New Brian Eno

[drone on]

I'm finding "Small Craft on a Milk Sea" (Warp) to be a very mixed bag.  The first 3 tracks are very good ambient pieces, but things  start getting noisy and technoid-ish from track 4 through 10.  Somebody take that PC away from Brian, he's having too much fun cutting and pasting digital files.  This kind of stuff was never my cup of tea, just sounds like somebody trying to create weird annoying music.  Remember "Nerve Net" and some of those other early to mid 90's Eno albums?  Guess this is why it was released on Warp.  Then at Track 11 we get back into the ambient groove to finish out the last five tracks.  So what we have here is about 27 min. of good but somewhat cold/clinical digital ambient (but nowhere near the classic 80's stuff) and 27 min. of technoid masturbation produced at the "click of a mouse."  I wish they had released two e.p.'s instead: one for ambient, the second for the weird shit.  Would have saved me some bucks.  Guess I can always burn the good half onto a CDR.  Interesting that Eno is only credited with "computers," while the others (Jon Hopkins & Leo Abrahams) use some real instruments.  I guess I should stop whining as Eno doesn't release that much music anymore, so maybe should be lucky there's anything new at all?  Other opinions?

[Stellardrone]

Yeah, listened to the samples on Amazon and I can agree with your opinion so far... Those technoids are so not "brianish"..   but have to add, those ambient tracks are really cool.. reminds me Music for Films and Apollo..

[LNerell]

I wish they had released two e.p.'s instead: one for ambient, the second for the weird shit.  Would have saved me some bucks.  Guess I can always burn the good half onto a CDR.

"I’d like to remind you that its an offense under the 1956 copywrite act to copy, or distribute music, or recordings for profit, or to avoid due and proper payment in accordance with schedule 14 of the 1911 copywrite provisions act, provided their is a person commissioning the making of a sound recording who pays or agrees to pay . . . "  

For those who are wonding what I am going on about and haven't see it yet check out the Eno/ "Dick Flash" interview:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwFry159gZw

As for the album I've only listened to it once so far but I didn't find it to be as bad as you did. My expectations were fairly low, I thought it was better then what I expected.  To be honest I don't think Eno considers music composition to be his main art form any more, he seems to be more into art installations now, so music is secondary, more for background to his visuals.

[phobos]

That interview is a gem, absolutely hilarious, fabulous neck! Priceless

[Stellardrone]

Thought I will die from laughing Best interview of the Year 

[petekelly]

Genius 'interview' !

[ffcal]

I thought this release was actually better thought out and more structured than most of what he has released since the early 90s.  It's almost a return to his use of the song form for ambient, and there is more variety in use of harmony that reminds me of his Music For Films series in the 70s and and 80s.  I wish he would work with more musicians with a distinctive sonic personality (eg Percy Jones, John Cale), but those days are probably long gone.

The harsh stuff didn't bother me so much.  How different is that approach than Sky Saw from Another Green World?

Forrest

[Paul Vnuk (Ma Ja Le)]

I am mixed on this, but only heard it twice (bought it as a gift for a friend and only heard it at their place).

I thought it sounded amazing, but did find the "noisy" tracks a tad too techno for my taste. Not bad, but not my taste.

PV

[drone on]

"Sky Saw" is a different kind of noisy (the cool kind, plus Fripp on gtr); this stuff is all digital gobbledyguk made on a computer...

[ffcal]

I don't think it's his use of the computer, so much as it is the less interesting results he's getting from them.  He has long used machines of some sort to help his music along (such as the organ(?) rhythm box in The Big Ship), but I haven't really enjoyed his sound palette that much since he started using the Yamaha in the 80s and relying on brittle-sounding digital processing.  Still, he's still a lot more interesting than the teaming masses of electro wannabees out there.

Oh yeah, happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Forrest

[Mark Mushet]

I really like the quiet pieces on this release. Nothing new but at least they're gorgeous. The other tracks are as uninspired as the grungetronica tracks he cut with Byrne. For some bizarre reason I got the deluxe package which is at least a lovely artifact.

[Julio Di Benedetto]

Stumbled across this performance via Warp Records.  I think its a live performance but I can't read Japanese.

http://ro69.jp/feat/brianeno201011

Julio

[mgriffin]

Stumbled across this performance via Warp Records.  I think its a live performance but I can't read Japanese.

http://ro69.jp/feat/brianeno201011
Julio

Here's the text from that page, google-translated:

Was released in Japan on October 20 ahead, have received high marks in various parts of Brian Eno 's new album] [Sea Milk On A Small Craft. The glimpse at one end of the production process, the world's first pictures of Eno's impromptu performance, public premiere in Japan the first place! This is Brian Eno's worldwide campaign to be deployed for about seven weeks of seven countries, media world "SEVEN SESSIONS ON A MILK SEA" was conducted as part of a song each week, the Japanese site "RO69" Starting with, what a performance footage will be released in different cities of the media.


The video was taken at the session held on May 10 live in Eno's main studio in London, the session guitarist Leo Aburahamusu worked on the album's producer John Hopkins of 2 people participating. Using a variety of equipment, how we built the improvised sound, Eno himself, "" Composition (music) "rather than improvisation (improvisation) born," as he said, the album just Production of itself. This song will be released in Japan, "Instant Nuclear Family" is not included in the album of new tracks, or be included in any future work, is not clear at present. Creative impulse that does not yet exhausted, Brian Eno will attempt to explore and always experimental. This very rare footage, the first thing in the world "RO69" exclusive expose. Please look.

[Julio Di Benedetto]

Ah....That makes much more sense.  Thanks Mike

[LNerell]

You have to go here to see the other videos from his jam sessions:
http://brian-eno.net/seven-sessions

[Mark Mushet]

Hmm. He's speaking here in January. I guess I should go.