Brian Eno on art, audio and technology

[600_OHM]

I'm going to throw David Sylvian of JAPAN into this group like Brian and Bill that forged their own path.

Sometimes that path goes off the charts, and you have to follow them, rather than have them come to you.

I'd love to see what Eno, Nelson, and Sylvian could come up with. That would be an awesome mashup. Might be too much artistic genius to withstand though.

 

[itz_all_about_the_music]

Came across this great quote from Eno today:

“Whatever you now find weird, ugly, uncomfortable and nasty about a new medium will surely become its signature. CD distortion, the jitteriness of digital video, the crap sound of 8-bit - all of these will be cherished and emulated as soon as they can be avoided. It’s the sound of failure: so much modern art is the sound of things going out of control, of a medium pushing to its limits and breaking apart. The distorted guitar sound is the sound of something too loud for the medium supposed to carry it. The blues singer with the cracked voice is the sound of an emotional cry too powerful for the throat that releases it. The excitement of grainy film, of bleached-out black and white, is the excitement of witnessing events too momentous for the medium assigned to record them.”

Aside from the minor quibble that there’s no such thing as audible “CD distortion”, I think he inadvertently (as he is talking about production/recording, not reproduction) manages to capture the essence of a lot of the fad-ishness of the audiophile community.

Can't confidently say what this five sentence quote from a valued musician and innovator means. So I won't try to.

 

[600_OHM]

I think what he's trying to convey is that there is an entire generation that has known nothing but compressed and manipulated media, and think it's the norm. Simply because they don't know the difference, or that it has in fact become a manipulated wall-of-sound "signature".

Sure, we complain, but marketing knew back then that given enough time, the quality of the past will be long forgotten.

Here's the kicker: some future generation will listen to this crap compressed audio, and might cherish it for it's "authenticity" !!!

.. hang on, Fripp's on the phone and he's p-ssed off! Gotta' take this...

 

[600_OHM]

Can't confidently say what this five sentence quote from a valued musician and innovator means. So I won't try to.

Btw, yes please TRY to! Express yourself. That's what it's all about (or was).

Eno (and others) don't want you to just consume their product. How does it make you feel? What does it make you think - musically or otherwise? What DO you think he's saying?

Mass consumerism of music is a marketing goal. Music that makes you think and express yourself is another, such as these artists.

So let's hear what you got! You have every right to it. Whether I agree or disagree is immaterial.