The "Influential Records" Game Commentary, Part 4 (Eno)

What can adequately be said about the influence that Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno has had on my musical and artistic development, or indeed that of the later 20th and early 21st century culture and civilization? I was aware right away upon hearing Roxy Music that a new force had been unleashed, feathers and all, and I tracked that force carefully as it inspired and influenced John Cale, then David Bowie, and later David Byrne. My first introduction to his solo material was Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy). And I kept up with all subsequent releases as well, devouring Another Green World and Before And After Science (later I traced back to Here Come The Warm Jets, which I love particularly for its extreme experiments in pop). But somehow his more experimental electronic music had missed me until Jack Crow played After The Heat for me.

This would probably be my desert island record. It has everything: darkness, light, “The Shade”. The dystopian nihilism of “Broken Head”, the sci-fi futurism of “The Belldog” (which my band Evil Triplet has covered), and the hypnotic backwards trance of “Tzima N’Arki”. It introduced me also to the duo known as Cluster and the bass player Holger Czukay of Can, and by extension the whole arc of what is called Krautrock. Their other collaboration, Cluster & Eno, may hold together as a whole more, and it has some amazing sonic exploration, but Heat is my ultimate pick, possibly due to the inclusion of lyrics or vocals, or maybe just because of the immediate impact it had on my direction.

Toward the end of Terminal Mind’s run, I could tell that Punk Rock as we knew it was changing, giving way to a more regimented-feeling Hardcore. The freedom to do anything was about over in that world, and it would be a few more years before it opened up again. I was looking for something new to get into. I assisted my neighbor Luis in the formation of his dream band Kamikaze Refrigerators, playing guitar through a synthesizer I had recently purchased. I also presented one or two experimental sound collage/plays at Raul’s to some very confused audience members. But at the time, electronic music seemed to be where I was heading.

After a short-lived experimental group called Civilian Sect with Jack, Brian Beattie (later of Glass Eye), and Jane Dowling, I joined forces with Will Clay and Steve Harding to create Life On Earth. Being as inspired as I was by the German/Eno electronic sounds of a few years back, I couldn’t have been more out of step with the moment. New Wave was BIG, and Synth Pop was happening; I wasn’t interested. One of our last shows as a trio was at Club Foot, where we set up on the catwalk above the stage. Shortly thereafter, Harding had quit. Will and I did some duo performances, sometimes incorporating slides and paintings that I had done, and at our final show (also at Club Foot), we included Scott Morgan, who had recently been the synth band on an Arthur Brown (“Crazy World Of”) album and had the first modular synth I had ever seen. He introduced us to Arthur backstage before our performance and I invited Arthur to improvise with us at the end of our set. And that is how I came to work with Arthur Brown for a while. More on that later.

All of this was because of the aesthetic immersion in Eno. Every year seemed to bring a new possibility of what could be done with art music. I was immediately taken with the full-side explorations of No Pussyfooting with Robert Fripp. And then the followup Evening Star taught me even more about where electronics and guitar could go. Meanwhile, 801 Live had happened, and it still remains a favorite. It’s not only impossible to restrict Eno to a single spot in a top ten, it’s even difficult to limit a photo for this entry to four album covers!

I kept up with Eno’s releases through Nerve Net, and the collaboration Spinner with Jah Wobble. I also continue to look forward to any works with Fripp. And at this point, working on my own with a fairly advanced modular synth setup and plenty of odd effects pedals for my guitar, many of which I built myself, I am thankful for having known the music and intellect of Brian Eno.