Chris Washburne Music

I just wanted to say that Johnny's 'Dune' pieces are stunning. I had the fortune of seeing them performed by him at Camp Rising Sun this past summer. They are amazing works of art.

The ambient genre seems seems an endless exercise in psuedo etherealism, to coin a phrase, that extends from musical exercise to musical excerise and from disk to disk, simply employing diverse, layered instrumentation. Is seems perpetually repetitious without a lot of contrast. Much as P Glass repeats from measure to measure in much of his work. I like Bang On A Can, but the material ............... I also own "Brian Eno: Apollo" (a soundtrack) which, if you want/need ambience is probably the only disk of the ambient type that you'll require. At least there is inspiration behind the creativity instead of being simply another ambient exercise.

Having seen this performance in 1998, I was awed. Just as the music was starting (Mecca Bodega performed in the first half of the concert that night), a jet passed overhead!

I have always been a huge fan of Eno's and had been given the Music for Airports LP by my brother (I still have it.). What a treat it was to see and hear this music performed on stage. The audience maintained a respectful silence throughout the performance and it was SO beautiful!

One of the most amazing concerts I've ever experienced. Thanks to my sister for taking me and thank you for bringing out this recording, BOAC All-Stars, you're truly amazing!

Gilbert Kirk
Virginia Beach, VA

Its not an Eno album, but its credited to him.

Yes, I know, its "bang on a can", but it lists him as primary regardless. It should not.

The compositional process for the original is Algorithmic. treating it like a reproduceable composition is like trying to repaint Pollack's "Blue Poles". You could, but why?

As a lifetime fan of Eno, I find this product absurd and misleading.

Airports is a masterpiece.
This is a piece of something else.

Bang On A Can's version of "Music for Airports" adds a jangly depth to Eno's more compressed version. They've managed to use the studio to create space in an already swiss cheese like piece. But the key difference here is the space is much more stark than Eno, thanks to the startling presence of their instruments, which rattle and drone and twitter expressively. The quiet becomes the space for anticipation of the instruments. so rather than the steady rolling pulse of Eno's, you get more up and down with BOAC's version.

It doesn't improve on Eno's piece. I think in some way, it vindicates Eno's abilities as a composer.

I have known the original Eno version intimately for years, so I approached this CD with a question: Does it add anything to the original? The short answer is one part does, two maybe do and one part doesn't. The first part (arranged by Michael Gordon) is the least satisfying. It doesn't seem to add anything to the original Eno version apart from an unsettling deep piano chord at the start. It sounds awkward and clumsy, and it lacks the smooth beauty of the original. Part two consists of mostly aetherial voices, as did Eno's, but on this version David Lang has fleshed it out with subtle additions that work quite well. Third section brings out a slight jazz flavour to the original, which is interesting although I have yet to decide whether I like that angle or not! The best part is the final part, which certainly adds to the original Eno composition. Eno's rich, chorale of synths has been enhanced by the addition of some interesting instruments, e.g. plucked instruments, that really brings out some novel textures in the piece. So, overall, three stars - one for each reasonable piece on the album.