enoweb

news

: updated 23rd december 02007 :

David Byrne has written an article for Wired called David Byrne's Survival Strategies for Emerging Artists — and Megastars. On page 2 there's audio: 20 minutes of conversation between David and Brian as they chat in a restaurant. You'll laugh at their gags! You'll cry as you hear Brian enthuse about selling CDs on Enoshop, bearing in mind the last new CD there was Curiosities Vol 2 back in 2004 [correction: you might count the digital downloads of The Fahrenheit Twins and Beyond Even (apparently complete with final track "Dross Crisis in Lust Storm")]! You'll throw your etiquette manual at them in disgust as they speak with their mouths full! (Thanks to Bob Pearce & Richard Joly).

New leader of the UK's Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg has chosen Brian as an advisor. (Thanks to David Whittaker, Kevin Eden, Rory Walsh & Richard Joly).

If you're like EnoWeb, your knowledge of Peter Schmidt may be limited to the fact that he was an artist friend of Brian's who provided some album art. John Emr has been working to remedy that, with a new web-site, www.PeterSchmidtWeb.com. There is artwork from the Eno side of things (including some of the original Polaroids used in the creation of the Taking Tiger Mountain cover), and you'll quickly discover the incredible scope of the man, his work and life, through art and writings.

Leo Abrahams has been writing about his recent projects with Brian, editing jam sessions with Herbie Hancock and working on a film soundtrack.

The track "Blue Bus" on Daniel Lanois' Here Is What Is album turns out to be an alternative version of "Deep Blue Day".

Kevin Dunnill writes: Just got hold of the latest Gescom CD and instantly recognised the track b1 as the Eno/Byrne track "Come with Us" from My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. Some Googling later it appears that each track on their new CD is made from samples of other records. You can listen to a snippet of it -- as you can hear it's not a remix as such but a new track. Definitely one for the completists.

Over on Nerve Net, Ben House writes of a new collaboration between Phoebe Legere, Brian and Leo Abrahams.

Our previous update was on 10th December when we wrote:

David Byrne was interviewed by Jack Docherty on BBC Radio 2 a few weekends ago.
DB: "I've also been doing a collaboration with Brian Eno, of songs, and that's kind of inching its way along."
JD: "Any connection with Bush of Ghosts, or is it entirely different kind of thing?"
DB: "It's an entirely different kind of thing."
JD: (laughing) "Another million-seller!"
DB: "Who knows? This one is proper songs."
(Thanks to Rich Eno)

Brian appeared on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme on Saturday 8th December to talk about the late Karl-Heinz Stockhausen. (Thanks to David Whittaker).

Brian was interviewed by AlJazeera's Riz Khan on 01 Nov 07 (thanks to Phil Franks). We like the bit at the start where he is described as "speaking out against the war in Iraq, environmental issues and civil liberties".

Further to the Dark Symphony information in one of the October updates, Mark Harrop informs us that higher quality videos and downloadable QuickTime 5.1 surround AAC format audios are now available. With Koan now unavailable (and Brian's pieces effectively unplayable on Windows XP / Vista / any Mac OS), this allows you to hear some of them, together with tracks from other Koan musicians.

Not talking of Koan, the Cole brothers have just launched their new generative music software for Windows & Mac, Noatikl.

Chats with Brian Eno appear on Daniel Lanois' new digital album, Here Is What Is, to be released on 15th December. The DVD of the film of the same name is due out on March 18th 2008. (Thanks to Bernd Kretzschmar).

Bernd Kretzschmar also writes: On November 17th Brian Eno was awarded an Honorary Certificate for Lifetime Achievement by German record critics.

Our previous update was on 11th November when we reported:

Brian wrote an article for The Guardian about Jon Hassell (thanks to David Whittaker, Tim Boon & David Evans).

Out soon is the snappily-titled 2-DVD set Roxy Music: The Thrill Of It All - A Visual History 1972-1982. Including an early performance at the RCA, "this is a visual feast which will satisfy even the most ardent Roxy fans. Perhaps most significantly is footage from the Montreux Rose Festival - the last filmed performance of Brian Eno with the band." Complete with thinks bubble agonising about his laundry, EnoWeb hopes.

Exciting news for Eno completists, as the Tanit cover of "Lola", featuring Brian, is re-released on a compilation called 1981-1985. There is also a boxed set re-release of David Bowie's most recent 5 albums including 1.Outside, with the second CD of repetitive remixes and "Nothing To Be Desired" that was put out a few years ago.

Our previous update was on 8th November when we reported:

77 Million PaintingsDominic from All Saints explains: The new version of 77 Million Paintings has some revised text, new photographs, slightly improved software and more tracks of music (previously it was four, now it is six).

Dominic also says: Brian will be opening a 77 Million Paintings installation at the Swarovski Museum, Wattens, Austria, on 30th November.

Kevin Eden writes: Not sure if this has been listed before, but it's a great site for Fripp and Eno photos etc from their 1975 tour.

Barb LaBerge e-mails: Here is a link to a version of "King's Lead Hat" by The People Planners.

Our previous update was on 5th November when we reported:

Fourteen years EnoWeb's been going, and there are still old histories and new mysteries to explore. We think you'll like this discovery...

Steve Fisher writes: Play.com is listing a new release of 77 Million Paintings - Second Revised Edition. Tore Pettersen gives the description: "Features an interview DVD in which Eno discusses his creation of the 77 Million Paintings software, the next evolutionary stage of his exploration into light as an artist's medium and the aesthetic possibilities of 'generative software'. The accompanying software disc creates a constantly evolving, slowly changing 'light painting' on your computer monitor or TV with virtually infinite variations and the music of Brian Eno. The package includes an exclusive interview disc featuring Brian Eno discussing this and other projects, plus an extensive essay from Eno with previously unseen photos of his work. The Software disc includes an expanded soundtrack of Eno music and is Mac/PC compatible. Packaging includes 48 page colour booklet. Released 19th November." Not clear what sets it apart from the first release, then...

Leo Abrahams' most recent blog entry mentions a project with Brian.

John Cale mentions joking with Brian in an interview for The Australian.

Kaon Koo writes: Just came across this recently archived clip of Daniel Lanois interviewed on The Hour by the CBC (1st November) and thought you might be interested. Broadband required.

Our previous update was on 31st October when we reported:

Brian has been identified as 15th in a list of 100 contemporary living geniuses by consultants Synectics.
Mustard The Tortoise: What advanced methodology did these pioneers in the field of organisational creativity utilise in reaching this moon-shot conclusion?
EnoWeb: Hush, reptile, I shall explain. They e-mailed "4,000 known people" and asked them to nominate living geniuses.
Mustard: Why not 4,000 unknown people? Surely that would have given a wider spread of opinion. Why stop at e-mail? Not everybody uses it. And why stop at people? I notice they didn't e-mail me.
EnoWeb: Never mind. Just over 600 people could be arsed to bother replying, and after Synectics had gone through the answers to separate the wheat from the chaff they ended up with 400+ names. Their six experts then rated each person by applying five criteria. There was a maximum score of 10 for each criterion, and this is what gave Brian his ranking of 15 with a Genius Factor score of 19: Paradigm Shifter 4/10, Popular Acclaim 4/10, Intellectual Power 2/10, Achievement 4/10, Cultural Importance 5/10.
Mustard: Pretty damning all in all. Next time I see Brian in the street I'm going to point a claw at him and shout "Thicko! Intellectual Power officially a pitiful 2/10, ner-ner-nee-ner-ner!"
EnoWeb: Oh c'mon, surely it's just a bit of fun.
Mustard: Laughable, certainly. Do you think Brian will now go on a serial killer spree and take out the 14 bigger geniuses who stand between him and the coveted top spot?
EnoWeb: I'm sure there would be no more intelligent way to end on a career high.
Mustard: Yeah. "It's a fair cop, Sergeant, but the Oblique Strategies told me to do it."

Rory Walsh writes: According to November's Q Magazine, Dido is working on a new album. It appears that Dido took most of 2006 to nurse her father who passed away just before Christmas. During this period she took to driving across the Californian desert listening to Another Green World. Inspired and comforted by this work she rang Eno who agreed to work on a collaboration. The pair wrote two songs, one of which, "Grafton Street", has made it her new album which is untitled at present but is due out in early 2008.

Michel Faber reviews Michael Bracewell's Roxy Music book. (Thanks to David Evans)

Kevin Eden e-mails: This website gives some new info on Jon Hassell: he's re-signed to ECM (who released Power Spot) and a new album is planned for next year.

Some coverage of Robert Wyatt's Comicopera (thanks to Richard Joly).

Prospekt has posted another update about the recording of Coldplay's next album. Things are so fraught that (s)he repeats the word "a" between pages 3 & 4.

Our previous update was on 28th October when we reported:

YouTube has Brian's speech at the Stop The War demo.

Edge.org has Brian's formula, as shown at the Serpentine Gallery Experiment Marathon.

The word from Canongate is that both The Margin and A Year With Swollen Appendices have been postponed and there is no confirmed publication date yet. EnoWeb's money is on 2048 to mark the Centenary of Brian's birth.

In a bid to break the cycle of using the word "Brian's" in every news story (tsk!), EnoWeb moves now to the Fripp & Eno album we previously mentioned in our 3rd October update.

Tore Pettersen writes: I was sent this from Spin today • "Fripp & Eno - Unreleased Works of Startling Genius is a series of musical snapshots, ideas, tunes, pieces, covering a period of several years. Selected by Brian Eno, most are issued here for the first time on CD. The musical content is as varied in mood as one might expect from such disparate time periods" The initial manufacturing run of the album will be issued as a limited edition 2CD set showcasing the music in different ways. CD1 offers the first 12 pieces in segued form with only track 13 (regarded by both musicians as one of Fripp's finest recorded performances) separate, while CD 2 offers the 13 pieces individually. When the initial run is exhausted, a single CD of the music as presented on CD1 will become the standard release edition."

Although frequently listed under that title, the album has actually been released under the title Beyond Even. This makes its third name, as it was originally put out with the moniker The Cotswold Gnomes at dgmlive.com.

Reviews are cropping up here and there.

Up on YouTube you'll find a series of recordings of Dark Symphony, the Koan installation at Ars Electronica 2003 which brought together Koan pieces from many different Koan artists including Brian. By the way, the creators of Koan are about to release some new generative music software at Intermorphic (somebody else appears to have nabbed the rights to Koan when Tao [which absorbaloffed SSEYO] melted).

Sandor Caron e-mails: Just wanted you to know that dutch television recently re-aired a documentary on photographer Anton Corbijn which features a photosession with Eno. Also interviews with Eno, Bono, Depeche Mode and many others... It is now available online at the site of NPS. Interviews with Corbijn and voiceovers are in Dutch, but other interviews are in english with dutch subtitles.

U2's The Joshua Tree will be rereleased in remastered format on November 20th. There will be four versions in order to irritate completists. The one of most interest for EnoWeb readers will be the Box Set (rather than the Deluxe, CD or Double Vinyl Sets) as it includes some liner notes from Brian. Box & Deluxe also have bonus audio CDs featuring B-sides & rarities from the recording sessions. (Thanks to Richard Joly)

Kelvin L. Smith e-mails: Laraaji is now on MySpace. One of the tracks he has posted is from Ambient 3: Day of Radiance, produced by Brian.

Nothing directly to do with Brian, but Paul Williams e-mails: Tony Conrad will be performing at The Fishmarket, Bradshaw Street, Northampton, NN1 2HL on Saturday 10th November 2007. Tickets £10 advance - £15 door. Venue opens 7.00pm – Performance 9.30pm. Tony Conrad is a giant in the American soundscape. Since the early 1960s, he has utilized intense amplification, long duration and precise pitch to forge an aggressively mesmerizing Dream Music. Conrad articulated the Big Bang of minimalism and played a pivotal role in the formation of the Velvet Underground. Conrad continues to exert a primal influence over succeeding generations with his ecstatic oscillations and hypnotic drones.

Let's see what exciting mail we've received lately.

14th Oct. Chris Lawless writes: I came across your website tonight while trying to find information about a cassette I have in my collection.
EnoWeb: Hold on a moment, we're getting déjà vu here...
3rd Oct. Chris Lawless writes: I came across your website tonight while trying to find information about a cassette I have in my collection.
EnoWeb: You ought to be careful, stumbling across EnoWeb twice in a few days like that. Yours must be a very urgent question, of vital importance to the very future of humankind -- rest assured we shall give it our full attention.
Chris Lawless: It's called Brian Eno Wants You To Hear Something... and it was released in 1989 on Opal/Warner Brothers. It features Brian Eno talking about the band, and there's some music in the background as well though to be honest I haven't listened to it the entire way through. Any idea as to the specific content and/or what is was supposed to be used for (in store promotion, radio)?
EnoWeb: For the specific content, we recommend that you listen to your cassette -- it may be that someone has accidentally recorded over it with "Brown Girl In The Ring" by Boney M. These things can happen and you'll never know for sure until you play it all. Most people find that this is a promotional piece with Brian yakking on about the band Hugo Largo, who had been signed to his record label Land Records. We think it was intended to be sent to journalists and anyone else who might be interested, on the grounds that Brian's imprimatur might encourage them to find out about this band rather than one of the many others yelping for attention. As Brian told Robert Walsh in 1990, "The other night I was thinking about Mettle, the new Hugo Largo album we're releasing, which I want to promote in some way. I was sitting and staring at an electric fire at the time [laughs], and I thought, I'll use that fire as my model of how I'm going to promote this record. I can't explain the thought process, but the fire actually became the key; it could have been anything else -- that slipper or this book." Which we think you'll agree clarifies the issue immensely.

Royal VIP Casino writes: Welcome to Royal VIP Casino, where everyone is King.
Mustard: I must say that sounds like a most equitable arrangement. But hold on, if everyone is King, then who will be our servants? Other kings? I hardly think they will want to sully their dainty kingly hands with harsh manual labour. You really haven't though this through, have you. What's that -- a bribe of some sort?
Royal VIP Casino: Only from the most noble of all casinos you could except such a Regal gift.
Mustard: "Except", as in "take exception to", do you mean? Or "accept"? My royal nature is most distressed by such infelicities of spelling. Guards! Take this Spammer away!

Sukhveer Gul writes: whatz craken tom
EnoWeb: A Kraken is a tentacled sea-monster.
Sukhveer Gul: be the talk among your peers once they hear about your penis
EnoWeb: Yup, that's right, there's nothing we men like better than to chat away for hours on that topic. Do you Spammers ever read your own e-mails and think that maybe, just maybe, they are a little too ludicrous?

Guadalupe T. Patterson writes: We are here for your penis! You'll like it!
Mustard: You can't have it. I am rather attached to it, you see. By the way, you Spammers seem to have an unhealthy fixation with sexual matters. I'd be worried if I were you.
Guadalupe T. Patterson: Check out the reviews, all these girls are swingers
Mustard: A tragic affliction. Is there no cure to prevent them tilting about all over the place?
Guadalupe T. Patterson: who love sex...
Mustard: Ah, there you go again. See what I mean?
Guadalupe T. Patterson: ...and just need a bit more on the side.
Mustard: That would make sense, actually. If they can only have some kind of counterweight fitted on one side, that should stabilise them and stop all that swinging. Nobel Prize for Medicine on its way!
Guadalupe T. Patterson: See what is available on the menu today.
Mustard: Is it dandelions?

Our previous update was on 9th October when we reported:

Counterpunch.org has posted the text of Brian's speech at the Stop The War demo.

Brian will contribute a formula to the Serpentine Gallery's 24-hour Experiment Marathon on 13th-14th October.

Robert Fripp has been writing more on the remastering of the early Fripp & Eno works.

(brief mention at the end of 3rd October too)

Bernd Kretschmar has been on another hunting expedition. These are his trophies:

Our previous update was on 7th October when we reported:

Brian has written an article for The Guardian,"This ban will not stop us", on Iraq and Stop The War's banned march in London on 8th October. (Thanks to Richard Mills).

The New Statesman has a review of Michael Bracewell's new book on Roxy Music by Brian Dillon.

Our previous update was on 4th October when we reported:

J. Peter Schwalm says: The PUNKT remix of Brian's Musikain song "No Orders" is now available. The credits for "No Orders" are: trumpet by Arve Henriksen, additional vocals by Greta Aagre. It is part of a remix EP which also includes remixes of the following songs: "P.I.N." with Imogen Heap, "You Are The Fool" with the Lea Shores, "This Town" with Zulma Valdez - who happens to be my neighbour - and one previously unreleased track called "M-un-Dos".

David Whitaker e-mails: Harold Budd gave one of his rare performances in Oxford (or anywhere) at the historical Holywell Music Rooms on October 3rd. It was a typically (one man) gorgeous set on grand piano. Minimalism stripped bare even by the bride's standards.

Our previous update was on 3rd October when we reported:

Scanner transmits: Just wanted to let you know about a video on my film-maker friend Sophie Clements' page. We've worked together a few times and she's been working a lot with Peter Schwalm recently (who just played an awesome set at Punkt in Norway last weekend). Scroll down to live AV work and you'll find this:
MUSIKAIN LIVE (excerpts) 22:54 ( 25/05/07)
visuals: Sophie Clements
sound: J.Peter Schwalm with Brian Eno (keyboards), Tim Harries (bass), Eivind Aarset (guitar)
Excerpts of an ambient electronic set, performed in Naples, Italy, to open Brian Eno's 77 Million Paintings exhibition. What a treat eh?!

That's not the end of the Sophie Clements/Eno/Schwalm goodness. Over at another site you can see an additional video from the performance.

Scanner mentioned the Punkt Festival, and you can see a performance from 2006 by J. Peter Schwalm & musicians (although not Brian) of the Schwalm/Eno/Wagner piece "Blue/Brown/Green" at the Punkt site.

To nobody's great surprise, The Margin -- Canongate's 2008 desk diary curated by Brian -- appears to be experiencing a delay of a publicational nature. Amazon has changed its 30th September release date to somewhere in the vague 12th-17th October region. Canongate's web-site has carried the come-hither slogan The publication status of this edition is currently forthcoming for a while now. Also on Canongate's books, ha ha, is Brian's re-released 1995 A Year With Swollen Appendices diary, the publication status of which is similarly currently forthcoming.

In other book news, Kevin Eden points out a new book for 2008, Brian Eno's "Another Green World", in which Geeta Dayal interviews Brian and his collaborators about the album.

And David Whittaker e-mails: Following on from my book Stafford Beer: a Personal Memoir (which includes a lengthy interview with Eno), my new book Stonelight has just been published. It is a collection of photographs and essays on a variety of topics but it does include a new piece Brian Eno, Stafford Beer and the Quiet Revolution which takes a close look at just how influential Beer's cybernetic ideas were on Eno’s music making in the '70s. Both books available from Wavestone Press.

Q Magazine is celebrating its 21st birthday in its November 2007 issue -- and to mark the occasion it is breaking with tradition by putting together a {number of} {adjective} {things/people} list. This time it is The 21 People Who Changed Music. One of them is Brian, and as well as the 1-page interview with him he manages to chip into Coldplay's discussion of Kraftwerk (Thanks to Rupert Loydell).

In other magazine news, Rory Walsh has been flicking through the November issue of MOJO:

Also in the October issue of The Wire (284), David Toop interviews Robert Wyatt about "the troubled backdrop to his latest album Comicopera" and Brian is mentioned a coupla times.

Meanwhile at stately Fripp Manor, Robert Fripp has been writing of the work of remastering (No Pussyfooting) and other Eno-related topics. (Thanks to Kevin Eden & Rupert Loydell)

The KCRW programme Morning Becomes Eclectic is 30. It is marking the anniversary by digging out some old interviews, including one from 1992 with Brian on the morning after his appearance on the sex advice programme Love Lines. Brian talks to Chris Douridas about Wrong Way Up, Nerve Net and much more.

KCRW also has a 1997 Café LA interview with Brian and a 2003 interview with Harold Budd.

Michael Savage writes: Just to let let you know, I purchased a new copy of More Music For Films on October 1, 2007 at Virgin Music... and still track 18, which should be "Climate Study", is actually a repeat of track 20, "Approaching Taidu". Thought I'd give a heads-up to others out there to beware, the original problem noted years ago is still unaddressed and haunting the the racks in your record stores. Oh, and the download on Sony's service had the same problem. I've given up.

Andrew Nicholas says: The October 2007, 30th Anniversary Special Issue of MIX Magazine, has named Brian Eno as one of "30 People Who Shaped Sound, 1977-2007," alongside of Hugh Padgham, Steve Lillywhite, and Peter Gabriel. Speaking on Eno, from a reprinted February 1990 MIX Magazine interview, Daniel Lanois stated that, "everything he did went to tape already manipulated and treated…"

Politics now. Brian has spoken out against the banning of a Stop The War demonstration within a mile of the Houses of Parliament on 8th October. He'll be there. He has also become one of the fifty founding members of the new European Council on Foreign Relations.

77 Million retrospectives. Wallpaper* has a feature & QuickTime of the Luminous installation held at Selfridges earlier this year. Bernd Kretschmar turned up a page on the Naples installation, in which Dirolamo de Simone comments on some quotes from Brian.

Photographer Gavin Evans has two photos of Brian.

Nigel Brookes e-mails: I thought the Enowebbers might be interested in Root - a software artwork I have made that generates a continuously evolving mix of Brian Eno and David Byrne's "A Secret Life". Versions for both Macintosh and Windows are available for free download.

Leo Abrahams' new album The Unrest Cure will be released on January 21st. Brian is featured on the track "No Frame". In the summer Leo gave an interview to Rockfeedback.com; Brian is discussed on the second page.

John Heery e-mails: Just to let you know that Roger Eno has a couple of tunes on the Green Thing podcast this month. This month it's about walking (to work or wherever)... to tempt you to put one foot in front of the other, a bunch of talented musicians and writers have recorded some rather brilliant walking tunes and walking words that you can download, stick on your iPod or mp3 player and listen to as you walk.

The Independent has an article on Kevin Ayers, with a brief mention of the ACNE supergroup.

Over on YouTube, David Bowie promotes 1.Outside and Daniel Lanois is interviewed, possibly for a convention of men who wear hats indoors.

Our previous update was on 5th September when we reported:

The documentary Scott Walker: 30 Century Man, which includes contributions from Brian, is out on DVD on 10th September in the UK (PAL Region 2). Apparently the bonus items on the DVD include a longer interview with Brian.

The Times has an article on Kevin Ayers.

Our previous update was on 3rd September when we reported:

Virtuoso guitarist Robert Fripp has SLAMMED his friend Brian Eno's DANGEROUS HELL-RAISING ROCK STAR ANTICS -- only to find himself VINDICATED within seconds! EnoWeb respects Robert's copyright in his writings and directs readers to his diary for more details. (Thanks to Steven Leak).

Daniel Lanois has suggested that he, Brian and all of U2 may be absent from any further recording sessions for U2's next album. "The record's kind of making itself," he tells Rolling Stone. EnoWeb says: At last generative music becomes mainstream! Mustard says: Are you sure that was meant to be taken literally? (thanks to Richard Joly)

Fovea Hex's three Neither Speak Nor Remain Silent EPs are now available for purchase as digital downloads from Burning Shed. Bloom and Huge feature Brian in the starry line-up and Allure has contributions from Robert Fripp and Percy Jones.

The 77 Million Paintings show has its Canadian premiere in at the LOLA Festival 2007 -- that's London Ontario Live Arts, apparently, not walking like a woman but talking like a man (not that there's anything stopping visitors doing that of course). It's on for just 3 days, 20th-22nd September, at the Wolf Performance Theatre, London Public Library, 251 Dundas Street, Ontario. After that it'll be heading off to the Venice and Milan Biennales.

A recollection from EnoWeb's postbag...

Christine Pratt-Scanlon writes:

(Love your site.)

My recollection of the exact year is hazy for reasons I surely don't need to explain, but around 1976 Eno's name was spray-painted on the wall of the School of Visual Arts on East 23rd Street.

Interestingly (or not), the anonymous author of said graffito misspelled "Brian," whether from an attack of nerves or on purpose I'll never know.

The graffito read: "Brain Eno." How fitting, my roommate (who attended the SVA) and I thought.

This was around the time that Another Green World was released. That much I remember, because after listening to the album for the four hundredth time I decided that, were I to be left on a desert island for the remainder of my life and allowed to bring only one album, Another Green World would be it.

And, after 30-plus (gulp) years, that choice would still stand. Besides, "Golden Hours" has become even more relevant now that I'm 50. (My brains, of course, turned to sand decades ago...)

Again, thanks for a great site. Cheers!

Peter van Doorm e-mails: I just happened to come across another Eno tribute/cover CD, entitled Oblique Strategies for a Squelchy Life by Doctor X. I think the cover looks rather promising and so do the reviews clippings.

John Diliberto echoes: the Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd interview is available as an Echoes Podcast ... Harold Budd is the keyboardist who created the sound of ambient chamber music. As the guitarist of The Cocteau Twins, Robin Guthrie created dream guitar textures. The two musicians got together in the 1980s for the album The Moon and the Melodies and have reunited some 20 years later for the soundtrack to Mysterious Skin and a pair of atmospherically chilled albums, After the Night Falls and Before the Day Breaks.

The Telegraph has a profile of Kevin Ayers.

Richard Joly spotted this review of Daniel Lanois' movie.

Okay, let's have another look at the EnoWeb postbag...

Pansy Driver writes: I just started having sex, and my boyfriend keeps popping out when we do it.
EnoWeb says: Well he's clearly so bored that he prefers to nip out to the pub.

Eve Whalen writes: Hi honey! Remember me
Mustard responds: No. And I am a fierce wild tortoise, not the product of bees.
Eve: Have not heard from you for ages!
Mustard: Or indeed ever.
Eve: Have you forgotten about me? Hope not!
Mustard: Rest assured that I have not forgotten about you, as I was never previously aware of your existence. However, using my reptilian mind-tricks... there. Done.
Eve: How are things going?
Mustard: Sorry, who are you?
Eve: I am stilll single and spring has come..
Mustard: But it's August. Why the extra L?
Eve: all of my friends are hanging out with their boyfriends and I am alone L
Mustard: Then they should tuck themselves back in. There's another of those extra Ls, by the way.
Eve: Though we might get to know each other better
Mustard: Though what?
Eve: and perhaps this Spring will be the last lonely spring for us? Will be waiting.
Mustard: You certainly will. A long, long time.

Our previous update was on 8th August when we reported:

Kevin Kelly takes a look at Apple's Logic software, co-opts his old mucker Brian for an opinion, and Brian gives an audio example. (Thanks to Richard Joly & Andy Flynn)

As many of you will know, Brian is living something of a hand-to-mouth existence these days, owing to his policy of giving away MP3s and an album release schedule that might be described as "rather quiet at the moment". Only a little production work for little-known outfits such as U2 and Coldplay is providing a few crumbs to keep him away from the soup kitchen. As Eno fans, we too must make the most of the few Eno morsels that we can find.

At Nerve Net, Peter van Doorm writes: over at J Peter Schwalm's website, I came across a recent (May 2007) CD/MP3 download release of his entitled Music for (Im)paired Ground (commissioned for ballet). Part 2 (remix) is subtitled "Enojam" and has Eno doing the remix!

EnoWeb adds: The Wagner Remix Project album, which features the Schwalm/Eno track "Blue / Brown / Green", has been released (on iTunes, at any rate).

Those nutty Coldplay boys are chronicling their latest whacky antics on their website. In the most recent update, Brian is group-singing. In this act, he should not be confused with the town of Grøpsingen in Norway of course. If there is one.

"If I rub my hands together quickly," Brian said conversationally, "I can make fire."Brian appears in a film by Daniel Lanois, Here Is What Is, which will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival® in September (remember that ® -- it is very important and we suspect it will play a key role in the movie). You can see a bit of him in the first QuickTime trailer, apparently living in a doorway in Morocco where the soup-kitchens are better. (Thanks to Sebastian Böcking & Rory Walsh).

Bulli Pulver e-mails: I am a great fan of Mr. Brian Eno and I would like you to see my painting of him among others like Björk, Bill Laswell, Frank Zappa and Robert Wyatt. Take a look at my site and enjoy.

Russell Mills says: Undark, the recording project of Russell Mills, Tom Smyth and Mike Fearon, will be performing live at the Punkt 07 Festival in Kristiansand from 29th August to 2nd September. I will also be giving a talk/presentation, and Mike and I have recorded a new composition in response to a work from the Museum of Contemporary Art collection.

Our previous update was on 8th July when we reported:

CNET News has a gallery of pictures from the USA's first 77 Million Paintings event.

Here is a reference to Brian working with Coldplay.

Our previous update was on 5th July when we reported:

Brian adops a laid-back attitudeFed up with trawling through page after page of YouTube video postings trying to find something other than fan videos? So are we, but at least there are a few new postings worth looking at. Here we go.

Our previous update was on 3rd July when we reported:

RTÉ 2FM's Dan Hegarty programme is repeating its Hans-Joachim Roedelius session. This is supposed to include a rendition of "By This River" performed by Gavin Friday though that didn't get broadcast last time. The programme is broadcast from 12 midnight to 2am ROI time on Wednesday 4th July, so it's really the very early hours on Thursday. They have live streaming but the programme is not archived.

Radiocitizen says: So it seems Brian is now officially Professor Eno.

Tao Group, which swallowed up Koan creators SSEYO a few years ago, is no more. The Cole brothers have set up Intermorphic to work on the follow-up to Koan.

Our previous update was on 2nd July when we reported:

Steven Leak & Nick Day gesture towards a Wired interview with Brian discussing his work on 77 Million Paintings and Spore.

Our previous update was on 27th June when we reported:

Radiocitizen writes: along with the Long Now 77 Million Paintings installation, there will be an installation event in Second Life from 29th June to 1st July. EnoWeb speculates mindlessly: Whatever next, Brian jumping through an Oblivion Gate clad in Daedric Armour, in pursuit of Mehrunes Dagon? Mustard agrees: I'd like to see that.

Steven Leak points out: This skimpy but pretty article appeared in the on-line Wired mag recently. The pics are nice and so is the bickering and bantering under the article!!!

Michael Poché adds: Here is an Eno Interview with the San Francisco Chronicle.

Kent Jones says: I would think that the death of Richard Rorty, of pancreatic cancer at 75, would merit mention on your website. He'll be missed.

Julian Lewis e-mails: I trust you'll be keeping the celeb underpant story updated by noting that the Brian/Paul Simon 'collaboration' out-sold Brian/Peter Gabriel - £26 to £21!

Renzo Pietrolungo writes: According to Italian newspaper La Repubblica, 'Brian Eno ha fatto una sorpresa al pubblico in visita alla Grotta di Seiano (Napoli) per vedere la sua installazione "77 million paintings for Naples". L'ex Roxy Music è salito sul palco dove si stava esibendo il gruppo di Jan Peter Schwalm (suo amico e collaboratore) e ha cantato il brano "No orders". Il concerto e l'installazione diventeranno prossimamente i protagonisti di un documentario provvisoriamente intitolato "Shooting Eno" che, probabilmente, sarà presentato durante il prossimo Festival del Cinema di Roma. Dopo l'improvvisata apparizione a Napoli Eno è tornato a Fes (Marocco) dove sta registrando il suo nuovo disco.'

Translated:
'Brian Eno had a surprise in store for the audience visiting his installation "77 million paintings for Naples" in Grotta di Seiano (Naples). The ex-Roxy Music star leapt onto the stage where the band of his friend and collaborator Jan Peter Schwalm was playing, and sang "No Orders". The concert and installation will soon be the subject of a documentary, provisionally titled "Shooting Eno", which will probably be presented at the next "Festival del Cinema" in Rome. Following his improvised appearance in Naples Eno returned to Fez (Morocco) where he is recording his new album.' Renzo adds: with U2.

Tom Hart sketches: I did the Brian Eno cartoon so many years ago in PULSE magazine (published by Tower.) I recently worked on a series of cartoons with "obstructions" (think: strategies) by a colleague. One of the challenges was to incorporate an Eno lyric. I also took it as a chance to riff on Eno lyrics in general. You can see the challenge and results here:

Sonicstate recently spoke to Devo and they briefly mentioned Brian.

David Bowie has some thoughts about Brian in his booklet notes for the re-release of The Buddha of Suburbia.

Greg Deocampo, once of EBN, worked on the CD-ROM game Nile [which featured Brian's music] back in the day. That's something we hadn't realised. Anyway, he has an extract in Windows Media 9 format, and it's better quality audio than what ended up on the CD-ROM.

Finally, audiovisual artist BRK from Eclectic Method has a blog which mentions Brian.

Our previous update was on 8th June when we reported:

Brian is one of the musicians on Robert Wyatt's new album, Comicopera. Not out until October though.

Our previous update was on 7th June when we reported:

77 Million Paintings in VeniceVeronica Graham and Sarah Robayo Sheridan have sent some information about the 77 Million Paintings installation for the Long Now Foundation. It's only on for 2 evenings to the general public, apparently, which strikes EnoWeb as rather short-term thinking. But anyway here we go:

The Long Now Foundation presents the North American Premiere of Brian Eno's 77 Million Paintings. Conceived by Brian Eno as "visual music", his latest artwork, 77 Million Paintings is a constantly evolving sound and imagescape. The kaleidoscopic display of the projected images and slow, rhythmic evolution of the artwork create a singular experience for the viewer. In addition to the installation in the Forum, the Grand Lobby at YBCA will be set up for conversations and refreshments, including a full bar, and will also have demonstrations of Long Now's Clock and Library projects.

Dates:
Friday June 29, 2007, 8pm-2am (general admission)
Saturday June 30, 2007, 8pm-2am (general admission)
Sunday, July 1st, 2007, 7pm-midnight (Long Now Charter Members)
Venue: Yerba Buena Centre for the Arts, 701 Mission Street at Third, San Francisco, CA 94103
Tickets: $25 / $20 for students and seniors.

Over at NerveNet, Bernd Kretzschmar has assembled some links relating to Brian's installation in Cape Town.

As well as trotting the globe's rock stadium venues with his 77 Million Paintings world tour, Brian has found a little time to take part in a few other activities. He contributed to a Radio 4 programme about Roger Linn, the inventor of the drum machine (thanks to David Evans), he joined J. Peter Schwalm on stage in Naples for a song during the Musikain performance (thanks to Scanner), and he's been in Morocco with U2 and Daniel Lanois. Other tangents included a discussion of Oblique Strategies between Radio 2 DJs Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie on BBC Radio 2 (thanks to Phil Leader) and Bang On A Can including Music for Airports in a music-playing marathon (thanks to Daniel Bowman Simon).

Following yet another request from someone wanting to buy music from The Jacket, EnoWeb contacted Opal to see if there was any likelihood that it would be released. They said they had no plans to release it. Sorry, we did try.

Our previous update was on 13th May when we reported:

Pablo Urcola e-mails: Brian Eno will exhibit 77 Million Paintings in my town Zaragoza from May 8 to June 17. There is some information here (in Spanish).

J. Peter Schwalm has just opened an online store selling his music, much of it previously unreleased. He also has a Myspace page. He says that his performance in Naples on 26th May (mentioned in our 4th April update) will be a presentation of Musikain in an abstract, remixed form -- Musikain has not previously been released in Italy.

Bernd Kretzschmar turned up this info about a recording session in December with Brian, Herbie Hancock and others.

In August last year Stylus magazine had a commentary on "Mother Whale Eyeless".

Someone spotted Brian in South Africa a few months ago. Note: this video clip may induce motion sickness.

Our previous update was on 1st May when we reported:

Brian Eno and Paul Simon/Peter Gabriel signed underpants on eBay -- auction ends 3rd May. Now there's something you don't see every day. Thankfully.

Brian's 77 Million Paintings will be appearing in San Francisco sometime in the summer, and you can get a free invitation to the premiere if you pay the Long Now Foundation money to become a Charter Member.

We read in the Metamatic newsletter that in June Harold Budd & Robin Guthrie have two linked CDs out. Yup, that Harold Budd, the one who hasn't allowed retiring from releasing albums to stop him releasing albums.

Our previous update was on 29th April when we reported:

Following the delay with Brian's Diary we thought we'd check with Orion about the release date of David Sheppard's biography... and it is now set for 1st May 2008. Disappointing, but it probably makes sense to capitalise on any 60th birthday coverage.

"You'll like this one, missus. My Mother-In-Law..."Radiocitizen e-mails: I don’t know if you’re aware of this one, but Eno’s appearance at last year’s Pop!Tech conference can be downloaded from here...

Horsey horsey don't you stopMalcolm Le Grice's Berlin Horse, which has what's believed to be Brian's earliest recorded/released music as its soundtrack -- a tape-loop phasing piece -- is galloping on YouTube. (Thanks to John Emr & Radiocitizen).

Samadhisound has a new podcast, in which Akira Rabelais chats with Harold Budd.

Almost forgot, Leo Abrahams says: I have a new EP available to download from Just Music. It's the soundtrack to a US documentary about the author Simon Winchester and features 7 Ry Cooder-ish, Marc Ribot-ish, acousticy accordiony instrumentals. Stop by and have a listen at the link below.

Bryan Cook writes: I've enjoyed your site for several years now, and found an Eno interview you might want to add. It was the cover story from an electronic music magazine called Synapse in 1979. The Eno interview (by Kurt Loder, presumably of later MTV fame?) is quite long. Here's the link (the magazine has been scanned into navigable .jpg files).

Roger Eno's Myspace page has a coupla unreleased tracks on it at the moment, "That Summer" & "Guitar Solo 2".

Big ChillThe Big Chill's 2007 leaflet has a picture of Brian's 77 Million contribution to the Art Trail from last year. Its web-site has some other pics.

Over on Nerve Net, Bernd has some information on Roxy remixes and archive Roxy Music footage from Roxyrama:

Kevin Dunnill e-mails: Found this "design an action figure" challenge on b3ta.com. Don't know what to say really, one for the completists. EnoWeb adds: There is much that is tasteless and NSFW elsewhere on the site; we advise caution.

As Saturday 28th was such a nice sunny day, we sent Mustard The Tortoise to London to check out Brian's contribution to the Secret Public exhibition at the ICA. He's just finished typing up his (somewhat rambling) report on his manual typewriter:

"Whiled away the train journey reading American Turtles by Raith Tenement, which carries a lot of truth in the interludes between the gothic and fantastical story.

These are the stories the tortoises tell, of how Monkey played a trick on Tortoise and how Tortoise got his own back. And when the tortoises speak of monkeys, it is not clear whether they mean the monkeys of the forest, or the humans who came afterward, or even if they notice a difference.

Right on there, brother. Anyway, I remember London when it was all oceans and volcanoes but it's a bit more built up these days. Some of those paving slabs can play havoc with the old plastron and those steps at the end of Lower Regent Street take a bit of negotiating. Inside the ICA I handed over my 3 quid and was told there was a lower gallery and an upper gallery. Great, more stairs.

The exhibition bills itself as "A disquieting, playful, and intensely urban exhibition examining the dark flowering of creativity in the UK between 1978 and 1988." Give me a nice bright tasty dandelion rather than a dark flowering any day. Downstairs, I scooted around the floor looking for the Brian Eno exhibit and eventually I spotted a small sign on the wall saying On Land. It seems the Eno component of the show was just one of his albums playing... or at least it would have been if it hadn't been rendered entirely ambient by the fact that there was no sound to be heard at all. Either the ICA's CD player was broken or they couldn't be bothered to switch it on. So I wandered around a bit more. I quite liked the clinical hard bed with a television suspended above it showing a Margaret Thatcher Party Political Broadcast but the video of nude performance artists left this particular reptile cold. I then hauled myself upstairs to the other gallery where there was a film of some bloke wearing a dalmatian costume and red lipstick falling artistically onto some furniture, and a room with several "found objects", a glitterball, oxygen-starved goldfish and early Roxy Music blaring out.

I was surprised that there didn't appear to be much attempt to set these artworks in context with other aspects of the culture over the decade: cold war, Falklands war, other musics, television programmes, books, comedy, science, medicine... it ended up feeling very insular rather than 'secret'.

Favourite bit: getting back home."

He doesn't sound very impressed, does he? The Secret Public, complete with On Land which may or may not be working (idea -- take a recording of your own copy of the album!), runs until 6th May.

Mustard adds that every visitor was given an exclusive heritage keepsake -- a four-sheet set of photocopied pages. Here is the bit about Brian's exhibit:

Secret Public

Our previous update was on 17th April when we reported:

Hans-Joachim Roedelius has recorded a session for RTÉ 2FM's Dan Hegarty programme that includes a rendition of "By This River" performed by Gavin Friday (1 degree of separation: praised by Brian in his Diary). It's on the air on Monday 23rd April. As the programme is broadcast from 12 midnight to 2am ROI time, that puts it into the small hours of Tuesday. They have live streaming.

Talking of Myspace, we see from Punkt's page that they have been working on a remix of a J Peter Schwalm/Eno track from Musikain (which we guess makes it "No Orders").

Talking of Brian's Diary, Daniel Land e-mails: Not good news re The Appendices, I'm afraid. I've just had an email from Canongate saying it "has fallen off the schedule" and "certainly won’t be published this year"... they "don’t have a date at the moment."

Talking of Brian and J Peter Schwalm and Punkt, we missed the fact that BE and JPS created a track for the "Wagner Remix Project" at the Punkt Festival last year: "Blue, Brown, Green", composed from the music of Tristan and Isolde. Apparently it was broadcast on Radio 3's Late Junction on March 8th.

Talking of RTÉ, in 2004 Dave Fanning did a feature on Brian for the station.

Talking of things we missed, Bernd Kretzschmar points out on the Nerve Net mailing list that there was another 77 Million Painting installation in March, at the FNAC department store in Barcelona.

Talking of broadcasts with Brian and Myspace and March, Echoes did a feature to celebrate Jon Hassell's recent 70th birthday which included soundbites from Brian and others. It's available on Echoes' Myspace site.

Our previous update was on 4th April when we reported:

Richard Mills writes: Leo Abrahams' Discography mentions all his collaborations with Brian Eno. One of the recent entries is a piece called Sombrero. This is a ballet by Philippe Decouflé for which Sebastien Libolt and Brian wrote the music. "In Sombrero, Decouflé explores light and shadow, taking the heat of the sun as his central theme. Using both classic theatricality and video trickery, Decouflé creates captivating images." It's at Sadlers Wells -- Previews from 4 July 2007, Opening night 5 July 2007, Closing 8 July 2007. Times: Wed-Sat 19:30, Sun 17:00. Ballet Rambert also peforms Pond Way at end of May, same venue.

An e-mail from Amazon informs us: 'We are sorry to report that the following items have been delayed. Brian Eno "A Year with Swollen Appendices" [Paperback]'. The book, a re-publication with additional commentary by Brian, had been due for release on 5th April this year after being postponed twice from January and then November 2006. To tide us all over, EnoWeb has an exclusive extract that for some reason will not be included in the final release, whenever that might be.

Radiocitizen e-mails with some additional info about the Naples showing of 77 Million Paintings: 77 Million Paintings will be exhibited on May 26 and 27 at Castel Sant'Elmo and Grotto di Seiano, Naples, Italy. To open the event, Brian Eno is to give a press conference at 10AM on May 26 within the environs of the castle. The installation will be open to the public at noon of the same day. Furthermore, Eno is also scheduled to perform a series of readings on both evenings. Also on the programme is the presentation of J. Peter Schwalm's new album and Hector Zazou's Quadri [+] Chromies (on which Eno appeared as a guest contributor). Entry to 77 Million Paintings will be free. Further information is available at the following URL if you can read Italian.

Michael Poché e-mails: Robyn Hitchcock mentions Eno.

Caitlin Gramm says: I realize "fan portrait" doesn't really qualify as news or feedback, but the attachment is a drawing of a younger Eno I made recently, pretty close to actual size in color pencil.

David Whittaker writes: There was an article in the Guardian about Nico with a brief mention of Brian.

"I believe that Eno may have adopted the St Jean Baptiste de la Salle tag at his (Catholic) confirmation ceremony to honour his Alma Mater. By the way it's the De La Salle Brotherhood (not Brothers). Yours Pedantically, PN Ance."

James Morris, Jared James and Julius Alexander e-mail: World Wide Lootery agent.
EnoWeb responds: At last! Honest spammers!

Our previous update was on 9th March when we reported:

David Evans e-mails: BBC Radio 4's Today programme has an interview with Brian and Damon Albarn about nuclear disarmament - I heard clips from "Bone Bomb" and "How many Worlds" in the background.

This was coverage of a musical piece by Damon Albarn with bells by Brian, "5 Minutes to Midnight", performed on the evening of 8th March. The event is part of a protest about plans to beef up Britain's independent nuclear weapon system. Greenpeace had planned to webcast the performance live but had technical difficulties. However it plans to make a recording available for a short time.

Having heard the piece online, EnoWeb couldn't detect Brian's contribution but we reckon we did spot him with his back to the camera (25:21 if you're bored and you'd like to check).

UPDATE: David writes: I went along to the event on the Thames tonight. From my position on the bank, I couldn't see who was doing what on the ship, but the piece started about 7.00 with a choir (sounded a bit like Music For Airports), and then adding a narrative about the post-war history of nuclear confrontation. Serious theme but the way the story shifted from voice to voice sounded a bit like the comedy act The Men Who Know...

Our previous update was on 6th March when we reported:

Bryan Ferry appeared on BBC2's Culture Show on Saturday 3rd March to perform a track from his album Dylanesque (released 5th March; Brian provides "sonic enhancements" on the track "If Not For You".) In an interview afterwards, presenter Lauren Laverne took the opportunity to quiz him about Roxy Music:
Lauren Laverne: Speaking of Roxy, I'm very excited about the next Roxy Music album.
Bryan Ferry: Oh yeah?
LL: What's the latest, because it might be quite a while?
BF: Well it's very early days -- we started -- I mean, it's not very good when you have pressure on a project, but there was a lot of expectation when we started touring again: in 2001 we did this reunion Roxy tour, and that was a great vibe, that was a great success for everybody I think, we enjoyed it and the audience did too, cuz we hadn't played together for God knows how many years. Then we thought, well, maybe we'll go into the studio and try some stuff. And it was going very well, but after a couple of months I realised it was going to be quite a long project and I wanted to get something out of my own before --
LL: So why is that, is that Brian and his soundscapes and all that?
BF: Not really, he's incredibly quick. It's me with writing the words that's the slow part.
LL: Do you find songwriting a challenging process sometimes?
BF: You can say that again!
LL: Yeah?
BF: Yeah, yeah, it is... I don't write as much as I used to when I first started. And yet I seem to be busier than ever, I do a lot of live work.
LL: So maybe we'll look forward to Roxy maybe 2009, something like that?
BF: Yeah, I hope so, yeah.
LL: Okay, I've got my fingers crossed.

An article in Scotland on Sunday reckons it might be 2008 though.

Alfredo d'Agnese says: Brian Eno will be in Naples, Italy, on 26th and 27th May for the Neapolitan version of the 77 Million Paintings installation at Castel Sant'Elmo. The exhibit will be called 77 Million Paintings for Naples by Brian Eno. Entrance will be free. The event is part of the 2007 May of the Monuments cultural and tourist programme in Naples. The exhibit is curated by Paolo Uva for the "Angeli Musicanti" festival.

The official U2 site provides Q's full interview with Brian about working with the band.

The Guardian Online has a review of 77 Million Paintings at The Baltic. (Thanks to David Whittaker and Stephen Miller.)

David Whittaker adds: In Visconti's autobiography there's a unique photo of a topless Brian performing on 'treated' piano during Bowie’s Lodger sessions.

Neil Gaiman's 1996 BBC series Neverwhere, which features music by Brian, will finally see a DVD release in the UK on 23rd April. It has been out in the US and Australia for a while.

Mark Nelson writes: Just to update you about Brian's installation which is now working in Selfridges and before was closed... I went to see it yesterday... When you enter the Ultra Lounge in Selfridges lower ground floor, through a curtain, it takes a while for your eyes to get used to the darkness. Then you notice some sofas and chairs facing a wall about ten metres away, much like a small cinema. On this wall are arranged half a dozen clusters of monitors each slowly changing in design and colour. I sat directly opposite the installation and it is a very hypnotic effect, especially with the surround sound music. You feel like you are in a futuristic temple and the installation is like a shrine, calming and serene. I closed my eyes and opened them several times to a different configuration and imagined one could be on a five year space mission or something in the year 2100, and this is the chillout facility! That's a bit nerdy but I liked it... well done Brian.. it's in fact brilliant!

LuminousEnoWeb's Tom Boon adds: The tricky part is locating the Ultralounge. Selfridges' lower ground floor is a real rabbit-warren, where the rabbits have taken to retail in a big way and let their burrows out to as many sales concessions and franchises as they can get their furry paws on.

After much wandering I finally found myself in front of some black curtains. I stepped through to find myself in the dark, with the 77 Million Paintings soundtrack playing but no screens... it became apparent that I was on the wrong side of the installation, a potent metaphor for the human condition that obliquely juxtaposes our wilful Weltanschauung with the Straßenbahnhaltestelle of expectation. There was no man behind the curtain to pay no attention to, so I scrabbled back into the shop and set off once again.

Several twists and turns later I located the entrance to the Ultralounge, complete with a wordprocessed sign saying the installation was by "Brain Eno". This was the place. Once through a smaller black curtain, I went and sat on a hard wooden bench, moving to the sofa at the front of the room when some seats became free (the best location). I've run the program on PC several times but it's quite a different experience to see the piece in an installation context: the size of the monitors creates a very impressive sense of presence and the multiple monitor set-up reveals new combinations of patterns. Mind you, during my visit about 76,999,995 of the paintings appeared to include the hands-over-breasts image. In one striking painting, this was superimposed over the negative zebra crossing in what appeared to be stark white sunlight.

There was a constant flow of people -- some staying, others fleeing within a few seconds.The music blended with the clink of crockery from the café opposite and there were occasional sharp glitches from the sound system. Paintings embraced and absorbed themselves. I thought I'd been there for about 20 minutes; it turned out to be three quarters of an hour.

Luminous, the Selfridges installation, closes on 11th March. It's free! Catch it if you get the chance.

David Shakeshaft e-mails: Hi, Just been looking at Enoweb, fascinating. I like his full name which includes Jean Baptiste de la Salle. You are probably aware of this, but he went to School at St Peters, Southbourne near Bournemouth. At the time it was a private fee paying, Roman Catholic day/boarding school for boys run by the De La Salle Brothers, a teaching order set-up by St Jean Baptiste de la Salle. What a coincidence!! Although the order has continued involvement with the school, it is now a mixed, state secondary school. Vague recollections of Brian and a few others playing repetitious chords in the back room of the school hall .... I think some insults about learning to play and not much future in it were thrown through the window before beating a hasty retreat (he and his mates were bigger and older than me). Think I may have got this slightly wrong, but what the hell, I get most things wrong anyway!!

EnoWeb chips in: Maybe the World Of Rock has been labouring under a misconception all these years and Brian's name is not St John le Baptiste after all...

The fifth auctions for Nokia 8800 Sirocco phones signed by Brian raised US $1,025.01 [silver] and $5,100.00 [black, someone must really have wanted that one] for the Keiskamma Aids Treatment programme and The World Land Trust. Another two auctions (the last?) are now under way.

Pentateuch J. Hemstitch e-mails: #1 Penis Enlargement Solution in the World.
EnoWeb: Thank you very much for sharing that insight, Pentateuch. Just remind us of the message title of your e-mail, would you?
Pentateuch J. Hemstitch: A Trick of The Light.
EnoWeb: You know, that probably works for some people...

Our previous update was on 24th February when we reported:

Mail & Guardian Online has a feature by Nadine Botha on Brian's 77 Million Paintings installation in Cape Town.

Some of Brian's art will be included in a new exhibition, The Secret Public - The Last Days of the British Underground 1978-1988, at London's ICA from 23rd March to 6th May 2007. Perhaps they'll re-stage the complete rainforest installation from the Barbican, that'd be nice, but you're right, it'll probably be something from Mistaken Memories.

Stephen Miller writes: The Times Online's podcast, The Knowledge with Danny Robins, includes an interview with Tony Visconti about halfway in. There is a tiny, tiny bit about Bowie/Eno/Low.

EnoWeb was sorry to hear that BBC Radio 3's Controller has cancelled the long-running series Mixing It. Presenters Mark Russell and Robert Sandall championed all kinds of new and experimental music, and regularly featured insightful interviews with Brian over the years. However, the BBC's loss is London station Resonance FM's gain as the programme appears to be phoenixing there soon.

Our previous update was on 19th February when we reported...

Songlines has a list of the tracks Brian chose for his World Music playlist that made it onto its CD. Their podcast includes a track from Rachid Taha that didn't get included on the CD. The print version of the magazine includes Brian's reasons for choosing those tracks plus a competition where you can win 77 Million Paintings after perusing the Hannibal Records catalogue on the CD.

Researching an Eno wall-poster recently we came across a 2006 review of the Astralwerks reissues, 14 Video Paintings & Another Day On Earth by Jeffrey Morgan for Creem magazine.

Richard Joly says: Tony Visconti is taking Q&A at the Steve Hoffman Music Forums and he talks briefly about Brian Eno.

Rory Walsh e-mails: In March’s Q magazine there is an interview with Eno as part of their The Complete U2 feature. Tom Doyle extracts from him that:

There are also quotes from Eno on the piece on The Unforgettable Fire, which I think come from U2 by U2.

Julian Lewis writes: Just to let you know that Wired has a review of 77 Million Paintings. It's not much of a review ("a lot of art for 40 bucks"), but the pictures are pretty & quite big.

The fourth auctions for Nokia 8800 Sirocco phones signed by Brian raised US $859.00 [silver] and $1,625.00 [black] for the Keiskamma Aids Treatment programme and The World Land Trust. Another two auctions are now under way.

Our previous update was on 12th February when we reported...

Over at the BBC, Collective has a coupla RealVideo interviews with Brian. He talks about 77 Million Paintings and what evangelical atheism hasn't grappled with yet.

IT Week's Phil Muncaster has a review of Luminous.

A little more information about Brian in Cape Town: 77 Million Paintings will run from 19–28 February at the Michaelis Gallery, 31-37 Orange Street, Gardens, and he will be a key speaker at the 10th Design Indaba Conference on Friday 23rd February from 15:15-16:05 (hardly enough time for him to get into his stride, really).

Adrian e-mails: Samadhisound has just released a beautiful live recording by Harold Budd, performed as a tribute to his late friend (and associate teacher at the then newly formed California Institute of Arts), Jim Tenney. The album, entitled Perhaps, was recorded live at CalArts in December 06, runs at an uninterrupted 70mins, and is available exclusively as a digital download from Samadhisound now. You can hear a taster track, "Atl Atl", online at our Myspace site. EnoWeb adds: there are 13 MP3s and as it's a live performance be aware that there is some rustling (papers, not cattle).

The third auction for a black Nokia 8800 Sirocco phone signed by Brian raised US $1,533.88 for the Keiskamma Aids Treatment programme and The World Land Trust. Another two auctions are now under way.

Our previous update was on 9th February when we reported...

BBC 6Music's The Music Week on 4th February had a short interview with Brian. The Coldplay aspects of the interview were then recycled on Ken Bruce's Radio 2 programme on 8th February. (Thanks to Kevin Dunnill).

Radiocitizen e-mails: Each issue of the world music magazine, Songlines, comes with a compilation CD put together by a guest editor. For the next issue (March-April '07), the CD will be compiled by Brian Eno.

As The Familiar is re-released in the US, US radio show Echoes is re-releasing its 1993 interview with Roger Eno and Kate St John on Tuesday 13th February & Sunday 18th February.

Bob writes: I will say this right up front. My intentions are self serving. At least to serve my company. We [FORA.tv] are a broadband video start-up that features public forums. We have a killer program that I know you and your visitors would be interested in viewing. It is Brian and Will Wright speaking at a Long Now Foundation event complete with great far out game footage.
EnoWeb responds: EnoWeb featured your video stream on our news page on 20th January. We would of course not have done so had we known that it was, in your words, "a killer". Presumably this is some kind of "Ring"-related technology your start-up is working on? We value our site visitors and to find out now that we have inadvertently sent so many of them to their deaths is going to be very difficult to get over.
Bob answers: Thank you. One of my "viral" marketing interns must have been communicating with you. I hope he/she did not pass on anything too deadly :).

Our previous update was on 7th February when we reported...

In the unlikely event that you don't have the Byrne-Eno track "Regiment", ArtistDirect is giving it away.

Mark Nelson sends this word of warning:

I came up from Brighton to London to see our Brian's installation at Selfridges last Monday (5th) and it was closed due to a power failure. Oh well. Just a word of warning for others to check with the store before any long trips to go and see it. The assistant said that it had been off all weekend, and that on top of it being almost impossible to find - it's near the Muji franchise on the lower ground floor. It may be working now, apparently the sound was cutting in and out....

Our previous update was on 6th February when we reported...

Rory Walsh writes:

I was in the West End lunchtime today and so I popped in to see the Luminous installation in Selfridges. For those who have not yet been a word of warning it can be hard to find as neither the installation nor the Ultralounge is marked on the store guide. It is on the Lower Ground Floor of Selfridges opposite the café.

Hanging outside the installation were four different framed prints from 77 Million Paintings each signed and numbered by Eno (Edition 1/1). At first I thought that they were part of the exhibition however it turns out that Selfridges are selling them at £250 each. Speaking to the sales assistant they were originally given a batch of 20 prints to sell and these sold out this weekend. One lady bought 5 copies - that's my kind of woman! They received some more this morning but she did not know how many or if they would be getting more.

Eno must be getting better at marketing - 77 million one off prints at £250 a pop is over £19 billion - that ought to take care of the school fees.

For those who are unwilling to part with £250 they also have programmes (limited edition of 770 copies) which were selling for £7.50.

I've just checked on the Baltic website and they are also selling the prints.

Over at Nerve Net, Bernd Kretschmar points out a German newpaper interview with Bryan Ferry.

Brian got mentioned in The Sun newspaper in connection with the Coldplay story. Now there's something we never thought we'd see.

Stephen Miller spotted James Flint's review of 77 Million Paintings at the Baltic in the Daily Telegraph. Yup, same guy who gave his opinion on Night Waves. Maybe he's the only critic to make it as far north as Gateshead?

The second two auctions for Nokia 8800 Sirocco phones signed by Brian raised funds of $1,375 [Black] and $1,525 [Silver] for the Keiskamma Aids Treatment programme and The World Land Trust. Another auction is now under way.

Kevin Eden e-mails: Laraaji's website is now up and running, giving details of his itinerary of workshops and concerts (mostly in USA). Also included is extensive list of his recorded output and how to purchase CD-Rs of otherwise unavailable music.

Our previous update was on 1st February when we reported...

The Night Waves review of Brian's 77 Million Paintings installation at the Baltic has now aired. You can hear it via Listen Again until 7th February. James Flint, the reviewer, reckons it's "nice", a little more positive than critic Andrew Graham-Dixon on BBC2's The Culture Show on Saturday 27th who didn't like it (despite the fact that he hadn't actually seen it).

Bernd Kretschmar turned up this write-up of a seminar given by Brian earlier in January while he was hovering around in Germany. That's hovering, not Hoovering, though that might be amusing to see too.

Mij Munyum over at the Nerve Net mailing list attended the San Francisco Tape Music Festival.

Richard Mills says that Leo Abrahams is finalising the deal for an album due out in the Summer "which features guest vocals from Brian Eno, Ed Harcourt, KT Tunstall, Foy Vance, Merz and more".

If you don't have "The Prophecy Theme" from Dune by Brian & Roger Eno and Daniel Lanois in your collection, you can find it on iTunes filed under Toto. Wonder if that means Toto gets the royalties?

Talking of Daniel Lanois, he has an unreleased track on his site, "I Like That".

Our previous update was on 26th January when we reported...

The Front Row interview with Brian was broadcast on 26th January. It'll be available via Listen Again until 2nd February. Brian discusses 77 Million Paintings, production and the musical climate, and reveals that he is currently producing Coldplay's new album.

Dominic Norman-Taylor from All Saints Records/Lumen sent this flyer for the Luminous 77MP installation at Selfridges.

Stephen Miller writes: The current issue of Filter magazine has a piece on Eno.

Tony Visconti has written an autobiography.

Our previous update was on 25th January when we reported...

On Wednesday 31st January 2007, BBC Radio 3 programme Night Waves will be taking a look at 77 Million Paintings at the Baltic. Time is 21:30-22:15 GMT, and thereafter for a week via Listen Again. (Thanks to Rory Walsh).

Eno-related artist news: James has reformed and there's an interview with Michael Brook.

The first two auctions for Nokia 8800 Sirocco phones signed by Brian raised funds of $3,550 [Black] and $1,150.00 [Silver] for the Keiskamma Aids Treatment programme and The World Land Trust. Two more auctions are now under way.

Our previous update was on 23rd January when we reported...

Sid Smith writes: Eclectic Discs has re-released two Robert Calvert albums that include Brian in the line-up, Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters and Lucky Leif and the Longships. Both are fully remastered with bonus tracks and repackaging.

Orion Publishing and Amazon are listing a release date of (21st) June 2007 for On Some Faraway Beach, David Sheppard's biography of Brian, "written with Brian Eno's total co-operation and access to all those who have worked with him." Amazon reckons that's all been squeezed into 304 pages while Orion says it's 288.

Our previous update was on 22nd January when we reported...

A new piece of music by Brian called "Golden" will be premiered at the San Francisco Tape Music Festival on Saturday 27th January. The show starts at 8pm and can be found at the ODC Theater, 3153 17th St (@ Shotwell), San Francisco. (Thanks to Trond Lossius on the Nerve Net mailing list).

Kevin Kelly has a review of 77 Million Paintings.

A musician has a jam with Brian.

Here's a press release about Belinda Carlisle's Voila release.

Our previous update was on 20th January when we reported...

Brian will be interviewed on Front Row, BBC Radio 4, 19:15-19:45 GMT, sometime between 22nd-26th January. So that's 26th or nothing. Afterwards available on "Listen Again" for a week.

Would you like some handy address details for the two 77 Million Paintings installations?

27th January to 11th March -- Luminous: The Ultralounge, Lower Ground Floor, Selfridges, 400 Oxford Street, London W1.

31st January to 15th April -- Constellations: The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead Quay, South Shore Road, Gateshead. This is the first time these digital light paintings, which are accompanied by a randomly assembled ambient music track, have been exhibited in a contemporary UK art gallery. The constantly evolving paintings will be shown on a group of screens installed throughout the Level 4 gallery space.

Brian says: "We are used to artists producing defined and finished things; what's interesting about this kind of generative work is that I can't possibly predict the outcome of 77 Million Paintings. The 77 million permutations of the work create unique moments for each viewer and provides a different experience every time."

Here are a couple of trailers for Scott Walker - 30th Century Man, to which Brian contributes.

Michael Poché e-mails: Brian gave a talk called Before and after Darwin in Berlin on 11th January.

The Long Now chat between Brian and Will Wright is available as an online video at FORA.tv. There was also the facility to download it but that appears to have been removed.

Perhaps less authorised...

Looks as though Felice Limosani created a longer video for the Nokia 8800 Sirocco Edition:

Brian contributes"sonic enhancements" on the track "If Not For You" for Bryan Ferry's new album, Dylanesque. (Thanks to Gary Scott, Sebastian Böcking & Radiocitizen).

From Brussels With Love will be re-released on CD in February -- it includes an extract from an interview with Brian plus other 1980s fun including Thomas Dolby's "Airwaves".

In other so-called news, Brian was name-checked twice on a radio episode of Doctor Who, The Horror of Glam Rock on 14th January, and the first set of charity auctions for the Nokia phones had to be cancelled for "technical reasons" (they're back up and running now though).

Our previous update was on 7th January when we reported...

Signed SiroccoThanks to Tony Ballinger for this story. Nokia and Brian have announced a charity auction to benefit two of Brian’s favourite organisations – the Keiskamma Aids Treatment programme and The World Land Trust. Ten Nokia 8800 Sirocco Brian Eno Signature Edition mobile phones will go under the hammer, each one numbered and engraved with Brian’s signature. The online auction runs from 8th January to 12th Febuary 2007, with all proceeds going directly to both charities. A certificate of authenticity will also accompany each auctioned phone.

Describing Brian as "a tireless supporter of charitable causes", the press release says that he "hand-picked the two charities involved in the auction. Since its inception in 2001 as an art programme to benefit one of South Africa’s most impoverished districts, the Keiskamma AIDS Treatment program provides both HIV education and anti-retroviral drug therapy to the residents of the district at the mouth of the Keiskamma River in South Africa. The World Land Trust, a well-regarded UK-based conservation project, has helped buy and preserve more than 300,000 acres of ecologically-rich habitats from South America to the Philippines."

Brian says: "I would like to thank the people who bid for these phones for helping towards solutions to two of the biggest problems facing the world: climate change and Aids. The World Land Trust seeks to address long-term environmental change by planting trees and caring for the land. The Keiskamma Trust is a great example of an intelligent local response to a global problem, helping people with AIDS to manage their condition and live useful and productive lives."

"We are truly delighted to work closely with Brian, who composed the soundtrack to the Nokia 8800 Sirocco, to raise funds in support of his chosen charities," says Heikki Norta, Senior Vice President, Lifestyle Products, for Nokia. "In addition to supporting these two very worthwhile causes, each successful bidder will own an exceptionally unique mobile phone, each individually numbered and signed by the composer himself."

"To place a bid on one of these rare collector’s items or to learn more about this joint charity project between Nokia and Brian Eno, please visit the link below." You'll hear Brian's Sirocco theme and see the Flash video in better sound quality than on Nokia's own site, too. An unintended aspect of the site is that if you load it twice in separate browser windows you can get your own loop-based generative piece going.

No No NokiaAs an Eno fan, you'll also pick up on another exciting development: Brian's surname is getting shorter, if this extract from the on-site text is to be believed. We blame climate change for this erosion of one of Brian's most famous assets, and we're concerned that if this trend continues we will have to change our name to Oweb by 2008.

Gary Scott e-mails: Just in case you haven't got the link to Eno at the Baltic...

Shock news. After last year's gloomy prognostications, Brian contributes to an Edge feature about optimism. (Thanks to Richard Joly)

Sytze Steenstra says: I just came across your website. Three years ago, I published a book on the work of David Byrne (Talking Heads and so forth), in which, of course, Brian Eno is discussed repeatedly. Its title is We Are The Noise Between Stations.

David Mead writes: I am just listening to an interview with the writer Alan Moore (V for Vendetta, Watchmen [EnoWeb adds: And early Doctor Who Weekly strips, of course]) and he mentions that he uses Brian’s Oblique Strategies cards. The podcast can be heard for free through iTunes.

Jukka Mikkola says: greetings from Finland, there is an interesting project called Dreamlines online. I think there is an interesting connotation with 77 Million Paintings. There is the same kind of generative idea.

So what's Brian up to during 2007? We don't know yet, apart from the following info from last year. He'll be exhibiting 77 Million Paintings installations at two venues in the UK: "Luminous" at Selfridges Ultralounge, Oxford Street, London from January 27th for six weeks, and "Constellations" at The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Arts, Gateshead (Newcastle) from 31st January for three months. Entrance is free for both shows. Also in February he'll be appearing at the 10th Design Indaba Conference at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. March sees 77 Million Paintings at the Gulf Art Fair in Dubai. Book-wise A Year (With Swollen Appendices) should see its re-release on 5th April, and The Margin diary should hit the bookshelves on 6th September. At some stage the ICA discussion between Brian and Steven Johnson should be available as a download.


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Other news sources

ENOWORLD. Wunce Weekly World Eno, this site sees out its retirement quietly in a backwater of the Web, much like its creator Malcolm.

The Nerve Net e-mail newsletter. Subscribe to this, and you'll get all the news and views from Eno enthusiasts across the globe, delivered free to your e-mail inbox. Operated by Alex Rubli, Nerve Net is a lot more focused than the alt.music.brian-eno newsgroup and you don't have to put up with any spam. Subscribe today!

iMusic has a Brian Eno Bulletin Board, though since they changed its layout usage seems to have plummetted somewhat.

The alt.music.brian-eno newsgroup. You can subscribe using many e-mail / newsreader packages, or visit from web-sites like groups.google.com.


EnoWeb's Newsbot is Tom Boon.


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