Ambient 1: Music for Airports

Ambient 1: Music for Airports
Studio album by Brian Eno
Released 1978 (1978)
Recorded 1978
Studio London, England and Cologne, West Germany
Genre Ambient, minimalist
Length 48:32
Label
Producer Brian Eno
Brian Eno chronology
Before and After Science
(1977)		 Ambient 1: Music for Airports
(1978)		 Music for Films
(1978)

Ambient 1: Music for Airports is the sixth studio album by Brian Eno, released by Polydor Records in 1978. The album consists of four compositions created by layering tape loops of differing lengths, and was designed to be continuously looped as a sound installation, with the intent of defusing the tense, anxious atmosphere of an airport terminal.

Music for Airports was the first of four albums released in Eno's Ambient series, a term which he coined to describe music "as ignorable as it is interesting" that would "induce calm and a space to think."[1] Though it is not the earliest entry in the genre, it was the first album ever to be explicitly created under the label "ambient music".

Background

Eno conceived of the idea for Ambient 1 while spending several hours waiting at Cologne Bonn Airport in Germany in the mid-1970s and being annoyed by the uninspired sound atmosphere.[2] The music was designed to be continuously looped as a sound installation, with the intent of defusing the tense, anxious atmosphere of an airport terminal by avoiding the derivative and familiar elements of typical "canned music". To achieve this, Eno sought to create music that would "accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting."[1] Rather than brightening and regularizing the atmosphere of an environment as typical background music does, Music for Airports is "intended to induce calm and a space to think."[1]

The album marked the beginning of Eno's "Ambient" series of albums, conceived with the intent to "produce original pieces ostensibly (but not exclusively) for particular times and situations with a view to building up a small but versatile catalogue of environmental music suited to a wide variety of moods and atmospheres."[1] Eno had previously created similarly quiet, unobtrusive music on albums such as Evening Star, Discreet Music, and Harold Budd's The Pavilion of Dreams (which he produced), but this was the first album to give it precedence as a cohesive concept.

Recording

All tracks were composed by Eno except "1/1", which was co-composed by Eno with former Soft Machine drummer and vocalist Robert Wyatt and with producer Rhett Davies.

Music for Airports employs the phasing of tape loops of different lengths. For example, in "1/1", a single piano melody is repeated and at different times other instruments will fade in and out to create a complex, evolving pattern as the sounds fall in and out of sync with each other.

Talking about the first piece, Eno has said:

"2/1" and "1/2" each contain four tracks of wordless vocals which loop back on themselves and constantly interact with each other in new ways. Subtle changes in timing occur, adding to the timbre of the pieces. Eno explains of the vocal-only piece:

"2/2" was performed with an ARP 2600 synthesizer.

Release

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
The Austin Chronicle[6]
Christgau's Record GuideB[7]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[8]
Mojo[9]
Pitchfork9.2/10[10]
Rolling Stone[11]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[12]
Slant Magazine[13]
Spin Alternative Record Guide4/10[14]

In a 1979 review for Rolling Stone, Michael Bloom found Ambient 1 self-indulgent and lacking focus. "There's a good deal of high craftsmanship here," Bloom said. "But to find it, you've got to thwart the music's intent by concentrating."[15] In another contemporary review for The Village Voice, critic Robert Christgau recommended its four minimalist pieces as charmingly calming background music, but also stated that "they've fared unevenly against specific backgrounds: sex (neutral to arid), baseball (pleasant, otiose), dinner at my parents' (conversation piece), abstract writing (useful but less analgesic than Discreet Music or my David Behrman record)."[16] In a 1979 interview with Eno for Musician, critic Lester Bangs described Ambient 1 as having "a crystalline, sun-light-through-windowpane quality that makes it even as you half-listen to it," and recounted a personal experience in which the album induced him into a dream state.[17]

PopMatters journalist John Davidson was enthusiastic in a retrospective review, deeming Ambient 1 a masterpiece whose value "can only be appreciated by listening to it in a variety of moods and settings. Then you are likely struck by how the music allows your mind the space to breathe", Davidson wrote, "and in doing so, adapts itself to your mood".[18] AllMusic stated that "like a fine painting, these evolving soundscapes don't require constant involvement on the part of the listener [...] yet the music also rewards close attention with a sonic richness absent in standard types of background or easy listening music."[5] Slant Magazine described the effect of the compositions as "sheer weightlessness."[13] Q described it as "soothing and sublime, a useful album when you're feeling particularly delicate."[19] In a positive review, Pitchfork wrote that the album "gives the listener nothing to hold onto, remaining as transitory as its location, and added that it "realizes music's capacity to unify contrasting conceptions of time."[10]

Ambient 1 was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[20] Chuck Eddy from Spin later named it the fourth most essential ambient album,[21] and J. D. Considine wrote in The Rolling Stone Album Guide that the record defined the ambient aesthetic while providing a name for the genre.[12]

Installation

The album was installed at the Marine Air Terminal of New York's LaGuardia Airport in mid-1980.[22][23]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."1/1" (Acoustic and electric piano; synthesizer.)Brian Eno, Rhett Davies, Robert Wyatt16:30
2."2/1" (Vocals; synthesizer.)Eno8:20
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
3."1/2" (Vocals; acoustic piano.)Eno11:30
4."2/2" (Synthesizer only. Lasts 9:38 in the "Working Backwards" box edition (1983) and on the CD.)Eno6:00

The track labelling refers to the album's first release (1978) as an LP, and so the first track means "first track, first side", and so on. The CD pressing adds 30 seconds of silence after every song, including "2/2".

The album's back cover features four abstract graphic notation images, one for each track.

Personnel

  • Brian Eno – synthesizer, electric piano, vocals
  • Christa Fast – vocals ("2/1", "1/2")
  • Christine Gomez – vocals ("2/1", "1/2")
  • Inge Zeininger – vocals ("2/1", "1/2")
  • Robert Wyatt – acoustic piano ("1/1", "1/2")
Recording
  • Brian Eno – producer, engineer
  • Dave Hutchins – engineer ("2/1", "1/2")
  • Conny Plank – engineer ("2/2"),
  • Rhett Davies – engineer ("1/1")
Design
Recording Location
  • London ("1/1", "1/2", "2/1")
  • Plank's Studio, Cologne ("2/2")

Release history

Country Label Cat. No. Media Release Date
US Polydor AMB 001 LP 1978
France Polydor 2310 647 LP 1978
Canada GRT 9167–9835 LP 1978
Italy Polydor 2310 647 LP 1978
US Editions EG EGS 201 LP 1981
UK Editions EG EGED 17 LP 1983
UK Editions EG, Virgin EEGCD 17 CD Aug 1990
US Editions EG EEGCD 17 CD Aug 1990
UK Virgin Records ENOCD 6,
7243 8 66495 2 2		 CD 2004

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/Sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[24] Silver 60,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

Usage

  • Mistaken Memories of Mediaeval Manhattan is a 1981, 47-minute ambient video created by Eno which uses music from both the albums Ambient 4: On Land and this album.[25] This title was later included with his Thursday Afternoon video on the Rykodisc DVD compilation 14 Video Paintings.[26]
  • Music from the album has been covered by:
    • Bang on a Can, both on Music For Airports (1998) and Music For Airports (Live) (2008)[27]
    • Makyo — "2/1 (Night Flight Mix)", on the double compilation CD Minimalism: More Or Less, 1998, Law & Auder (LA05CD) [28][29]
  • Arrangements of the album performed by the Bang On A Can All-Stars were made into a video filmed and edited by Frank Scheffer, entitled Music For Airports / In The Ocean[30]
  • The first track is used in the PBS special The Creation of the Universe.[31] Eno is the sole music credit, and he also wrote original music for the documentary.
  • "1/1" is frequently used as background music on the US public radio program This American Life.
  • "1/1" is used as background music in the 1986 film 9½ Weeks.[32]
  • "1/1" features prominently in the opening scene of the 2009 motion picture The Lovely Bones.[33]
  • Excerpts of Ambient 1 appear in Robert Hughes' documentary on Modern Art The Shock of the New, episode 4 Trouble in Utopia.

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Brian Eno, September 1978, from the liner notes of Music for Airports
  2. ↑ Harriet Baskas, Better branding through music: Original airport theme songs, USA Today, 12-March-2008
  3. ↑ Downbeat — PRO SESSION — The Studio As Compositional Tool
  4. ↑ http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/eno1.html
  5. 1 2 Kohanov, Linda. "Ambient 1: Music for Airports – Brian Eno". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  6. ↑ Chamy, Michael (17 December 2004). "Brian Eno and Harold Budd: Gift guide". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  7. ↑ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Brian Eno: Music for Airports". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the '70s. Ticknor and Fields. ISBN 0-89919-026-X. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  8. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2011). "Brian Eno". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-85712-595-8.
  9. ↑ "Brian Eno: Ambient 1: Music for Airports". Mojo: 127. 2004. [A]n affecting work of great beauty...
  10. 1 2 Singer, Liam (7 October 2004). "Brian Eno / Harold Budd: Discreet Music / Ambient 1: Music for Airports / Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror / Ambient 4: On Land". Pitchfork. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  11. ↑ Caramanica, Jon (25 November 2004). "Brian Eno: Ambient 1: Music for Airports". Rolling Stone: 94.
  12. 1 2 Considine, J. D. (2004). "Brian Eno". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian. The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. pp. 278–279. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  13. 1 2 Cinquemani, Sal (2 November 2002). "Brian Eno: Ambient 1: Music for Airports". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  14. ↑ Weisbard & Marks 1995, p. 129.
  15. ↑ Bloom, Michael (26 July 1979). "Ambient 1: Music for Airports". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  16. ↑ Christgau, Robert (2 July 1979). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  17. ↑ Bangs, Lester (1979). "Lester Bangs Interviews Eno". Musician. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  18. ↑ Davidson, John (20 December 2004). "Brian Eno: Ambient 1: Music for Airports [reissue]". PopMatters. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  19. ↑ "Best Chill-Out Albums of All Time". Q (154): 151. July 1999.
  20. ↑ Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (7 February 2006). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 0-7893-1371-5.
  21. ↑ Eddy, Chuck (August 2011). "Ambient". Spin. 27 (7): 78. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  22. ↑ Weiner, Matthew (September 27, 2004). "Brian Eno and the Ambient Series". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on May 8, 2006.
  23. ↑ Miller, Gregory (November 1980). "Brian Eno". Omni.
  24. ↑ "British album certifications – Brian Eno – Ambient 1: Music for Airports". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Enter Ambient 1: Music for Airports in the search field and then press Enter.
  25. ↑ IMDB link
  26. ↑ Ryko link Archived 15 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  27. ↑ http://bangonacan.org/store/music/music_for_airports_live
  28. ↑ Various – Minimalism: More Or Less (CD) at Discogs
  29. ↑ Makyo Discography at Discogs
  30. ↑ Music For Airports / In The Ocean, 2008
  31. ↑ IMDB link
  32. ↑ IMDB link
  33. ↑ IMDB link

References

  • Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). "Brian Eno". Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
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