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Ambient 1: Music for Airports

Ambient 1: Music for Airports

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Creators: Brian Eno, Robert Wyatt, Christa Fast, Christine Gomez, Inge Zeininger
Label: Astralwerks
Category: Music

List Price: $16.98
Buy New: $11.99
You Save: $4.99 (29%)



New (42) Used (15) Collectible (1) from $8.98

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars 32 reviews
Sales Rank: 3686

Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 5.5 x 4.8 x 0.2

MPN: 66495
UPC: 724386649522
EAN: 0724386649522
ASIN: B0002PZVH0

Release Date: October 5, 2004
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours

Tracks:

  • 1/1
  • 2/1
  • 1/2
  • 2/2

Similar Items:

  • Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror
  • Ambient 4: On Land
  • Ambient 3: Day of Radiance
  • Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks
  • Discreet Music

Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.com essential recording
Eno's theory of the "discreet music" he called ambient was far from the modern chill-out room: the idea was that it should function at very low volumes, unobtrusively coloring the atmosphere of a room. Evolving by tiny gradations, the long pieces of Music For Airports (the first in a series of albums that followed the statement of purpose Discreet Music) defy close attention, but then they're not meant to be listened to consciously; they're meant to serve as a counterpoint to the frantic arcs of travel, or rather to be imagined in that setting. --Douglas Wolk

Amazon.com
This complex sound sculpture was created by Brian Eno in 1978 and was even installed for a while at the Marine Terminal of New York at LaGuardia Airport. The ambient-minimalist soundscape has been alternately described as background Muzak, a profoundly artificial musical milieu, and a groundbreaking studio creation. Eno designed Music for Airports from a few simple notes and the serial organization of variable tape loops that didn't quite match up. It's a groundbreaking elaboration on the aural/spatial dimension that utilizes silence, piano, synthesizer, female voices, and, most importantly, the technology of the studio. A true metaclassic, the "music" is divided into four distinct movements. This record is the first of Eno's ambient series and is undoubtedly the best. --Mitch Myers


Customer Reviews:   Read 27 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars Relaxing   July 24, 2008
My favourite music for relaxation and/or meditative states of mind. Music for Airports is never intruding and uses soothing sounds rather than melodies. More minimalistic than most new age music of today.


5 out of 5 stars good ambient music   April 28, 2008
I am an acupuncturist and I am always looking for mellow ambient music to play for people in the treatment rooms. This one is great.


4 out of 5 stars Ambient 101: The creator   March 19, 2008
 0 out of 1 found this review helpful

Ambient music started here, and the term was coined by Brian Eno with this album. Considering that Eno was talking about how this kind of music could easily be ignored and hang in the backround might make you want to call it muzak (which isn't music in any shape or form). It's not the case, because Ambient music has emotion, it has thought, it can be listened and makes you feel good (at least this album does). It enchances the moods of cerain things, it makes subtle emotions come out more. In purpose, it is used in different ways than the most common way music effects people. In contrast, muzak isn't even heard and most people don't even realize it's going through the speakers, they feel the way they did when the blanket of muzak hit them, nothing happened to them.

Considering this is the first ambient album ever, one might take a wild guess and consider it to be a bit primal. It kind of is, as it does seem a bit TOO basic because the ambient concept has evolved a lot since this album. But despite that, the music stands out great and does fine without the notion of being the first of it's kind. That's not the reason it's a good record. It's got good music, that seems basic, but still great to listen to, and still one of a kind. And it does seem to fit in with airports, although I don't really care for airports, but most people don't.

The four compositions are still chill to listen to, and I notice a lack of warmth when tearing off the headphones after listening to a bit. It's noticeable when you turn the music off and on. The first composition is a long, warm track, with a twinkly piano that loops and adds nuances, and despite the obvious pattern, it works from beginning to end. The next track is a chorus of voices that fade in and out. The next adds piano to the voice. The last is done with a warm synth.

Like Airports? I think this album would appeal to you. But I don't, and I liked it. There's not much else to say about this guy. Give or take.

7.0/10



4 out of 5 stars Brian Eno - 'Ambient 1: Music For Airports' (Astralwerks)   March 15, 2008
 9 out of 10 found this review helpful

Ha-ha! Really get a big laugh out of that patron who put on a one-star review of this CD reissue - asking 'what is this stuff, Chinese water torture?' No, Bubba! It's clearly ambient bliss for most of us. Originally released in 1978 - has it really been thirty years now since this electronics / ambient classic had surfaced? Two tracks here that I got the most out of was the sixteen-minute soundscape piece of brilliance "1/" and the twelve-minute "2/2". Line-up: Brian Eno-synthesizer & piano, Robert Wyatt-piano, Christine Gomez & Inge Zeininger-vocals and the late great Konrad Plank-engineer. Definitely recommended.


5 out of 5 stars Early work that helped define the genre   March 13, 2008
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

First done as an installation piece for the Flughafen Tegel in Berlin in 1983, where a number of sonic installation pieces were being done at the time, the piece doesn't really have a beginning, middle or end. Neither do you have to *listen* to it to get it. The tones sit in the background, intelligent configured, but not invasive. Ready for you when you are ready for them. Nice.

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