Geeta Dayal on Eno’s Another Green World

[With in-studio composition] you’re working directly with sound, and there’s no transmission loss between you and the sound – you handle it. It puts the composer in the identical position of the painter – he’s working directly with a material, working directly onto a substance, and he always retains the options to chop and change, to paint a bit out, add a piece, etc.” – Brian Eno

“Painting is an appealing analogy for Eno’s ambient explorations, but filmmaking is a better model for how Eno works with other people in practice,” Geeta Dayal pertinently writes in the introduction to her new book on Brian Eno’s Another Green World. This 67th addition to the 33 1/3 series is finally out after being delayed for months. The book is a welcomed addition to a series which continues to present engaging insights into the making of some of the greatest albums of the last few decades.

Dayal’s project was derailed on a few occasions. It is not clear in the preface whether or not the use of Oblique Strategies cards proved helpful or detrimental to the book writing process. Eno disconcerted more than one musician with cards such as “honour thy mistake as a hidden intention” and “twist the spine.” But within the context of collective experiments, the cards seemed to help.

Dayal, on the other hand, is not certain that her “overtly resist change” and “make a sudden, destructive unpredictable action; incorporate” cards helped. The latter allowed her to explore new avenues but also caused her to spontaneously tear up entire sections of the book.

Dayal succeeds nonetheless in presenting a coherent narrative despite the destructive actions made necessary by the Oblique Strategies cards. The author’s economical prose takes the reader from Eno’s childhood years in Eastern England to his art school tape experiments. She provides a succinct overview of Eno’s musical career, not forgetting to mention collaborations and collective exercises such as the Scratch Orchestra and ACNE.

The transition from Eno’s earlier solo records (Here Come the Warm Jets and Taking Tiger Mountain) to Another Green World is, however, a little abrupt. Dayal spends considerable time discussing Eno’s ambient experiments/experiences but without effectively bridging the pop/experimental gap that is so characteristic of Eno. Dayal’s assertion that, in 1975, Another Green World was the “fullest realization of Eno’s artistic vision up to that point in his life” is certainly valid although it is a difficult point to make in such a short book.

Dayal focuses on processes and theoretical concepts but it is not always clear how much of what she presents is specific to Another Green World. Moreover, the few pages allocated to discussing the album’s 14 songs seem insufficient when compared to other 33 1/3 books.

It is also unfortunate that Dayal fails to challenge the widely held belief that lyrics did not interest Eno. She does discuss song titles and pauses to consider the words used in “Golden Hours” but that is hardly sufficient. David Sheppard, in On Some Faraway Beach, writes about the presence of Dadaist and automatist undertones in Eno’s earlier work. Eno himself, in an interview with Lester Bangs, says, “what often happens is that I get an idea of how the words will fall and what their function be rhythmically, so I start singing or placing the syllables in a certain way, and they’re just nonsense at the beginning. Then certain types of sounds will emerge, like a particular vowel sound will suit a particular song.” Eno adds, “and I know it sounds extremely perverse whenever I explain it, to finally at the end of it all sit down and read it and say, ‘Ah, so that’s what it’s about.’”

Where Dayal is most successful is in challenging the commonly accepted painter analogy. By focusing on processes, she ably demonstrates that Eno, during the productive years that preceded and followed Another Green World, became increasingly like a film director in full control of all creative aspects. Dayal goes as far as extending the cinematic analogy to No Pussyfooting and Evening Star.

“Eno and [Robert] Fripp were a bit like the David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti of early-to-mid 1970s experimental rock music,” she writes.

Dayal did not have the chance to meet with Eno but she still managed to let the celebrated “non-musician” speak through the pages of the book. She skillfully weaved material from early Eno interviews within the fabric of her story. It is worth noting that she was able to interview old friends and collaborators such as Fripp, Percy Jones and Judy Nylon, to name but a few – their contributions proved invaluable.

Dayal’s Another Green World is an  informative and concise introduction to an artist whose imprint on modern culture is incalculable. Eno found himself at a very specific juncture in the mid-1970s and it is that story that Dayal tells.

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Excerpts from Eno’s Another Green World:

IN DARK TREES

I’ll COME RUNNING

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Dayal has contributed other articles here and there about Eno.  Follow the links below if interested.

Brian Eno – Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks
The Album Covers of Brian Eno

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Other great reads in the 33 1/3 series:

The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society by Andy Miller
Pink Flag by Wilson Neate
Low by Hugo Wilcken
20 Jazz Funk Greats by Drew Daniel
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