Brian Eno is MORE DARK THAN SHARK

INTERVIEWS, REVIEWS & RELATED ARTICLES

Sydney Morning Herald NOVEMBER 30, 2012 - by Brett Woodard

BRIAN ENO: LUX

Lux first took form in the Great Gallery of the Palace of Venaria in Turin. Brian Eno recorded an album of four captivating pieces, each about twenty minutes, designed to reverberate around the cavernous spaces of the spectacular baroque architecture. Lux is part of the continuum of stately ambient explorations Eno has undertaken from 1975's Discreet Music, through Ambient 1: Music For Airports, to Thursday Afternoon and Neroli. Eno formulated a theory, and some of the earliest examples, of ambient music. His work in the field has stayed away from the New Age-Muzak cliches and instead exhibits a calm grandeur. With cool ease, Eno takes a small collection of complementary sounds, and allows them to interact according to his kitchen-scientist cybernetic principles. Wondrous reconfigurations occur; elegant patterns emerge. Subtle changes take on greater significance and a feeling of warm, blissful weightlessness suffuses Lux. Spare in texture, restrained in mood, Eno has transmuted airy spaces and quiet, lingering notes into grand minimalism.