Brian Eno

Brian Peter George St. Jean le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (born 15 May 1948 in Woodbridge, Suffolk) is a British electronic musician, music theorist and record producer. As a solo artist, he is probably best known as the father of ambient music.

Education and early musical career

Eno was educated at Ipswich Art School and the Winchester School of Art, graduating from the latter in 1969. While at art school, he developed an interest in using tape recorders as musical instruments, and he experimented with his first (sometimes improvisational) bands.

Related Topics:
Tape recorder - Improvisational

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Roxy Music

Eno started his professional musical career in London, with the highly-successful glam/art-rock band Roxy Music, from 1971 to '73. As a self-professed "non-musician", at the band's early live shows Eno was to be found not on stage, but behind the mixing desk, where his efforts went way beyond the usual balancing of the volume levels: he would process the instrument sounds through his VCS3 synthesizer, tape recorders and other electronic devices, frequently singing backing vocals as well. Eno soon graduated to join the rest of Roxy on stage however, where his bizarre costumes contributed to a large part of the band's visual appeal. Public interest in Eno fuelled a rivalry between him and Roxy's leader, Bryan Ferry, who sacked him from the band on completion of the tour for their second album, albeit generously allowing Eno to keep his share of the band's considerable debts.

Related Topics:
Glam - Art-rock - Roxy Music - 1971 - '73 - VCS3 - Bryan Ferry

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Solo work

Eno embarked on a solo career almost immediately. Between 1973 and 1978 created four influential solo albums of electronically inflected pop songs – Here Come The Warm Jets, Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy), Another Green World and Before and After Science. He played with Phil Manzanera in the band 801. He continued his career by producing a larger number of highly eclectic and increasingly ambient electronic and acoustic albums. He is widely cited as coining the term "ambient music," low-volume music designed to modify one's perception of a surrounding environment, producing his Ambient series (Music for Airports, The Plateaux of Mirror, Day of Radiance and On Land). Eno describes himself as a "non-musician" and coined the term "treatments" to describe his modification of the sound of musical instruments, and to separate his role from that of the traditional instrumentalist. His skill at using "The Studio as a Compositional Tool" (the title of an essay by Eno) led in part to his career as a producer. His methods were recognized at the time (mid-70s) as unique, so much so on (Genesis's The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway) he is credited with "Enossification."

Related Topics:
1978 - Here Come The Warm Jets - Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) - Another Green World - Before and After Science - Phil Manzanera - 801 - Ambient - Electronic - Music for Airports - The Plateaux of Mirror - Day of Radiance - On Land - Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

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Eno started the Obscure label in Britain in 1975 to release works by less-known composers. The first group of three releases included his own composition, Discreet Music, and the now-famous The Sinking of the Titanic by Gavin Bryars. The second side of Discreet Music consisted of several versions of Pachelbel's canon to which various algorithmic transformations have been applied, rendering it almost unrecognizable. Side 1 consisted of a tape loop system for generating music from relative sparse input. These tapes were later used as backgrounds in some of his collaborations with Robert Fripp of King Crimson, most notably No Pussyfooting. This methodology (coined Frippertronics) was later used by Robert Fripp, among other artists, on future albums. Only ten Obscure albums were released, including works by John Adams, Michael Nyman, and John Cage. At this time he was also affiliating with artists in the Fluxus movement and worked with the Portsmouth Sinfonia.

Related Topics:
Discreet Music - Gavin Bryars - Pachelbel's canon - Tape loop - Robert Fripp - King Crimson - No Pussyfooting - Michael Nyman - John Cage - Fluxus movement - Portsmouth Sinfonia

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In 1981 he collaborated with David Byrne, of Talking Heads, on My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, which was built around sampling recordings and radio broadcasts from around the world. Eno collaborated with David Bowie as a writer and musician on Bowie's influential "Berlin trilogy" of albums, Low, "Heroes" and Lodger, on Bowie's later album 1. Outside, and on the song "I'm Afraid of Americans". Eno has also collaborated with John Cale, former member of Velvet Underground, on his trilogy Fear, Slow Dazzle and Helen of Troy, Robert Wyatt on his Shleep CD, with Jon Hassell, with the German duo Cluster, with composer Harold Budd and others. In 1992, Eno released his take on 'club electronica' titled Nerve Net.

Related Topics:
David Byrne - Talking Heads - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts - Sampling - David Bowie - Low - "Heroes" - Lodger - 1. Outside - John Cale - Velvet Underground - Robert Wyatt - Jon Hassell - Cluster - Harold Budd - Nerve Net

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Eno returned in June of 2005 with Another Day on Earth. It was the first major album of his to primarily feature vocals since his collaboration "Wrong Way Up" with John Cale. The album is unsurprisingly different sonically than his 70's solo work considering the changes in musical production since then, as evident in Another Day on Earth's semi-electronic production.

Related Topics:
Another Day on Earth - John Cale

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