2/1 by Bang On a Can
This is a retelling of Brian Eno’s album Music for Airports with one important difference. While the 1978 album by Eno was constructed out of tape loops, this version uses live musicians. New York-based music collective Bang on a Can wrote transcriptions of the album’s four pieces. These pieces replicate Eno’s originals exactly, and each piece is exactly the same length as its original. I think having musicians play the score does give the music a warmth that is not found on the originals.
Musicians learned to play music created with tape loops. Drummers learned to play like drum machines. If something sounds interesting we find ways to incorporate it into the art.
This completely relaxed me before my piano practice session. Much needed because I am doing some strenuous technique exercises that have been known to make me scream. Right now, after listening to “2/1” I feel capable of keeping my serenity.
Thanks again, Ottmar. My library is getting happily enriched with music I would have never come in contact with.
I thought this music today was going to be something like the Off-Broadway show STOMP, which I just loved. Saw it once in San Francisco and twice in New York. Just do a search on YouTube for STOMP LIVE. There is one number that is done with garbage cans – delightful. And I loved the one with brooms, and the one with toilet plungers. I would go see it again.