Brian Eno - Ambient 1: Music for Airports
This is supposedly one of the first ambient records ever. I'm no expert in the history of ambient music, but this definitely seems like an album that's ahead of the game. 1/1 has some stunning melodies and textures. But largely, the album seems pretty boring on its surface. This, however, gives us an interesting opportunity. The minimalism in the musical aspects that we normally expect to give us excitement and expression allow us to examine the sounds for excitement in different areas. To me, this album is significant because it breaks down the music to its barest parts and reveals an interplay between two often ignored aspects of sound. There are commonly thought to be four aspects of sound: pitch, rhythm, dynamics, and timbre. I believe there is a fifth aspect which is largely unexplored, i.e. space. John Cage speaks about space a little bit, but I don't believe he ever connects space as a fifth aspect of sound. Through processes such as reverb and resonance, the room you are in can affect your perception of the sound just as much as the frequency of their vibrations affect your perception of the sound. Panning, or changes in the volumes of the left and right channels, can simulate changes in our perception of a sound in three-dimensional space. Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles both explored the concept of panning to an extreme degree in the late 60's. To me, this Eno album connects timbre with space, though I don't know if that was his intention. The bare minimalism of this album allowed me to explore this concept in my listening, but unfortunately, it seemed like Eno missed an opportunity to play with this aspect to a greater degree. I would love to hear this album in surround sound, but I doubt that's happening anytime soon.
Eno's intention seems to be to create music which is both engaging and ignorable. I think he succeeds. 85/100.