came while Eno was recuperating from an accident with a taxi. While laid up in bed a friend visited and left him with a record of harp music softly playing. Eno couldn’t get up to change the volume, so as he lay there the music drifted in and out of his hearing, mixing with the sound of the rain and the wind against the windows… That lead to years of experimentation (including the album “Discreet Music” with Robert Fripp and his own, groundbreaking “Another Green World”) before “Music for Airports.”
There’s some good stuff on here but I’d definitely add some of the material from Aphex Twin’s “Ambient Works Volume 2″ and KLF’s masterpiece “Chill Out.”
Other suggestions would be:
Cocteau Twins – “Cherry Coloured Funk (Ambient Remix)”
Leftfield – “Release The Pressure (The Desert Mix)”
Sabres Of Paradise – “Smokebelch II (Beatless Mix)”
Moby – “Go (Jam & Spoon Remix)” (note there is a slight beat here)
BBE – “7 Days And One Week (Ambient Mix)”
Blane & Tim – many thanks!
Anechoic – constructive suggestions/ideas always appreciated, otherwise methinks you needn’t bother to comment.
Eric – that’s really interesting. I’ll have to track the book down.
Rephlektor – thanks for the suggestions. Will check ‘em out.
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There are some great pieces of music in this mix – some I knew and some I didn’t. I do like Julianna Barwick – I’ll have to check her out. Might I also suggest Boards of Canada – ‘Under the Coke Sign’ from Trans Canada Highway, Future Sound Of London – ‘Part 3′ from Cascade and The Orb – ‘Spanish Castles in Space’ from Ultraworld as other personal favourites.
@So Boring: My wife would agree with you!
Thanks AndyW :)
Liste guys, love the content but for THE LOVE OF JEEBUS stop it with the lists that have one item per page. Only your SEO ‘expert’ digs that shit. The rest of humankind finds it annoying as hell. Or at least let me skip to the last page and see a list. When dealing with fotos, offer a thumbnail page. Again, this crap is annoying. Happy new year :P
-G.
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