Customer Reviews

Music for Films III

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A collection of tracks by Brian Eno and musicians associated with him over for use in soundtracks, of all the reissues of Eno's work put out over the previous year or so, this one actually seems to suffer for the rerelease.

The most noticable thing immediately is that the track order is scrambled up-- what I find curious is that they seem to have taken all the pieces I really enjoyed and thrown them at the beginning. The net result of this is that the recording feels to drag for me after the opening few cuts-- it's not that "Quixote" (by Roger Eno) or "Balthus Bemused by Colour" (by Harold Budd) are particularly BAD pieces, its just they're not particularly exciting, innovative, or attention grabbing, so when there's a bunch of them stacked in a row, it makes it hard to sustain interest (and by the way, I LOVE ambient music, this stuff is well in my domain).

So what makes the good stuff new-- either its lovely, in its layers of synths and hazes ("Theme From Creation" by Brian Eno), it is so simple as to be deceptive (solo kalimba performance by Laraaji, "Kalimba", Roger Eno's piano performance on "Fleeting Smile"), or its totally unique and demands to be heard (John Paul Jones' "4-Minute Warning"). The rest is nice enough, but it is what it is-- atmospheres designed for movies, and quite a bit of it doesn't hold attention well. That the pieces are all rather brief only seems to accentuate this-- you sort of hope for development that never arrives.

The reissue, in addition to scrambling the track list, does include two bonus pieces (the downright irritating "Shark 12" by Brian Eno featuring a tightly oscillating synth line and lovely piano piece "Slower and Slower" by Roger Eno) and is remastered. It does sound quite good, crisp, clean, not a trace of analog noise.

Still, this one is for Eno fans and collectors only. It's not unlistenable, but it's not particularly exciting either.

I really enjoyed this release. Not only does it put forward the musical persona of Brian Eno himself, always enjoyable-- it includes excellent works by other artists. The Eno pieces found earlier on the disc are to me the strongest, then slowly spiralling down into the more average pieces-- though all were at least average. The collaborative piece "For Her Atoms" was strong, combining elements from different types of instuments. Very intriguing and full of mystery- I only wished it was longer. I think my favorite piece on the disc is the solo piece by Harold Budd, which is nice through and through with nary an off note. All in all, this cd takes you through moods light and dark and successfully holds your interest. For sleeping to? No! I think for intent listening.

All I can say is I listen to this often. If you like fairly minimalist electronic stuff as is often done by Eno or Budd, this should be for you. A lot of material on the disc and a lot of variety, though mostly in the ambient electronic vein. Eno's remixing of Budd's "Balthus Bemused by Color" is interesting and Eno's treatment really makes it a more successful piece by bringing to the fore elements of the texture that weren't obvious before. Recommended.

Eno has deliberately chosen to create music that is not conscientiously listened to. Such music was around for eons, but Eno was the first to label and create it on the subliminal level.While other muzak is subdued compositions/melodies, Eno has taken time to put textures and timbre to the forfront. He has chosen collaberators to assist him in his quest. This, I believe, is his third installment in a series with the potential to be imcorporated in films. Whether any of this music has made it to films, is a mystery to this writer. Eno's popularity has inspired a myraid of sound designers and composers, as well as instrument designers whose quest is to create unique sounds and recordings. Here then is the originator of a genre, at the top of his form. AMEN

The only good, or even great cut is Tension Block. Daniel lanois has never done anything as good. Following this I mistakenly bought his horrible solo CD's. I bought it back when it came out and the packaging is deceptively different so that in a hurry one might by mistake buy it again. However as I wrote, Tension Block is great.