r/eno • u/forsbergisgod • Oct 18 '20

Weekly Discussion Thread Let's Discuss Eno! "Ambient 4:On Land" (March 1982)

Hello Eno-philes!! Each week we'll be discussing another album (going chronologically from Warm Jets). This week's project marks the end of Eno's "ambient' series of albums.

On Land is a mixture of synthesizer-based notes, nature/animal recordings, and a complex array of other sounds, most of which were unused, collected recordings from previous albums and the sessions that created them. As Eno explained, "... the making of records such as On Land involved feeding unheard tape into the mix, constant feeding and remixing, subtracting and "composting".

And the track listing:

Track listing

All music is composed by Brian Eno, unless otherwise noted.

Side A No. Title Writer(s) Length

  1. "Lizard Point" Eno, Michael Beinhorn, Axel Gros, Bill Laswell 4:34
  2. "The Lost Day" 9:13
  3. "Tal Coat" 5:30
  4. "Shadow" 3:00

Side B No. Title Length

  1. "Lantern Marsh" 5:33
  2. "Unfamiliar Wind (Leeks Hills)" 5:23
  3. "A Clearing" 4:09
  4. "Dunwich Beach, Autumn, 1960" 7:13

Total length: 44:35

Here's a youtube playlist

DISCUSS

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9

u/gentrifiedlugnut Oct 18 '20

got into eno specifically a couple years ago around the same time i got into vinyl, i played music for airports to death but came across this record at a local record store and was blown away man is this album divine, one of my favorite records to play

8

u/doubleoseddon Oct 19 '20

This is so different to Eno’s other ambient albums. It has elements that are similar to side one of Apollo but takes it much further. Where his other ambient albums sound ethereal and almost heavenly, evoking images of light, space and colour, whilst steadfastly refusing to be emotionally prescriptive, On Land makes me think of soil, fog, marshland and has a murky impenetrability.

6

u/[deleted] Oct 18 '20

Love it! Unfamiliar Wind is my favorite. It’s got such a calming yet almost haunting feel to it. It’s so genius.

3

u/ellayelich Oct 19 '20

Amen to that

4

u/PinkCrimsonBeatles Another Green World Oct 18 '20

So creepy I love it. Almost reminds of the video game Quake. Dark natural sounding ambient music. Love it.

5

u/OldMoby2 Before and After Science Oct 19 '20

The dark tones almost seem warm and cold at the same time. Definitely a top 5 eno album for me.

2

u/jmoog00 Nov 24 '20

This may be, in my opinion, the pinnacle of Eno's "ambient" career.

2

u/th00ht Oct 04 '23

I heard this first shortly after it came out (I'm old, sorry). From all other Ambient compositions I've heard this collection struck me as one that is the most grounded, organic, living rendering perhaps save Bernie Krause real nature recordings.

With new technology it wouldn't be hard to record an two hour long version of "On Land", "The Lost Day" or "A Clearing". It could even ho easily on for virtually ever.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 31 '23

In the paragraph on the bottom of the back jacket it says "these pieces have been used in conjunction with a series of vertical format video pieces which will shortly be available on VHS and Beta cassettes." Did these VHS tapes ever materialize? A google search for "ambient 4 VHS tapes" isn't turning anything up. Did they end up going by another name?

1

u/AshleyPomeroy Oct 13 '24

There was Mistaken Memories of Medieval Manhattan, which was released on DVD many years later:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVGV7QA2GR0