Brian Eno- Ambient 1: Music For Airports

The liner notes for Brian Eno's quietly revolutionary Ambient 1: Music For Airports make note of Muzak and his dissatisfaction with music designed as background ambience. There is also the rather famous story of how he was inspired to make this sort of music after being stuck in an airport with bad music playing. One imagines that Ambient 1 is still in use in some airports and other locations today, a rare instance of commercial and creative interests intertwining in a non-exploitative way. None of these things, however, are what interest me most in this ethereal music.

On first listen, Ambient 1 seems to represent music of the most basic and simplistic sort, one of those creations that makes people say "my five year old could do that!" with contempt. As someone who has recently begun to create similar music as a personal challenge, I can tell you that it's not as basic and simplistic as it seems. Certainly anyonecould noodle on a piano for 17 minutes and put some sparse echoes and synth textures under it ('1/1'), but creating something that holds the attention of listeners at multiple levels of concentration is really very difficult. Too minimalist and it becomes unbearably boring on a close headphone listen; too busy and loud and it becomes an obtrusive nuisance which draws too much attention to itself to be used as background ambience.

Creating music that hits the perfect Goldilocks-esque "just right" between the extremes requires patience, control, discipline, trial and error, and imagination. This style of music has many obvious antecedents, from Eno's own prior instrumental music as solo artist and especially with Robert Fripp; minimalist composers like Terry Riley and Erik Satie; film soundtracks; and even to something like Miles Davis's In A Silent Way, which has retroactively been argued as being 'ambient jazz.' Even if this record wasn't the first of its kind, its influence has been the longest lasting. Indeed, the mixed-gender wordless vocals of '1/2' and '2/1' are practically recreated for Tortoise's 'The Lithium Stiffs', while also being an ancestor of the ambiguously gendered vocals on My Bloody Valentine's Loveless. Still, if for nothing else, Ambient 1 deserves the full five stars and all its other praise for being both the first purpose-built ambient album as well as for being arguably still the best of its kind.

5 Poorly Drawn Stars Out Of 5

Album of the Week: Sufjan Stevens- Illinois

It's preciously rare that an album comes out which reminds us exactly what an album can be. A defiant statement of "this is not just a collection of songs or singles, this is a body of work that can truly be appreciated as art and enjoyed as such." With Illinois in 2005, Sufjan Stevens did just that, crafting a timeless album that is part tour book, part Wikipedia entry, part Smile pop symphony, and part poetry. Let's take these one at a time.

I've had this long running idea for a book. Basically, I would travel about the country, living in each of the 50 states for a set amount of time, and getting a "feel" for living there. It would be a kind of Great American Novel, trying to capture what it's like to be both an American and a resident of a certain state. Here comes Sufjan Stevens with his 50 states project and I've conceded the idea to him. Though I fear he's doomed never to complete it, his ambition is to produce a concept album about each of the states. Sadly, he's only managed Michigan and Illinois so far. But with results like these, it's hard to argue too much with his careful, slow pace. Though I love Michigan, Illinois is much more in line with what I think he had envisioned, an album that points out many famous people, landmarks, and historical events from the state, but also getting down the general "feel" of a state, too.

Speaking of those famous people, landmarks, and historical events...Illinois is crammed full of important Illinois things as well as esoterica. This of course makes for a wide ranging set of data points to draw from for inspiration, leading to an album as diverse as it is consistently brilliant. From the horrifying, bleak 'John Wayne Gacy, Jr.' to the ebullient rush of the superhero chorus to 'The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts' to the stripped down acoustic chill inducing story song with an obscure holiday for a title 'Casimir Pulaski Day' to the short instrumental 'A Conjunction of Drones Simulating the Way in which Sufjan Stevens Has an Existential Crisis in the Great Godfrey Maze' which mentions one of the huge mazes that seem to define something about the Midwest for a lot of people, the album is filled to the brim with references that may or may not need to be tracked down. Which, of course, are all contained on the Wikipedia entry for the album.

The real thing that draws me and everyone else back to the album is the songs themselves. Even if you don't pay attention to the concept of the album, it's still one of the best things released this decade. Brian Wilson's Smile is another, and though I'm not suggesting that Sufjan Stevens was influenced by it, because Michigan is largely similar and predates it, keep in mind that it was finally completed and released in 2004. Smile is a pop symphony of sorts, songs and mini-songs forming suites and referring back to each other as the album moves along. At the same time, Smile doesn't sound like much pop music you've ever heard; it's almost like an audio stage play at times. In short, it's an orchestral pop concept album that uses non-traditional song structures and songwriting. This is also what Illinois happens to be. Though it's longer, less freewheeling, and with no central concept other than Illinois and its contents, it's every bit as good as Smile in my opinion. 'Chicago' is a flat out amazing song and one of Stevens's greatest accomplishments as a writer, while songs like 'Jacksonville', 'Decatur, Or, A Round Of Applause For Your Stepmother!', and 'Come On! Feel The Illinoise!' show off his gift for writing brain burrowing "I've got to hear that again before I go to work and/or sleep" melodies.

Finally, I want to touch upon the lyrics of the album. It's pretty rare that I bother paying attention to what someone is singing because I'm more in line with the Brian Eno school of lyric writing--"if it sounds good, it is good, even if it doesn't make sense"--than anything else. However, Illinois has devastating beauty in its confines. 'The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us!' gives me chills every time I hear it, particularly the amazing imagery he paints for the listener with the wasp outstretched on his arm. Even the more upbeat songs have depth and brilliant lyrics, such as these from 'The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts':

"I took a bus to the lake
Saw the monument face
Yellow tides, golden eyes
Red and white, red and wise
Raise the flag, summer home
Parted hair, part unknown
If I knew what I read
I'll send it half ways"

The rarest thing of all in the music criticism business is when an album, in your opinion, gets the right amount of praise and coverage. Normally I find that an album is over- or under-praised, and either overly discussed or totally forgotten. But with Illinois, I think everyone got it just right. It was a five star, A-plus album on its release, and it still holds up well almost three years later. There is no need for me to be a revisionist or build up context to elevate or demolish this album. It simply is one of the best albums of the decade so far, and I wish Sufjan Stevens would get to work on his next album already.

Primer: Fiery Furnaces Part 6- Matt Friedberger- Winter Women/Holy Ghost Language School

Listening to this double album release by one half of the Fiery Furnaces, it strikes me how contradictory it is--everything about it, every angle I attack it from, presents paradoxes that don't quite square. If nothing else, Winter Women/Holy Ghost Language School reveals that nothing about the Fiery Furnaces is ever as cut-and-dry as it seems.

The first thing we need to get out of the way is why, exactly, Matt did these two solo albums. In press during the release, he mentions that his sister, Eleanor, was on vacation and the Furnaces had a "logjam" of records to release, and this was the quickest way to clear the chute, so to speak. However...it's one of those paradoxes of the release: both albums could have been done with the regular Furnaces crew, but at the same time, listening to these songs enough, it's hard for me to imagine how Eleanor would or could fit in.

The second thing we need to deal with are the statements that Holy Ghost Language School is the crazy, experimental album and Winter Women is the easy, sweet pop album. Let's start with Holy Ghost, shall we?? I read somewhere that Matt thinks of it as being analogous to the Residents or 'the most out moments from Brian Eno's solo albums', which makes me wonder if he's ever listened to that music. The truth is that Holy Ghost Language School will not be much of a struggle for anyone weaned on earlier Fiery Furnace releases. The only 'experimental' bits are that it focuses heavily on drum machines and keyboards and has spoken word bits that move the concept along, just as Rehearsing My Choir did. But unlike Rehearsing My Choir, they're used sparingly, and Holy Ghost uses just as many long, expository instrumental passages that sound like Matt's ego--and talent--being released into full flight. I get the feeling that people don't like Holy Ghost Language School for two reasons. The first is that they've talked themselves into thinking it's experimental and "noisy" and so won't give it another chance. As I said, the truth is quite different: it's nowhere near as experimental or difficult as it's made out to be. The second reason I think people don't like Holy Ghost is that they compare it too much to Winter Women rather than letting it stand on its own and appreciating it for its merits. It's no masterpiece, but Holy Ghost Language School isn't the tossed off thinkpiece that many would have you believe.

As for Winter Women, well, it is a poppier record. Songs like 'The Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company Resignation Letter' and 'Ruth Vs. Rachel' are instantly catchy and accessible, largely due to inclusion of guitars, but even then, there's still too many odd keyboard flourishes and odd sound loops to truly qualify the album as true pop. Also, and this is crucial, Winter Women is simply too long for its own good. You'd think that the run times of both albums were switched: when I think of an easygoing, sunny summer pop album, I think of something between 30 to 45 minutes in length. But Winter Women goes on for more than an hour, while the more experimental Holy Ghost Language School is short--some might say mercifully so--at around 46 minutes. I fully admit to preferring and enjoying Winter Women more than Holy Ghost Language School, but they aim for entirely different things and, more often than not, succeed at them.

The last thing I want to say about this release is how much of a gift it is to fans who love Matt's voice. I tend to think that he lets Eleanor take lead vocals a bit too often--Widow City, on first listen, struck me as almost a Matt-less album--because I like his voice and style a lot. He's got a very solid, pretense-less, unaffected voice that always worked well in the context of the skewed music he makes because it contrasts so nicely with it, and always gives one a human element to latch unto. Particularly on Winter Women, Matt fans get the alone time they always wanted but might not have realized quite how much they did.

Even though I like both of these albums a lot, I can't bring myself to give them more than 3 stars. I don't particularly love them, and it's one of those releases where if you even know about it, you're probably already a fan or a hater, so anything I say or do won't sway you. What we're left with is a pop album that isn't completely a pop album, and an experimental album that isn't really an experimental album. Those who love the Furnaces will have more to chew on, while haters will have more ammo to fight with. Even Matt seems to see the situation humorously, in an interview with Pitchfork, where he goes into why he decided to release a double solo album. I'll leave you with this quote:

"There's no fun in having a solo record. You know, it's a very boring story: a guy from a non-popular band to have an even less popular solo record. That's not very interesting. But at least with two records, that seems like such a waste of people's time as to be more amusing."

Album of the Week: Harmonia- Musik Von Harmonia

If you know anything about Brian Eno, you know that it would take a pretty outstanding situation for him to actively seek out a band and join it. Though he has collaborated with many, many musicians over the years, the only time I can think that he went out of his way to work with someone was in the mid 70s when he pursued Germany's Harmonia, a krautrock "supergroup" featuring members of Cluster and Neu!.

The band's first album, Musik Von Harmonia, was released in 1974, and led Brian Eno to declare the band "the world's most important rock band" (or something to that effect). It's not hard to see Eno's point of view, since he was splitting time between his brilliant experimental pop albums and his fledgling ambient work--Musik Von Harmonia splits the difference between those two extremes, creating something some have called "ambient rock."

But I'm getting off track here. Let's talk about the album.

Harmonia is made up of the two guys from Cluster and one half of Neu!. Though I'm hardly an expert on krautrock, I can tell you that the bands in the genre seem to range from the tribal improv of Can to the austere, robotic Kraftwerk. As such, Musik Von Harmonia ends up somewhere in the middle between these two extremes. I'm not sure "ambient rock" is quite the right term, but the album does meet the criteria Brian Eno set out for the ambient style: you can listen to it either as sonic wallpaper that colors an environment, or you can focus on it and enjoy it just as equally.

The emphasis on the album is decidedly textural, with fascinating soundscapes produced by keyboards, synthesizers, electronic drums, and guitars all over the place. Though the majority of the songs tend toward a rhythm-less free floating air, some, like 'Dino' have the distinctive relentless beat of motorik that tips the hand of the Neu! third of the band. Elsewhere, 'Ahoi!' has a delicate air that sounds like something you might hear in a massage parlor (and was possibly influential on Eno's ambient albums); 'Ohrwurm' is all sinister synths and a guitar tortured until it sounds like a groaning violin; and album closer 'Hausmusik', with its ethereal music box piano lines that are submerged beneath a shimmering glacier of sound before the latter recedes as gradually as it came.

Not much more needs to be said about Musik Von Harmonia. If you have even the slightest interest in krautrock or ambient music in general, you'll find it a worthy addition to your collection.