Brian Eno is MORE DARK THAN SHARK

INTERVIEWS, REVIEWS & RELATED ARTICLES

Record Collector DECEMBER 2020 - by Jason Draper

BRIAN ENO: FILM MUSIC 1976-2020

Soundscapes and soundtracks in Eno's first "real" films collection

If the title of Brian Eno's 1978 album Music For Films wasn't conceived with actual films in mind, it sure as hell gave Hollywood something to consider. Whether meditative, terse or just plain gorgeous for gorgeousness' sake, Eno's instrumental work feels tailor-made for the big screen. Penned for 2008's The Lovely Bones, Ship In A Bottle captures that movie's beauty and tragedy in under three minutes. With its cyclical motif, Reasonable Question finds a meeting point between technological wonder and existential dread, fitting for We Are As Gods, a documentary whose subject, Stewart Brand, was once a Merry Prankster and is now devoted to bringing extinct species back to life. If the Apollo cues Deep Blue Day and An Ending (Ascent) are now part of our cultural landscape, a rare Eno vocal, on a cover of William Bell's Southern soul weepie You Don't Miss Your Water, is an unexpected, welcome reminder that, in his mind-boggling arsenal, Eno's secret weapon may well be that achingly melancholic voice.