Brian Eno: His Music And The Vertical Color Of Sound

This book explores the music of Brian Eno from the perspective of a serious writer who is capable of giving the artist and his work proper context. Eric Tamm reveals Eno's place in popular and serious music from his early inspirations to how he has inspired so many others to this day.I became aware of Eno through his work with Roxy Music and followed his career onward. Tamm has documented his path with lots of references that are familiar as well as others which are new to me. The book is reminiscent and educational simultaneously. This book informatively reinforces and expands ones admiration for the works of Brian Eno.

I'd recommend this mostly for music students or anyone who wants to understand the diverse and interesting musical world of the 80s better.I like the way it talks about Eno; it's academic but not soulless, and the author loves the material but doesn't fangirl too hard. That's a bonus.On the negs, well, it's intricate. I wouldn't call that a bad thing, but I can't say it's a good 'light read'.Over all, though, I'd recommend it; it also got me to seek out Eno and think about music differently, and those are good things.

Sent this one back. Did not realize that it only went up to 1989. Appears this was submitted as some kind of Ph.D. Dissertation. The writing is verbose-that is-when you can actually read it. The printing is blotchy and the font quite small and (for me at least) hard to read. It looked to me like the printing was done on an old copy machine. In any event, if you want to know about Eno pre-1989 this is probably an ok read. Just keep your reading glasses handy

Eno has long since attained quasi-mythical status in hip circles. Considered a, if not The, "Father of Ambient," he is a paragon for the all-black-wearing conceptual art school crowd. What most interests me as a sociologist is how Eno's reputation came about, when, he admits himself, he is responsible for "no breakthroughs" (pp. 172-173), and is more important as an influence than someone whose records many people actually listen to. (For instance, I doubt if too many people in chill rooms at raves listen to Eno -- more likely it's the Orb, or FSOL, or the many others influenced by Terry Riley, Eno and others.)The thing is, I have been around long enough to remember Eno as the androgynous keyboard player for Roxy Music, and so I've seen him move from '70s prog-rock to Father of Ambient. Nice move! It seems to me that his position is based on two very different things: 1) fame by association, based on his collaborations and production of Bowie, the Talking Heads and U2, and 2) his late '70s move toward "ambient" on recordings such as MUSIC FOR AIRPORTS and ON LAND.Two crucial influences on Eno are Satie, who started an anti-romantic movement in music, and Cage, who saw himself as an "inventor" in the field of music, with no particular musical aptitude. Eno, likewise, strikes a minimalist posture in opposition to the excess of '70s prog-rock (ie, ELP, Yes), and a cool posture in opposition to the hot, angry punk movement. Anti-heroic and detached.So it seems to me that Eno has managed to succeed in an unusual way by working in the interstices between genres, and by refusing to be pigeonholed by any tendency. He has been in the right place at the right time, for instance, attaching himself to the Talking Heads and thus transitioning from the '70s to the '80s in style, and has known the right people. He keeps moving, keeps experimenting, and maintains tension between multiple positions.For instance, he minimizes emotion compared to much conventional pop, but tries to maintain a "seductive" prettiness (p. 174) compared to the dry formalism of the avant-garde. He's avant-garde, but also a populist! A fascinating element that Tamm reveals is Eno's technical proficiency, and deliberate use of mechanical "glitches" to produce unique sounds.Tamm apparently wrote this originally as a Ph.D thesis -- I wonder how many dissertations there are by now on Eno? At least as edited for DaCapo, it is an excellent work of musical scholarship. In particular, Tamm does a superb job of using direct quotes from Eno to make his main points. If you're at all interested in Eno, Tamm's book is well worth reading.

Most of the writing on music that is non-Classical or non-Jazz is done by hacks who just happened to buy enough albums as kids and have enough of a vocabulary to get jobs with music magazines. They possess no real knowledge of music outside of their own highly subjective and fickle opinions. No matter how much they seem to know they are still just fashion designers for the industry. In this case we have a serious "rock" musician taken seriously and analyzed seriously by a serious musicologist. The author demostrates a knowledge of music outside of the pop/rock world and places Eno in this context. Short on biography, long on theory, this is a truly intelligent foray into the music of Brian Eno and is a shining example of what rock journalism could be. Alas, very few examples of "rock" musicians approach Eno in their worthiness of analysis.

This is a fun and excellent book,it details the work of musician Brian Eno and his work in relation to other musicians who were part of progressive and psychedelic rock in the 1960s and 1970s

Sorry, I haven't read it yet. But I thought potential buyers might want to know that this book and the same author's book on Robert Fripp are both available for free download from the author's web site. An act of generosity that certainly deserves five stars.

The information provided in this book is very thorough. The author outlines each album song by song. The writing, however is somewhat dry. It is delightful to read Eno's own words through out the book. Eno has a wonderful view on music as art which is rarely covered in most music publications. Overall, it is a must for any Brian Eno fan who is also a musician or artist.

Dieses Buch erschien 1995 in einer aktualisierten Ausgabe mit etwa 240 Seiten und ähnelt mehr einer "wissenschaftlichen Abhandlung" über die wichtigen Fakten des Brian Eno Outputs. Durch das Erscheinungsjahr ist es natürlich nicht mehr ganz aktuell und beinhaltet keine Fotos und nur sehr wenige grafische Darstellungen. Für mich war das englisch/amerikanisch auch nicht immer ganz leicht zu verstehen, aufgrund des "pseudowissenschaftlichen Anstrichs" bzw. der Ausdrucksweise.Es gibt 2 große Kapitel : Part 1 Eno in the World of Music in 7 Kapiteln : Eno`s work in Perspective-Background and Influences-On Other Music : Eno as A Crtic-The Ear of the Non-Musician-Listeners and Aims-The Compositional Process-The Musician as PhilosopherPart II : Eno`s Music in weiteren 5 Kapiteln -Taking Rock to a Limit-The Albums-Eno`s Progressive Rock:The MusicThe Ambient Sound-Collaborations with Robert Fripp/with David Bowie/ with Talking Heads and David ByrneEssence,Historyand Beauty-epilog 1989-1995-Bibliographiy-Diskography etc.Man erhält natürlich viele Fakten in diesen Texten über die Tonträger und die musikalischen Notationen, sowie die einzelen Songs etc. wahrscheinlich spannend für Musiker und Fachleute, aber für die Nicht-Musiker Fans nicht so ganz so wichtig und/oder nachzuvollziehen.Wer unterhaltsame Stories über das Schaffen und Leben des Musikers/Künstlers sucht/erwartet ist hier nicht richtig und sollte sich lieber die tolle Doku DVD über Brian Eno "The Men Who Fell To Earth" kaufen.

Ottima esperienza

Good quality good read