Music For Airports

Brian Eno (Composer), Bang On A Can (Performer), Lisa Moore (Performer), Katie Geissinger (Performer), Phyllis Jo Kubey (Performer), Alexandra Montano (Performer), Mary Marathé (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Bang On A Can, Lisa Moore, Katie Geissinger, Phyllis Jo Kubey, Alexandra Montano, et al.
• Composer: Brian Eno
• Audio CD (February 24, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Philips
• ASIN: B0000069CI
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #27,487 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. 1/1

2. 2/1

3. 1/2

4. 2/2

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eno Revisited, May 31, 1998

By 

Juan Mobili (Valley Cottage, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Music For Airports (Audio CD)

Brian Eno, in many ways, is one of those composers responsible for a lot of what you hear today without having gotten his due recognition. Since the days of Roxy Music to his production of U2's music, Eno has forged new paths for contemporary music without fanfarre nor self-congratulatory intentions. "music for Airports" is a classic of what has become quite an important genre: Ambient music. As far as I'm concerned, Eno, at least partially, has fathered New Age, Trip Hop and Ambient music. Bang in the Can has accomplished the simplest and hardest task of performing other people's music: they offred their own voice without bastardizing the original composition. Whether in music or any other "walk of life," this group of musicians decided to honor a composer and found enough room to sound themselves, in the process. What you have here is an acoustic version of the original "loops & tapes" classic. Played impeccably and arrnged with love. I enjoy it, in its own right, as I do with Eno's own version. Buy it without reservations, and, if you don't own Eno's own, get them both!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mostly good, April 25, 2005

By 

Doctor Wylkynson (Somewhere in the North of England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Music For Airports (Audio CD)

I have known the original Eno version intimately for years, so I approached this CD with a question: Does it add anything to the original? The short answer is one part does, two maybe do and one part doesn't. The first part (arranged by Michael Gordon) is the least satisfying. It doesn't seem to add anything to the original Eno version apart from an unsettling deep piano chord at the start. It sounds awkward and clumsy, and it lacks the smooth beauty of the original. Part two consists of mostly aetherial voices, as did Eno's, but on this version David Lang has fleshed it out with subtle additions that work quite well. Third section brings out a slight jazz flavour to the original, which is interesting although I have yet to decide whether I like that angle or not! The best part is the final part, which certainly adds to the original Eno composition. Eno's rich, chorale of synths has been enhanced by the addition of some interesting instruments, e.g. plucked instruments, that really brings out some novel textures in the piece. So, overall, three stars - one for each reasonable piece on the album.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ..., December 3, 2001

By 

"sjjjjjjjjjj" (Whistler, British Columbia Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Music For Airports (Audio CD)

I'm not sure why anyone would fault Bang on a Can for reinterpreting Music for Airports. First of all Eno wrote the music over twenty years ago... More importantly, I read an interview on Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson regarding the fact that they had recently attended a live concert of Music for Airports performed by BOAC. During the concert they were both moved to tears. Eno was later surprised to hear this, commenting that he had written the music to be without emotion, but that he was pleasantly surprised that people had been affected by the music many years after he had written it. That's all the justification needed.
The album is great.