Ambient 4: On Land
Brian Eno
Bill Laswell, Jon Hassell
Engineer: Jon Potoker, Daniel Lanois, Martin Bisi,
Producer: Brian Eno
Astralwerks (Record Label), 2004
1 CD
Catalogue #: 66499
EAN: 0724386649928
UPC: 724386649928
You save: 25%
Personnel: Brian Eno (various instruments); Michael Brook, Axel Gros (guitar); Jon Hassell (trumpet); Michael Beinhorn (synthesizer); Bill Laswell (bass guitar).
Liner Note Author: Brian Eno.
Recording information: 09/1978 - 01/1982.
Unlike most of Brian Eno's conceptually unified ambient projects, AMBIENT 4: ON LAND is something of a patchwork. Recorded in six studios between 1978 and 1982, the eight pieces--ranging between three to nine minutes in length--are a curious mixture of solo works for treated instruments and full-fledged collaborations. "Lizard Point" is the most interesting, with the synthesizer, bass, and guitar of Material's Michael Beinhorn, Bill Laswell, and Axel Gros providing a denser and more varied musical backing than most of Eno's ambient works. "Shadow," a duet with trumpeter Jon Hassell, introduces a world music element similar to their FOURTH WORLD ONE: POSSIBLE MUSICS duet album, and "Dunwich Beach, Autumn 1960" introduces guitarist Michael Brook and multi-instrumentalist/co-producer Daniel Lanois, who became one of Eno's most valuable collaborators throughout the '80s. The solo pieces refine ideas first explored on earlier ambient works, though with greater subtlety and increased tonal color.
Tracklist
Brian Eno
Pick almost any forward-looking trend in rock and you're likely to find that Eno blazed the trail. Beginning in the 1970s, Eno pioneered everything from art-rock to ambient music to sample-based electronica. His career began with Roxy Music, where he broke new ground with his synthesizer work. From there he went on to an illustrious solo career full of innovative electronic music as well as classic rock-based albums like ANOTHER GREEN WORLD. Along the way he found time to produce landmark albums by the likes of U2 and Talking Heads.
Bill Laswell
Bill Laswell's creative fingers have been in so many musical pies over the years, he should open his own bakery. The bassist/producer's career took off after his arrival in New York City in the late 1970s, as he paired with a host of downtown/avant-garde luminaries such as John Zorn and Elliott Sharp, and appeared on and/or produced albums by a diverse array of artists, including Mick Jagger, Brian Eno, Fela Kuti, and White Zombie. Laswell also made a name for himself captaining some of the most diverse projects in contemporary music, including his collective Praxis--which featured Bootsy Collins, Yamatsuka Eye, Mick Harris of Napalm Death, and elusive guitar whiz Buckethead, among many others--and no-wave funk outfit Material.
Jon Hassell
Tennessean composer/trumpeter Jon Hassell was in the forefront of minimalism, having played with both Terry Riley and La Monte Young. Influenced by their ideas, he took them to the next level, combining ambient sound with world music for a unique fusion of the futuristic and the "primitive" sound that he eventually dubbed "fourth world music." Intrigued by Hassell's work, Brian Eno sought him out for some seminal collaborations, also bringing him into his other projects such as Talking Heads' REMAIN IN LIGHT, and trading heavily in Hassell's style for his 1981 album with David Byrne MY LIFE IN THE BUSH OF GHOSTS. Hassell went on to further explore his unique paradigm of electronics, experimentalism, and folkloric tradition throughout the subsequent decades.
