Roger Eno – Apollo - Atmospheres & Soundtracks

Under Stars ----> Under Stars II ----> Stars are the best tracks here. I always play them back to back, they sound very close and appear to be part of the same composition. Together they make a beautiful 15min+ Atmospheric Ambient piece.

It seems like an eternity, the awe with which one moment, a totally alien experience can leave you trembling and full of questful spirit. It was that real experience of the astronaughts who first walked on the moon, that Brian Eno aimed to recreate! In what he describes in his own words as an overly "newsy" coverage of NASA Apollo space missions he felt as if he had been sold short on what must truly have been an astonishing experience.

Well not wishing to be as cynical as those TV producers of whom he speaks, but lets face it is a miracle that this spectacle was not further diluted by a first ever space high-five, or worse still someone dazzling us all with the amazing walking backwards trick, dressed in sequins, trilby, slip-ons and of course white tube socks.

Actually I've lost my time thread there but still digressions to one side, appropriation has to be the key word here, and to understand how good this music is only ever seems clear when played at the right moment.

Where as I've never seen this supposedly stunning film of NASA footage, but when I listened to this lp recently so much cultural blur flooded back to me. This has been used countless times, and deservedly so as this defines ambient in both purpose and sound.

Then at that very moment whilst (needlessly some might say) pondering this very subject when my wife phoned to tell me she is expecting our first baby, and there was "An Ending (Ascent)" playing in the background, and I kid you not because the cheesiness of relaying this information would then be cynical and vacuous, as if contrived in some marketing strategy. Mark these words if this hasn't happened already then it probably will.

But thankfully for me now that music will always leave me awestruck, suspended just for a brief period in disbelief, an experience alone then further defined by a beautiful piece of music. I am not personally religious, but the title could be construed as such and for it's poignance in contrast to the beautiful sound it makes, an image of life's endless cycle springs to mind and for this I am truly grateful.

As for Brian Eno's Apollo record, well actually for nearly all of his records, I am truly grateful.