#327
Album: Another Green World
Artist: Brian Eno
Year: 1975
Length: 40:55
Genre: Art Rock / Ambient / Art Pop / Electronic Pop / Ambient Pop / Minimalist / Avant-Pop
“Mau Mau starter ching ching da da
Sky Saw
Daughter daughter dumpling data
Pack and pick the ping-pong starter
Carter Carter go get Carter
Perigeeeeeee
Open stick and delphic doldrums
Open click and quantum data.”
Remember in my last post when I mentioned that I was now starting a new playlist and was excited to finally listen to actual new albums for me? What I mean by this is, since I had listened to the end of the last playlist, I was basically revisiting all those albums and it wasn’t a first time listening type experience when it came to writing the post. I was finally excited to tick off more albums off the list as listened because I didn’t want to start on this playlist until I was absolutely caught up. Well, funnily enough this is not one of those albums. I’ve already heard this album and know it, so I’m not starting off right away with a new one. Oops, haha.
As someone who enjoys Brian Eno, it only made sense that I would have listened to this album on my own time at some point, especially since it closely followed (an album separates the two) Here Come The Warm Jets, an album I love. I was curious to see what Eno had done, especially knowing that later in his career he would start making ambient music. I was curious to see if there was a clear progression that led him to that moment or if it was a sudden and abrupt change in his creative vision as a whole. After listening to this album it became clear that it was definitely the former and this seems to mark the official transition that he would make towards creating ambient music.
Unlike Here Come The Warm Jets, which had a fun mix of art-rock and glam rock that felt like an obvious pre-cursor to post-punk and new wave music, here he stripped it all down and took a much more minimalist approach to his music. Most songs on this album are instrumentals, with the exception of five songs that do include lyrics, and he seems to be experimenting with lush soundscapes, music that paints pictures and evokes feelings through its sounds rather than its words. Another Green World seems like he was influenced by nature and natural elements, which makes it funny that he uses synthesizer so much through the album. He would even go on to create his own unique sounds that would get credited as “Snake Guitar”, “Uncertain Piano”, “Castanet Guitars” or “Leslie Piano” as he attempted to create new sounds that would fit the style of his album. There’s a great example in the opening song called Sky Saw, where the synth noises actually sound like saws. When put all together we get a wonderful experimentation from Brian Eno that showed a massive shift in his style and gave for promising prospects for his musical future.
As much as I have been gushing about Brian Eno, it’s funny that after this album, I haven’t actually listened to any others. I know a few of them will be coming soon and I think there’s a part of me that wants to wait until the moment comes that I get to listen to it for the first time and write down my first thoughts rather than having it be a revisit. I eagerly await the arrival of them because I’ve been wanting to listen to his ambient work for a long time. I know I could just listen to it whenever I want but there’s something exciting about waiting for it, almost like a delayed gratification. It’ll be awhile but I’m sure it’ll b worth the wait.
Favourite Song: In Dark Trees
-Bosco
Bosco's Modern Life 