Brian Eno announces vinyl reissues of four seminal ambient albums

[News]

On November 16th, Brian Eno will gift fans with deluxe vinyl reissues of four of his seminal ambient albums: Discreet Music (1975), Music For Films (1976), Music For Airports (1978), and On Land (1982).

Due out through UMC/Virgin EMI, this reissue project sees each original album spread out across two, 180-gram vinyl discs, and remastered at half speed for 45 RPM by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios. Each release comes packaged in a gatefold sleeve with Obi spine strip and Abbey Road Certificate of Authenticity. A standard one-LP vinyl edition, remastered at normal speed, will also be available for purchase.

“Although originally released interspersed with other albums and thus not fully sequential, these landmark records chart 4 key points in a fascinating journey that saw Eno explore generative music, found-sound ‘non instruments’, studio experimentation, ‘figurative music’ and – most notably – building upon Erik Satie’s concept of ‘furniture music’, eventually coining the now vernacular-standard term ‘ambient,'” a press statement describes this reissue series.

(Read: 10 Brian Eno Songs That Made Films Better)

The first of the reissues, Discreet Music, was inspired by a hospital stay in which he was bed-ridden and listening to 18th century harp music. The experimental music pioneer recalled how these listening sessions, coupled with the sound of rain, “presented what was for me a new way of hearing music – as part of the ambience of the environment, just as the colour of the light and the sound of the rain were parts of that ambience.”

On Land, the final edition in this “ambient” series, found Eno shifting from “electro-mechanical and acoustic instruments towards ‘non-instruments’ like pieces of chain, sticks and stones.” In an interview with Mojo about the project, he recounted: “One of the big freedoms of music had been that it didn’t have to relate to anything – nobody listened to a piece of music and said, ‘What’s that supposed to be, then?’, the way they would if they were looking at an abstract painting; music was accepted as abstract. I wanted to try and make music which attempted to be figurative, for example by using lots of real noises.”

Below, watch a trailer announcement for these vinyl reissues, followed by the full artworks and tracklists. Pre-orders have begun here.

Discreet Music Artwork:

Discreet Music Tracklist:

Side A
01. Discreet Music Part One (15:34)

Side B
01. Discreet Music Part Two (15:41)

Side C
01. Fullness of Wind (9:57)

Side D
01. French Catalogues (5:18)
02. Brutal Ardour (8:17)

Music For Films Artwork:

Music For Films Tracklist:

Side A
01. M386 (2:50)
02. Aragon (1:37)
03. From The Same Hill (2:58)
04. Inland Sea (1:23)

Side B
01. Two Rapid Formations (3:24)
02. Slow Water (3:16)
03. Sparrowfall (1) (1:11)
04. Sparrowfall (2) (1:45)
05. Sparrowfall (3) (1:23)

Side C
01. Quartz (2:02)
02. Events In Dense Fog (3:43)
03. There Is Nobody (1:42)
04. A Measured Room (1:41)
05. Patrolling Wire Borders (1:02)

Side D
01. Task Force (1:20)
02. Alternative 3 (3:11)
03. Strange Light (2:08)
04. Final Sunset (4:16)

Music For Airports Artwork:

Music For Airports Tracklist:

Side A
01. 1/1 (16:30)

Side B
01. 2/1 (8:20)

Side C
01. 1/2’ (11:30)

Side D
01. 2/2’ (6:00)

On Land Artwork:

On Land Tracklist:

Side A
01. Lizard Point (4:30)
02. The Lost Day (9:29)

Side B
01. Tal Coat (5:48)
02. Shadow (3:03)

Side C
01. Lantern Marsh (5:35)
02. Unfamiliar Wind (5:16)

Side D
01. A Clearing (4:06)
02. Dunwich Beach, Autumn 1960 (7:08)

Back in March, Eno released his expansive Music For Installations box set.

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