Brian Eno Ambient

If The Shutov Assembly is reminiscent of Brian Eno's earlier "ambient" music projects dating back to Discreet Music (1975), it shouldn't be surprising. Recorded between 1985 and 1990, the atmospheric, slow-moving sound patterns are more, the artist contends, like paintings than music. The Shutov Assembly, dedicated to Russian painter Sergei Shutov, is, like the similar works in his catalog (he cites Music for Films, On Land, Music for Airports, Thursday Afternoon, and Nerve Net, as well as Discreet Music), as much a concept as a record.

The soundtrack to a VHS cassette of Christine Alicino's "video paintings" (which can be viewed properly only when the monitor is stood on its side), Thursday Afternoon is an hour-long, uninterrupted ambient piece created in Eno's "holographic" compositional style, in which even the most brief snippet of music is representative of the performance as a whole.

Drums Between the Bells is a collaboration by producer Brian Eno and poet Rick Holland. It was recorded just after Eno finished work on 2010's Small Craft on a Milk Sea, his debut for Warp, and it followed on the release schedule less than a year later. In that sense, the timing was good for such a risky project. Music and poetry are often difficult companions, and combining them is best left to experts; fortunately, Eno is just such an expert. Although Holland is an obscure poet, he first came to Eno’s notice back in the late ‘90s (through a university project), and his poetry is very good. Although his words and thoughts are impressionistic, his themes are easier to peg: urban living, science, and the intersection of philosophy and biology…

If The Shutov Assembly is reminiscent of Brian Eno's earlier "ambient" music projects dating back to Discreet Music (1975), it shouldn't be surprising. Recorded between 1985 and 1990, the atmospheric, slow-moving sound patterns are more, the artist contends, like paintings than music. The Shutov Assembly, dedicated to Russian painter Sergei Shutov, is, like the similar works in his catalog (he cites Music for Films, On Land, Music for Airports, Thursday Afternoon, and Nerve Net, as well as Discreet Music), as much a concept as a record.

Brian Eno's album of instrumental pieces, Making Space, was released during his visit to Mexico City in June of 2010 - the CD comes in a digipak with fold-out artwork and is available exclusively from venues hosting his installations and lectures. All compositions by Brian Eno except "Flora and Fauna/Gleise 581d", "New Moons", "Vanadium" by Brian Eno and Leo Abrahams; "Hopeful Timean Intersect" by Brian Eno, Tim Harries, Leo Abrahams. All instruments by Brian Eno except Leo Abrahams: guitar on "Flora and Fauna/Gleise 581d", "New Moons", "Hopeful Timean Intersect"; Tim Harries: bass on "Hopeful Timean Intersect".

The mid-'80s proved to be a prolific and exploratory time for the producer/performer team of Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, who this time out take guitarist Michael Brook under their ambient wing to create an album of considerable beauty and restraint. Taking a "less is more" approach to the project, Brook adapts quite easily as a group member in co-creating these organic pieces (although composer credits go to him alone), and within a few minutes one forgets that he is a guitar player. Hybrid is not an especially dynamic or exciting album, but its depth is nonetheless rewarding. There is substance within the shadows, and the musicians take the necessary time to properly explore them…