I don't know a ton about Brian Eno. He's a very accomplished musician and producer.
But what I do know of his work has made a lasting impression:
Ambient 1: Music for Airports. (YouTube)
Brian Eno coined the term "ambient music" with this album's release. Perfect album!
Here Come The Warm Jets. (YouTube)
The closing track on the album of the same name. I love this song so much. I think of it as the theme song for my year. I'll be shocked if it isn't the soundtrack to my "1 second every day" video compilation.
I am addicted to the hum of that guitar. I sing along to the repeating melody as the song that builds around it.
The rest of the album is a good listen. It's fun and experimental. Sounds like a playful pre, or parallel punk. After discovering the title track first through some Spotify shuffle, I dove in. The album gave me a rare feeling. The songs felt so familiar for something I had never heard before. On first listen, it felt like an album I already loved.
Oblique Strategies. (EnoShop) (Digital version)
A deck of cards written by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt. It's not a card game. How should I describe it? Let me rip off Wikipedia:
A card-based method for promoting creativity.
...
Each card offers a challenging constraint intended to help artists (particularly musicians) break creative blocks by encouraging lateral thinking.
I discovered Oblique Strategies when my good friend Erin gave me and Ellena a deck as a wedding gift.
Yesterday I wrote about a kind of creative time travel, where I welcomed my past self to my imagination with grace and enthusiasm to flesh out some ideas. Once I was able to get excited about the work, I thought to pull out the Oblique Strategies deck. Soon after, I was pulling cards, thinking deep and having fun. Thank you Erin, and thank you Brian!
This Clip of Brian Eno "Don't Get A Job" (YouTube)
This is a potent 3 minute reminder on the importance of not doing creative work in total isolation. Genius comes from Scene-ius.
Okay. Bye!