Here Comes The Warm Gist

May 11, 2005 8:38 AM

Brian Eno has a new vocal album coming out soon on Ryodisk. He's also been busy agitating for the Liberal Democrats in the recent UK elections, planning an upcoming collaboration with Paul Simon, and chatting amiably with a comic warlock.
posted by yakcat01 (13 comments total)

It's about time he sang again - when was the last time, Before & after science?
posted by kenchie at 10:02 AM on May 11, 2005

Wrong Way Up, I think, with John Cale.
posted by the Real Dan at 10:08 AM on May 11, 2005

Oh yes!
posted by kenchie at 10:12 AM on May 11, 2005

So the composer of "The Microsoft Sound" does regular music, too?
posted by Jart at 10:54 AM on May 11, 2005

Eno is The Man. His collaborations with David Byrne outside of Talking Heads, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts and The Catherine Wheel, still sound like cutting-edge music from the future, even though they were recorded over 20 years ago and anticipated everything from sampling-driven hip-hop to art-funk to world beat. If some young Powerbook twiddlers came out with either of those albums now, they'd be hailed as flaming geniuses.
posted by digaman at 11:07 AM on May 11, 2005

Cool.

Before and After Science is still one of my all time favorite discs.
posted by docpops at 11:55 AM on May 11, 2005

This is great news, thanks for posting, yakcat01. Although I recognize Eno's importance as the virtual inventor of modern ambient music, I've always enjoyed his take on the pop genre much more. I'll be first in line for this one at the ol' record shoppe.
posted by soyjoy at 12:55 PM on May 11, 2005

I would argue that Eno's greatest achievement isn't his music, but his collaborative work with Peter Schmidt: Oblique Strategies is a fascinating tool of inspiration and contemplation, like using one set of ideas to jumpstart others.
posted by ZachsMind at 12:57 PM on May 11, 2005

That Moore interview with Eno was absolutely fascinating. I love Eno & he always says things that surprise & satisfy me. Thanks for the link.
posted by jcruelty at 2:26 PM on May 11, 2005

Eno is wrong for all the right reasons anymore. Sorry guys... his comeback won't be like Wire, Mission of Burma or even New Order.

Can't fault him for trying... he always does. Has anyone tried to read his diary, A Year With Swollen Appendages? 'O Lord, what a completely insufferable douchebag.

He's a twat I usually agree with, idealogically... a twat, nonetheless. That said, his work has greatly altered the course of my life.
posted by basicchannel at 5:09 PM on May 11, 2005

I really liked his diary of 1995, written at a rate of about one
page a day.

I opened it at random for months, reading as far as I wanted
each day, sometimes overlapping with stuff that I had read
on previous days. His descriptions of his charitable, musical,
and dramatic work were always an interesting read.

Using the word "comeback" to describe a new release of
music by Brian Eno is probably inappropriate. As far as the
music industry is concerned, he's never had a career at all!
posted by the Real Dan at 5:52 PM on May 11, 2005

Has anyone tried to read his diary, A Year With Swollen Appendages? 'O Lord, what a completely insufferable douchebag.

Wow.

Anyway, I really liked it. Good bathroom reading. Eno has interesting ideas and observations, and one of the few who asks, "What do artists do?", while offering a reasonable, comprehensible description.

Warm Jets has to be my favorite album of all time.
posted by Ayn Marx at 8:41 PM on May 11, 2005

Lest I be misunderstood, Eno is so apart of me as music and art and whatever that I can both love and hate him. I mean, simply for producing Remain In Light he can be forgiven nearly any missteps.
posted by basicchannel at 9:39 PM on May 11, 2005