Brian Eno - Ambient 4: On Land LP

Label: Astralwerks

Our Review:

1982's On Land is arguably a place card for a wellspring of ambient musicians forging soundtracks for non-existant films. Hints of Eno's dark soundscapes can be heard from the likes of Biosphere, Andrew Chalk and Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works Volume II, yet Eno himself drew inspiration for On Land while visiting Ghana where he made field recordings and clustered disparate sounds into a single aural frame. In doing so, Eno discovered a simple and effective concept: with the elimination of melody and rhythm, sound becomes flattened in the stereo field and thus creates a world unto itself. As the artist states, "the landscape has ceased to be a backdrop for something else to happen in front of: instead everything that happens is part of the landscape. There is no longer a sharp distinction between foreground and background." Listening back all these years later, it's pretty clear On Land's various textures and tones resound today in the very best sense possible. Absolutely timeless.