Discreet Music

The first, title track, is over 30 minutes of sonic bliss
that never ever gets boring and only gets better with
repeated listenings. Fantastic discreet music to play while
you're involved in creative activities. It's probably the best single
track of ambient music I've ever heard. The remainder of the CD,
at first, doesn't seem to match the mood...but after that initial
observation the BEAUTY shines through...so the whole CD is great.
The other Eno ambient CDs I'd recommend are: Ambient 2, with Mr.
Budd on piano; Ambient #4: On Land; and the Apollo Soundtrack CD.
As far as Ambient 1, Music for Airports...well, this is a prime candidate for the greatest CD of all time.
In sum, all other ambient CDs can only hope to be in the same
ballpark as these Eno masterpieces.

One of the early masterpieces of ambient music, Eno's "Discreet Music" really defies description. Broken into two halves, the extended "Discreet Music" and "Three Variations on the Canon in D Major by Johann Pachelbel", the music is delicate, balanced, beautiful, and stirring.

"Discreet Music" consists, per Eno's description in the liner notes, of "two simple and mutually compatible melodic lines of different duration stored on a digital recall system" that are occasionally altered "by means of a graphic equalizer". Put simply, two loops play, of differing lengths, for the period of about 30 minutes, rising and falling, swelling and coming and going, intertwining with each other. What is most amazing is how these two simple statements can be so unbelievably powerful, emotionally overwhelming, and purely engaging. It is really one of the finest pieces in all of Eno's catalog.

The Pachelbel canon variations are somewhat less interesting, though still quite enjoyable Again from the liner notes, "[e]ach variation takes a small section of the score (two to four bars) as its starting point, and permutates the players' parts such that they overlay each other in ways not suggested by the original score". The result is breathtaking, and adds a familiar resonance to it.

Anyone interested in ambient music should likely start here or with Fripp & Eno's "No Pussyfooting". If you don't have "Discreet Music", you should. Essential listening.

For an artist that has helped shape the musical map since the 70's, and remained a sterling producer, and also has a album workrate to put most musicians to shame, it's truly surprising that Brian Eno, has so many absolutely essential albums to his name.

Here we concentrate on the period where he Created/Produced a series of defining 'Ambient' albums in the mid-late 70's, that although not the first to produce ambient albums, mastered the form to such a degree, that some 20-30 years on, these albums are frequently referenced, when discussing the genre. Although as much an electronic album as it is an ambient album, the mood here is one of detached sounds, restrained instruments and a slightly Eerie, and atmospheric solitude. using a system of two reel-to-reel tape recorders, and making the (relatively) simple process of layering sounds on top of one another, Eno was able to make stark simple sounds, from such instruments as...keyboard, synth, organ, but layer them in such a way that although the music rarely changes direction, it's beauty comes in the form of its simplicity. The first track...the epic "Discreet Music" is really nothing more than a melancholic & slight sounding relaxation drone. But its what Eno does with the sound and the use of spacial sound, that truly makes this impressive. Brief compositions of synth are gradually brought in and out of the mix, and although most listeners won't realise it on the first listen, but the relation of these elements changes over time, albeit it very gradually, and coupled with the subtle use of noise and resonance, it reveals a sound of soothing 'ambience' that washes over the listener.

The "Three Variations on the Canon in D Major" is more consistent with the stylisation of 'Classical' music, with it less akin to 'Ambient' music, and more in keeping with the compositional elegance and arrangement of piano led orchestration. which has a rather melancholy and restless feel to it, and the tone of the strings/piano feels vastly different to the synth-led first track, and its arguably the more immediate track, due to its more noticeable increase in volume/tempo, and although a more rounded sound, still remains very delicate and gentle. In fact imagine these beautifully crafted tracks as works for soundtracks for films that were never filmed, as it's deeply beguiling and littered with the romanticism that became a trademark in Eno's series of 'Ambient' Albums. As it's all so precisely performed and tremendously realised, that one can't help but fall in love with this incredible album. If you picked up any of Eno's other 'Ambient' albums, I really can't stress enough, how utterly recommended this album comes, It's not only considered one of his finest 'Ambient' albums, but also just a truly exceptional album regardless of the genre. Utterly Essential