EMUSIC-L Digest Volume 45, Issue 7c This issue's topics: FAQ: Ambient music [3/3] FAQ: Ambient music [addendum] Your EMUSIC-L Digest moderator is Joe McMahon . You may subscribe to EMUSIC-L by sending mail to listserv@american.edu with the line "SUB EMUSIC-L your name" as the text. The EMUSIC-L archive is a service of SunSite (sunsite.unc.edu) at the University of North Carolina. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 08:56:08 GMT From: "Mike J. Brown" Subject: FAQ: Ambient music [3/3] Part 3 of 3 ______________________________________________________________________ Ruminations: Eno ==="Scott T. Lillis" I have been listening to the 1st and 4th releases of Brian Eno's ambient music collection ('Music for Airports' and 'On Land'). I have been unable to find the others in the collection. I'm not even possitive that there aren't more than four in the collection. If anyone has info on this I'd like to see it. Thanks in advance. ===malcolm@wrs.com (Malcolm Humes) The answer was posted yesterday in that Ambient FAQ, but it wasn't really clear: > _Ambient 1: Music for Airports_ > _Ambient 2: Day of Radiance_ > (looped hammered dulcimer, performed by Laraaji) > _Ambient 3: The Plateaux Of Mirror_ > _Ambient 4: On Land_ Ambient 2 is really Laraaji and Eno, or perhaps just produced by Brian Eno, and Ambient 3 is with Harold Budd. Both are probably not filed in Eno sections since they are essentially works by other artists that Eno just "produced" though he may actually play on them too. Another confusing point for some folks is what happened to Music For Films volume 2. The FAQ only listed 1 & 3: > _Music for Films I & III_ Volume 2 was released as part of an Eno lp box set released in 1983, and it and a rarities 12" were supposedly *only* released in this box. I have a copy, and MFF 2 sounds a lot like Apollo and has Eno's brother on much of it. MFF 3 is really a various artists compilation that is not all Eno's music. ===shiv@bnr.ca (Shiv Naimpally) Also check out The Apollo Soundtracks by Eno, his brother, and Daniel Lanois. This was a soundtrack for a documentary that used actually footage filmed during the Apollo missions. VERY atmospheric, and one of my favourites. ===sweet@skat.usc.edu (Rob Sweet) Look for "Possible Musics; Fourth World Music" (or something like that) from Brian Eno and John Hassel. It's a very spooky album with a lot of African percussion and influence. John Hassel's trumpet playing is very eerie and sounds like nothing else I've ever heard. This album is probably out of print, so check the used bins. Also out of print, (presumably) is an album called "Eno, Moebius, & Rodelius" which isn't really "ambient" but has some interesting synth and vocoder-type effects. More along the lines of the ambient series are "Music for Films" and "Apollo". I would like to get get Apollo on CD because my tape came from an LP with lots of noticeable pops, mainly because of the wide dynamic range of the album, and many quiet passages. Don't forget to check out Fripp and Eno's "No Pussyfooting" and "Evening Star", and Eno's "Discrete Music". ===jaeger@buphyk.bu.edu (Gregg Jaeger) >"Possible Musics; Fourth World Music" ... "Eno, Moebius, & Rodelius" I've seen both of these on CD. >"Discrete Music". DM in particular is excellent! ===malcolm@wrs.com (Malcolm Humes) It's Hassell, not Hassel, actually! I have a nice discography of his works if anyone wants a copy. The Fourth World Possible Musics and the other collaboration with Eno, "Dream Theory in Malaya" are both on cd and findable. Eno, Mobius and Rodelius did two lpos together - I'm fonder of the 2nd, "After The Heat". I think that was on cd but good luck finding it. It's a bit easier to find some odd compilations made up from the Cluster & Eno and other works by Moebius & Plank, solo Rodelius, etc. I don't know why they did this but there's at least three compilations of these folks, Benungen (sp?) and Benungen II and one other, and I think the packaging is deceptive as they make it appear it's all these folks together but it's really pieces by a number of different artists. Plus I found that "After the Heat" has a icontinuity and low to it that taking the tracks out of context destroys. I really lkove the dark weird track "Broken Head" with Eno singing "I was just a broken head... slide and stumble...", it's really strange. But as you say, this stuff isn't really ambient, and it's not all instrumental either. ==="Scott T. Lillis" While we're going "off" on all of Eno's stuff. I know Eno plays keyboards on Remain in Light-Talking Heads. Doeas any one know what tracks he plays on. Also, I have My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, does any one know of any Eno/Byrne works. I've heard that Eno left in the middle of "Ghosts" and David Byrne finished it alone is this true. It wouldn't surprise with their egos put together for that long. ===malcolm@wrs.com (Malcolm Humes) Ummm, Bush of Ghosts was actually completed something like a year before Remain in Light but release was held until afterwards - supposedly Byrne's label wouldn't let a solo release out before he did another T.Heads release first. So Bush of Ghosts was recorded before Remain in Light and many of the musicians and the whole recording approach (overdubbing to layer and build instead of recording a "band" playing songs) was done first on BOG and then used on RIL. Another reason for the delay in releasing BOG was that some of the material couldn't be released - there was problems with using a radio voice so one of the tracks was redone. A couple other tracks got reworked before it got released too. If Eno walked out it would probably have been on Remain in Light, but I never heard about this. They continued to work together on The Catherine Wheel after that... BTW, supposedly one of the keyboard parts by Eno on an early (unreleased) BOG track ended up in a track on RIL, but I'm not sure which one. A collaboration between Terry Riley and John Cale on the recording of Church of Anthrax supposedly ended when one of those two stormed out of the sessions. I'm not sure which one left and which one stuck around to clean it up for release... ===hjv@phil.ruu.nl (Hendrik Jan Veenstra) >this but there's at least three compilations of these folks, Benungen (sp?) >and Benungen II It's 'Begegnungen' (Meetings) - don't know no. II, but no.I is not interesting IMO - esp. when compared with the 'real' Eno stuff (Ambient, Apollo, Music for Films (all time fav.)) or the marvelous 'No Pussyfooting' (Eno/Fripp) or the even more marvelous Eno/Hassell products, mentioned earlier in this thread. Not to forget Hassell solo... ===shiv@bnr.ca (Shiv Naimpally) I saw a 2 CD set by these guys in a used store. Is it any good ? What is it like ? BTW is this Moebius the same guy who does cartoons for Heavy Metal magazine ? ===malcolm@wrs.com (Malcolm Humes) Yes. No. Not the same Moebius, at least as far as I know. I'm curious what the cd set was - if it's the 1st and 2nd lps by them I'd say it's worth hearing - the music is mostly instrumenta and composed of piano, synth and some other elements. I find After The Heat to have a beautiful and somewhat relaxing progression that flows really well from a sort of eastern sound into some really strange stuff. But if it's the Benungen (sp?) I & II then it's maybe not as worthwhile. As I mentioned in another followup it's really clips from a lot of different lps by other artists too, Eno is not on all of it and I think that the packaging is sort of a rip off - they don't tell you it's a compilation or what the source lps are. ===jeff@tessi.com (Jeff Hemmerling) Here is the info on the above mentioned albums... 1978 Eno, Moebius, Roedelius - After the Heat [Sky CD 3021] 1984 Eno, Moebius, Roedelius, Plank - begegnungen [Sky CD 3090] 1985 Eno, Moebius, Roedelius, Plank - Begegnungen II [Sky CD 3095] These are all available on CD; I own them. ===malcolm@wrs.com (Malcolm Humes) There's one more Eno, Moebius & Roedleius lp from prior to After the Heat, also. I have the two Begegungen ones, and a friend has yet another compilation that has a nearly identical cover and I think is a compilation of the two Cluster & Eno releases (Cluster is Moebius & Roedelius) though it might also have solo works by the Cluster guys and some of the stuff from the 2 Moebius & Plank lps (Rastakrautpasta and ???) which they included on the Begegnungen ones. Again, my warning is that the compilations aren't marked as such and don't list the source lps and the present themselves as if they are collaborations by all those artists with Eno when in fact only a couple of tracks feature Eno and Eno and Plank never play together on these releases. ===jeff@tessi.com (Jeff Hemmerling) You're right; I spaced it out. In fact I just purchased it recently and it's quite good. 1977 Cluster & Eno - Cluster & Eno [Sky CD 3010] ===donnell@morayeel.micro.umn.edu (Your Heinous) It should be mentioned that Mobi Mobius and Achim Rodelius are better known under the name Cluster, with albums under that name for almost 20 years. Very influential on Eno, as shown by "Another Green World" and his early ambient music. They also collaborate with Eno for one track on the "Before and After Science" album. as for Begugnungen I and II, the information is rather skimpy, but the tracks are compiled off of albums that are harder to find. Eno is not on all of it, but Mobius a/o Rodelius are. Mobius likes to record albums with friends, like "Mobius/Plank", Mobius/ Bierbohm, and others Rodelius has a long string of solo albums out. "Selbstportrait" . I think he is up to at least volume 6 by now. Has cluster done anything since "Grosses Wasser"? ______________________________________________________________________ Ruminations: Kraftwerk, LFO, 808 State, etc. ==="Harvey D. Thornburg" 1. Maybe I should read through again, but I didn't see and prominent mention of Mike Oldfield (Tubular Bells) anywhere. He and Kraftwerk (their first six albums up through "Radio-Activity" really defined the genre for Eno to do something with it. "Tubular Bells" and Kraftwerk's "Autobahn" are seminal works. 2. Although I could be wrong, the KLF didn't seem to be interested in "ambient house" until 808 State came out with the Quadrastate EP (containing "Pacific State" among others) and "90" in 1989. Seems to me that when 808 started to break down their rhythms into a less repetitive, more tribal feel, substituting chirping birds and lush major-key chord transitions for piano and acid-sound effects _they_ really defined the genre for ambient house. It can be confusing, however, since they contributed just as heavily to hardcore techno (w/"Cubik", etc.) in their early years as well. Because of this, I see the rising "ambient techno" genre as just a simple extension of 808 State's work. For example, some of tracks from the FSOL "Accelerator" album, most noticeably "Stolen Documents", are extremely 808-influenced. And tribal percussion is back!!!! 3. Another FSOL ambient influence, who I feel deserves just a few mentions in the FAQ, is LFO, techno's answer to early Kraftwerk. The album "Frequencies" is simply fantastic in the way Kraftwerk's was: simple yet odd chord progressions through pure synthesizer tones can put any listener into a totally ambient trance, and I think FSOL has picked up on this (in at least their choice of sounds). However, again like 808 their stuff can lean towards hard techno at times. 4. When you talk about "other bands centered around the Orb" (or whatever the quote was) you're referring to stuff like Blue Pearl and Ultramarine, right? As you know, both these bands are _really_ going off on new, exciting directions and probably deserve mention. I don't have any of either group's albums that Pete Ashdown gave (slightly unfavorable) reviews to but I've heard some of their stuff an miscellaneous radio programs. Ultramarine seems to have little connection with techno but is relaxing to the extreme, while Blue Pearl is more beat-oriented and their use of flute (in the one track I heard) blows stuff like Enigma out of the water. 5. For what it's worth, any of Throbbing Gristle's Chris Carter-influenced tracks such as "AB/7A" and "Walkabout" are some of the best ambient stuff of all time. You might also want to mention Chris Carter's solo album "The Space Between" or miscellaneous Chris+Cosey stuff (the earlier the better) 6. The definitive ambient/industrial/experimental track for me is of course Can's "Aumgn", an 18-minute Hafler Trio-esque drone recorded in 1971, well before the terms "ambient" or "industrial" were ever used to any applicable degree. ______________________________________________________________________ Information: where to find information Discographies, mailing list archives, lyrics, guitar chords, and a wealth of other information on many musical artists are available at Dave Datta's Music Archive via anonymous FTP at cs.uwp.edu. There is a list of music-related mailing lists available there also. For information on FTP check the regular postings in the news.announce.newusers newsgroup on UseNET. You can also read and post to the UseNET newsgroups related to music. Independent record shops, especially those that deal in used records or dance music imports, usually have a knowledgable staff who can provide you with lots of information on your favorite music. ______________________________________________________________________ Information: where to find ambient music Large chain record stores like Tower, Sam Goody/Musicland, National Record Mart, and Camelot will usually have excellent selections of domestic releases at retail or near-retail prices. The best places to find good music are independent record stores near colleges. Try your local library. Most libraries now loan CDs and some larger ones may have old records for your listening (or sampling) pleasure. Read the music-related groups on UseNET! These include: rec.music.afro-latin Music with afro-latin influences. rec.music.beatles Postings about the Fab Four & their music. rec.music.bluenote Discussion of jazz, blues, and related types of music. rec.music.cd CDs -- availability and other discussions. rec.music.christian Christian music, both contemporary and traditional. rec.music.classical Discussion about classical music. rec.music.country.western C&W music, performers, performances, etc. rec.music.dementia Discussion of comedy and novelty music. rec.music.dylan Discussion of Bob's works & music. rec.music.early Discussion of pre-classical European music. rec.music.folk Folks discussing folk music of various sorts. rec.music.funky Funk, rap, hip-hop, house, soul, r&b and related. rec.music.gaffa Discussion of Kate Bush & other alternative music. rec.music.gdead A group for (Grateful) Dead-heads. rec.music.indian.classical Hindustani and Carnatic Indian classical music. rec.music.indian.misc Discussing Indian music in general. rec.music.industrial Discussion of all industrial-related music styles. rec.music.info News and announcements on musical topics. rec.music.makers For performers and their discussions. rec.music.marketplace Records, tapes, and CDs: wanted, for sale, etc. rec.music.misc Music lovers' group. rec.music.newage "New Age" music discussions. rec.music.phish Discussing the musical group Phish. rec.music.reviews Reviews of music of all genres and mediums. rec.music.synth Synthesizers and computer music. rec.music.video Discussion of music videos and music video software. alt.emusic Ethnic, exotic, electronic, elaborate, etc. music. alt.fan.shostakovich Classical music composer. alt.music.alternative For groups having 2 or less Platinum-selling albums. alt.music.enya Gaelic set to spacey music. alt.music.filk ??. alt.music.progressive ??. alt.music.rush For Rushheads. alt.music.the.police Don't stand so close. alt.rap For fans of rap music. alt.rave Techno-culture: music, dancing, drugs, dancing... bit.listserv.allmusic Discussions on all forms of Music. bit.listserv.emusic-l Electronic Music Discussion List. clari.news.music Reviews and issues concerning music & musicians. comp.music Applications of computers in music research. k12.ed.music Music & Performing Arts curriculum in K-12 education. ______________________________________________________________________ Late news: ===oivindi@dhhalden.no (OIVIND IDSO) It is now clear that Model 500 (Juan Atkins) has signed to an underlabel of R&S Records called APOLLO. However, he hasn't released anything yet, but I'm eagerly awaiting his superb electronic magic. The APOLLO label will take care of R&S' ambient material, and has so far had three releases. I only remember one of these; the "Microgravity" CD from our own (he's Norwegian) BIOSPHERE. There are some excellent innovative ambient tracks on this album, and it's highly recommended listening! ===bt178@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (David James) There *is* a new Model 500 album reviewed in the August/Sept issue of Street Sounds. Out on Apollo records. ===mjbrown@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (me) Aphex Twin has released a fantastic new album on R&S Records called _Selected Ambient Works 85-92_. I wholeheartedly recommend it! It is a double LP of over 70 minutes of some of the best ambient house ever composed. Aphex Twin's music is not very sound-effects oriented; rather, he makes very trancey, spacey, semimelodic, HEAVILY processed electronic music. Considering the guy (Richard D. James) is only about 20 years old, some of this stuff must have been written when he was 12 or 13. It is absolutely brilliant. Aphex Twin's other releases are also excellent; I forgot to mention them in the FAQ. Digeridoo and Polynomial-C are fairly ambient while the b-sides are on the noisy side. All are very distinctive; nobody sounds like Aphex Twin. Also, this has apparently been out for a while, but I just picked up the domestic 12" of Pacific Symphony by Transformer 2 (Sonic Records SNC 2008). Pacific Symphony is very appealing, being very much like Pacific by 808 State in structure, yet unique enough to keep one from saying it is a rip off. It's a very catchy track, I recommend it to all who like Pacific, which would be just about everybody, eh? _____________________________________________________________________ THE END ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Oct 1992 22:38:58 GMT From: "(C J Silverio)" Subject: FAQ: Ambient music [addendum] --- mjbrown@magnus.acs.ohio includes this bit in the FAQ: |===malcolm@wrs.com (Malcolm Humes) |Another confusing point for some folks is what happened to Music For Films |volume 2. The FAQ only listed 1 & 3: | |> _Music for Films I & III_ |Volume 2 was released as part of an Eno lp box set released in 1983, and it |and a rarities 12" were supposedly *only* released in this box. I have a copy, |and MFF 2 sounds a lot like Apollo and has Eno's brother on much of it. |MFF 3 is really a various artists compilation that is not all Eno's music. MfF II *is* Apollo, more or less. Or rather, lots of the stuff on MfFII is also on Apollo. I just found it for not-too-much-money at Reckless Records on the Haight. I bought it because I'm an obsessive completist. --- cj@eno.esd.sgi.com C J Silverio/Brahms Gang/Berkeley CA 94720 'His sexual exploits, we were also told, would apparently make both Don Juan and de Sade seem grossly overrated, and promotion women called ahead with breathless descriptions of his magnetism and his "intellect."' -- Rolling Stone, 12 Sept 74, on Brian Eno ------------------------------ End of the EMUSIC-L Digest ******************************