- Audio CD (20 July 1987)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: Eg
- ASIN: B000026GJD
- Other Editions: Audio CD | Vinyl | MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
9,383 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
- #38 in Music > Dance & Electronic > Ambient
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Product details |
Track Listings
| 1. Discreet Music |
| 2. Three Variations On The Canon In D Major: Fullness |
| 3. French Catalogues |
| 4. Brutal Ardor |
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
46 of 46 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Many readers will know Brian Eno from his work with global superstars U2. There are other, parallel sides to Brian's musical work, and 'Discreet Music' is the first example of a particular strand of experimentation. First released in Britain in 1975 on his own Obscure Records label, it was an attempt to set up a system by which the music would evolve itself over time, with relatively little compositional or instrumental input from the composer, other than to set the muscal and technical parameters of the piece and pressing 'Go'....
'Discreet Music' is a piece lasting about 25 minutes. Brian takes two complementary musical phrases, played on a synthesiser, and loops them through his tape delay lines. The two fragments then come and go against each other indefinitely, creating new and unexpected juxtapositions, like cloud formations, before fading slowly away. If this simply idea sounds boring, listen to the music. One reviewer at the time said that it sounded like the dreamwaves of a sleeping computer. And this captures the gentle, harmonious quality of the music perfectly. As soothing as water lapping gently at the shore, 'Discreet Music' has apparently become a great favourite for mothers-to-be while in labour.
While I haven't had that experience, I can say that this music, which I first bought as a teenager in the 70s, has travelled the world with me and even now is never far from a stereo of some kind. Despite the knowing jokiness of the 'Obscure' label, this is a piece of conceptual music which succeeds first and foremost as music. The idea is great: the music even better. The second side of the album, also included on the CD release, takes a slightly different approach to the same idea, where the 'input' in this case is described as fragments from Pachelbel's 'Canon' (you'll know it) and arranged for a string quartet. A strict compositional framework gives interesting - and always listenable - results.
Brian Eno has gone on to explore what he termed 'self generating' music on a number of other releases, including, 'On Land', 'Thursday Afternoon' and 'Neroli', and latterly via software-generated pieces using the KOAN programme. Although each is different, there is a coherence of texture and stylistic tone which affirms the strength of the original idea.
And if it's chill-out music you're after, there is none better.....
29 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
It could be argued that there's not much to this record; the first piece comprises a pair of tape loops drifting in and out of phase, but actually contains as much silence as tones (technically, it's done on a single piece of tape, but it's in stereo after all, and sounds like a pair of instruments responding to each other). The second suite is a piece by Pachabel played by a string quartet, with each part played to a different timing, causing the instruments to drift in and out of phase with each other.
So, in actual fact, Brian Eno isn't really even on the recording, so why am I rating "his" work so highly? Simply put, the result of his grand design is a pair of pieces of extreme beauty. The sparse and minimalist sounds have both a fascination - in as much as I am always wanting to hear what comes next - and a quality of inducing extreme relaxation. Frankly, if I put this on at night, I'm likely to drift off to sleep before the first piece finishes; it's so minimal that I rarely get to hear it!
So what's the point of buying a record that you're not necessarily going to listen to? Well, besides the beauty of the sounds, it's not often that a non-chemical can create such profound feeling of relaxation - it's like yoga for the mind. Subsequently imitated, but never in my opinion bettered, this is so good that it makes it onto my Desert Island list.
So, in actual fact, Brian Eno isn't really even on the recording, so why am I rating "his" work so highly? Simply put, the result of his grand design is a pair of pieces of extreme beauty. The sparse and minimalist sounds have both a fascination - in as much as I am always wanting to hear what comes next - and a quality of inducing extreme relaxation. Frankly, if I put this on at night, I'm likely to drift off to sleep before the first piece finishes; it's so minimal that I rarely get to hear it!
So what's the point of buying a record that you're not necessarily going to listen to? Well, besides the beauty of the sounds, it's not often that a non-chemical can create such profound feeling of relaxation - it's like yoga for the mind. Subsequently imitated, but never in my opinion bettered, this is so good that it makes it onto my Desert Island list.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This album has been, and remains, my all time favourite ambient recording. If you are looking for music to relax too, or need something to shift your thought patterns to another dimension, this is the album for you. You will never regret buying it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
marmite music - and Eno isn't the pioneer he thinks he is
You either love or hate this kind of music - luckily I love it and can therefore write a serious review. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mr. F. M. Havicon
Perhaps one for the Eno fans... like me :-)
I've dipped in and out of Brian Eno's work since the early-90s, and have been eyeing up "Discreet Music" for some time (having bought most of his mid- to late-70s work at some... Read more
Published 5 months ago by T. Walker
rubbish
Eno cheerfully stands back and watches Pachelbel get butchered, every scrap of musical value lost as things degenerate into a meaningless, annoying mess. So clever yet so cr@p. Read more
Published 16 months ago by checktheangularvectorofthemoon
Otherly Afternoon
This is the first full-on Eno ambient disk--though the tag was not in use then. Eno had done somewhat similar feel things with Robert Fripp on No Pussyfooting, and on his own... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Mr. R. Liddle
Scary
Aside from the pioneering use of tape manipulated synth; mind blowing back in '75, check out the variations on Pachebel's Canon. Read more
Published on 24 Nov 2007 by Stephen Hardaker
Did ambient originate from this startling beautiful music?
A genius if ever there was one. Indeed such a genius I am even willing to forgive him for working with that pompous arse Bono, Eno has produced a body of work that just about blows... Read more
Published on 9 Mar 2006 by russell clarke
Music that soflty lands in your senses
The beauty of Eno is his ability to deliver experiences beyond, but inextricably linked to the music he creates. Read more
Published on 29 Mar 2000
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