peterr@utcsrgv.UUCP (Peter Rowley) (06/16/83)
I agree with Spencer in Utah; Eno was making more of a negative statement
about synthesized sounds (they are not open to deep inspection) rather than
any positive statement about the novelty of his views. If he was indeed
thinking in terms of fractals, he might well have mentioned baroque music,
but he didn't, nor did he mention classical music anywhere in the article
(mentioning only Cage, Reich, Riley, Glass, and Lamonte Young). This could
have been due to his training (at an art school which espoused experimentation
over classical training) or because he's really not thinking of fractals.
My understanding is that objects with a fractal structure "look" the same
at all levels. In a looser sense, one could have the levels related simply,
as with some of Bach's work, as I understand it (which isn't to any great
degree), but not necessarily with Eno's work. He seems to like music which has
many levels, with different things going on at each level. The long term
changes in his music don't appear to mirror its microscopic structure, thus
his work probably doesn't qualify as "fractal music", as loose as that term is.
Also, strictly speaking, I believe a fractal structure demands a continuum of
levels.
On the other hand, I don't think all possible "fractal music" has been
produced; melody is only one musical dimension. Synthesis and tape recording
of natural sounds have opened up a good deal of ground. Fractal rhythm and
timbre -oriented musics aren't prevalent (anyone know of any?).
As for novelty, Eno acknowledges his influences (above), and makes no
particular statement as to his contribution. But he's certainly made some
of my favorite albums, of pop (esp. "Another Green World" and "Before and
After Science"), spirited electronic ("After the Heat", with Cluster), and
ambient music ("Music for Airports"). Even Rolling Stone liked Another Green
World.
Has anyone managed to find lyrics for Eno's early albums ("Here Come The
Warm Jets", "Taking Tiger Mountain (by strategy)", "Another Green World",
and "Before and After Science") ? Is there a general method for finding
lyrics, like writing to a publisher?