Rating: **** (4 stars)
Title: Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)
Company: Island
Catalog: ILPS 9309
Year: 1974
Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+
Comments: gatefold sleeve
Available: 2
Price: $20.00
Rating: *** (3 stars)
Title: Discrete Music
Company:
Catalog: AN-7030
Year: 1975
Grade (cover/record): VG/VG
Comments: minor edge and corner wear
Available: 1
Price: $10.00
Having been hit and almost killed by a car, 1975's
"Discreet Music" was recorded during his extended recuperation. Inspiration for the album supposedly came when Eno was listening to an instrumental
album. Confined to his bed, he couldn't get up to turn the sound up to compensate for a rain storm outside his room.
The resulting sounds got him thinking about the nature of music. Released on his newly formed Obscure label (Island's Antilles subsidiary distributing the collection domestically), the set introduced Eno's first stabs at ambient sound - music that wasn't so much intended to be heard, as "color" a room (hopefully that made sense). The extended "A" side title track found the artist feeding gentle instrumental passages into a series of tape loops, which were then slowly manipulated into a series of slowly alternating patterns. The second side "Three Variations On the Canon In D Major by Johann Pachelbel" found Eno providing a series of guest performers with guidance and direction - certainly one of the year's odder endeavors. In both cases the resulting low-keyed atmospherics were mildly soothing, though it wasn't something your typical rock fan would find invigorating. Still, Eno deserved the usual credit for breaking down musical barriers, while incorporating several highly attractive pieces in the collection. Eno's detailed liner notes describing the recording process were also interesting.
"Discrete Music" track listing:
1.) Discreet Music (isntrumental) (Brian Eno) -
2.) Three Variations On the Canon In D Major by Johann Pachelbel
(i) Fullness of Wind (instrumental)
(ii) French Catalogues (instrumental)
(iii) Brutal Ardour (instrumental)