Sunday special, One out of step cos I acquired this just this weekend.

I’ve not been previously that interested in Brian Eno until I wrote all those pieces about Bowie earlier this year and it became obvious that Eno’s influence on those records of Bowie’s he was involved with (and even some that he wasn’t) was significant. I’d always had him pegged as an experimantal, ambient noodler although I knew one of his songs had been covered by Bauhaus so maybe there was more to him. Rob, who comes into the shop 4 days outta 5 on his way to work, is a fan and suggested if I was going to like anything of Eno’s it would be his first two albums, “Here Come The Warm Jets” and “Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)”.

Brian Eno, a self confessed “non musician”, was a founder member of Roxy Music. After recording 2 albums with them, “Roxy Music” and “For Your Pleasure”, he quit in 1973 after disagreements with singer Bryan Ferry (it’s reported Ferry told Eno there could only be one Brian (Bryan ?) in the band). Eno almost immediately embarked on his solo career releasing this album in February 1974. 

“Here Come The Warm Jets” is a gentle glam/art-pop concoction with more than a hint of Krautrock about it. It was recorded in 12 days by a group of 16 musicians (including all the members of Roxy Music except Bryan Ferry) who Eno invited to play on the basis that they were all “musically incompatible”. Eno (“non musician” remember) directed the musicians by suggesting how things might sound and by dancing. He is credited with playing "snake guitar", "simplistic piano" and "electric larynx”. You can’t nail it down to one thing but it’s easy to hear how this was quite the influence on a lot of people, especially through the 80’s.

Here’s a link to a contemporary short documentary about the making of this album https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x81aix1. If any of the above interests you this will tell you more about the record than I can, I’m pretty new to it myself. Eno became involved with music that has been part of my world for decades and this album gives me more insight into how that music came to be. Cheers Brian

Needles In The Camels Eye - https://youtu.be/2SWrIB75vc8