Brian Eno 60th birthday profile
From Echoes | Part of the Echo Location: Soundings for New Music series | 00:03:30
Look in any corner of contemporary music, and Brian Eno is there.
Brian Eno celebrates his 60th birthday on May 15, 2008. Rarely has an artist made such a monumental impact on modern music with such subtlety. He's one of the most profound minds of modern music, who applies avant-garde principles to pop music by U2 and Paul Simon, and pop principles to the avant-garde.
In this wide-ranging review, John Diliberto considers the full impact of Eno's career, from rock producer to creator of ambient music to art conceptualist.
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Broadcast History
WXPN Philadelphia May 7, 2008
Transcript
MUSIC
BE: I WANT THE NOTION OF SOMETHING THAT WAS STEADY STATE IN THE SENSE THAT IT WAS ALWAYS PRETTY MUCH RELIABLY SIMILAR BUT IT WAS NEVER EXACTLY THE SAME. A LITTLE BIT LIKE ANY NATURAL PROCESS, YOU KNOW LIKE WATCHING A RIVER OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT WHERE IT DOESN'T PULL MANY REALLY BIG SURPRISES ON YOU BUT AT
THE SAME TIME IT NEVER REPEATS ITSELF PERFECTLY. SO I WANTED TO MAKE SOME MUSIC THAT HAD THAT HOMOGENOUS BUT EVER CHANGING CHARACTER TO IT.
THAT'S BRIAN ENO TALKING ABOUT THE CONCEPTS BEHIND HIS ALBUM, MUSIC FOR AIRPORTS. THIRTY YEARS AFTER ITS RELEASE, IT REMAINS THE HOLY GRAIL OF AMBIENT MUSIC.
MUSIC
IF BRIAN ENO HAD ONLY CONCEIVED OF AMBIENT MUSIC, HE'D BE A MAJOR ARTISTIC FIGURE, ALTHOUGH A FIGURE ON THE AVANT-GARDE FRINGES. BUT HE'S TAKEN HIS CONCEPTS INTO THE WORLD OF POP AS WELL.
MUSIC BITE
WHAT TO THESE RECORDINGS HAVE IN COMMON?
TALKING HEA...
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Timing and Cues
Incue: [sonar sound] + This is an Echo Location: Soundings for New Music.
Outcue: I?m John Diliberto and this has been an Echo Location, Soundings for New Music.
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Additional Information
- Produced: May 05, 2008
- Added to PRX: May 07, 2008
- This piece is in English
French Clements
Posted on May 07, 2008 at 02:37 PM | Permalink
Review of Brian Eno 60th birthday profile
Ever since I first heard Eno's Music for Airports, which opens this piece, I was hooked. I like that this piece opens with that music and with Eno talking, as if to put the great man and his music entirely, peacefully at the fore. (Eno basically invented the idea of ambient music, with that work, in fact.)
Producer Diliberto's voice is smooth and professional, matched by his production techniques. The man, like his subject, is a classy engineer. I love how Diliberto's tastes run to the accessible side of edgy, or maybe the edgy side of accessible.
This isn't the piece to listen to if you're looking for an extended rumination on why Eno's (formidable) musical philosophy remains perennial. Others here surely do that. But as of May 15, there's no better way to celebrate, and quickly, Eno's sumptuous career. Snatches of Eno's recognizable pop hits as a producer, from Bowie to U2 to Coldplay, should perk up ears too.