Music for Airports: Live

This remake of a piece that is a cornerstone of modern pop music is nothing short of stunning. Very brave of Bang On A Can to tackle such a well known piece of pop history.

And this was so refreshing. Beautiful, pleasant, really kept the essence of the originals and adds a touch of humanity with orchestral instruments. I wish they do more eno, and I'd love to see his other pieces performed in larger ensembles.

Ambient Music… Etherial Music… Furniture Music… and the often reviled term Easy Listening Music. All are branches sprouted from the tree planted in the early twentieth century by the Dadaist movement and composers such as Eric Satie. Satie created works that he described as “background” music. Pieces that would be well suited to be played in the background of gatherings and fit the environment rather than standing out as the focus of everyone’s attention. Along comes Brian Eno a few years later. Coming from both the art school world and the rock and roll scene, he created his own additions to this philosophy by using electronics, tape manipulations and the recording studio as tools to further expand the ethereal aspects of his music. Released in September 1978, “Music For Airports” was expanded from an idea Eno came up with while being stuck in the Cologne Bonn Airport in Germany. The stress and anxiety the environment created in people inspired the music to be an installation that would play on a loop in New York’s Laguardia Airport Marine Air Terminal. His intention was to fill the space with a much calmer and relaxed atmosphere rather than the brutal and uninspired sounds normally associated with such places. Being that this music was created in the studio using non-traditional techniques and instruments, it is a difficult challenge to attempt to recreate its intricacies. Bang On A Can has been doing just that for several years now in live settings by utilizing synthesizers, string instruments, clarinets, pianos, voices and percussion. Rather than try to recreate the exact sonic palette BOAC capture the spirit and intention of the music using their own unique point of view. Having heard the original piece many hundreds of times over the years, my ears are very familiar with the haunting melodies and near mythical aura of the sounds Eno created. BOAC bring a wonderful meditative quality and beauty to the piece. The sparse melodies are gorgeous and make me long to lay my head down on a pillow drifting away into their cloud-like goodness. I am blown away by the fact that they play this music live as an ensemble. Not only are they able to perform it as an ensemble, they are able to lift emotional areas out of the music that were not quite as apparent in the original. Live instruments tend to have that effect on music, and BOAC do it extremely well. If you are a fan of Brian Eno’s work, you owe it to yourself to hear how his music is being expanded and treated with the reverence it has so well earned. Band On A Can has dipped a toe wonderfully into what will hopefully be a deep well of new interpretations of this modern masters work.

by epousseter Brian Eno has been an undercurrent of musical influence for more than thirty years and it is high time a live album has been set at our feet. Once again Eno provides evidence the impossible is possible and not just something created only in a studio. Taking his ambient series and performing live is a feat rarely witnessed by fans of Brian Eno. We now have a true example of his breadth of this genre. I suggest to iTunes listeners to expand into Brian Eno’s world and look to the expanse of work over the years. One will discover that much of today’s music has been influenced by, not only Brian Eno but another artists Robert Fripp. Although these two name were almost interchangeable during the eighties each have an established body of work which have stood the test of time.