Music for Films is an ambient

Ambient music

Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...

 album by Brian Eno

Brian Eno

Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...

. It is a conceptual work intended as a soundtrack for imaginary films.

Overview

Originally released as a limited-edition (five hundred copies) LP in 1976 which was sent to a selection of filmmakers for possible inclusion in their work , the commercial Music for Films release was expanded to include a number of pieces for, as Eno put it, "possible use as soundtracks to ‘imaginary’ films". In fact, excerpts from the album did appear in at least four films, Sparrowfall (1) in John Woo

John Woo

John Woo Yu-Sen SBS is a Hong Kong-based film director and producer. Recognized for his stylised films of highly choreographed action sequences, Mexican standoffs, and use of slow-motion, Woo has directed several notable Hong Kong action films, among them, A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, Hard...

's A Better Tomorrow

A Better Tomorrow

A Better Tomorrow is a 1986 Hong Kong action film which had a profound influence on the Hong Kong film-making industry, and later on an international scale.Directed by John Woo, it stars Chow Yun-fat, Ti Lung and Leslie Cheung...

, Slow Water in Derek Jarman

Derek Jarman

Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman was an English film director, stage designer, diarist, artist, gardener and author.-Life:...

's Jubilee

Jubilee (1977 film)

Jubilee is a 1977 cult film directed by Derek Jarman. It stars Jenny Runacre, Ian Charleson, and a host of punk rockers. The title refers to the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 1977.-Plot:...

, Final Sunset in Jarman's Sebastiane

Sebastiane

Sebastiane is a controversial 1976 film written and directed by Derek Jarman and Paul Humfress. It portrays the events of the life of Saint Sebastian, including his iconic martyrdom by arrows. Most of the controversy surrounding the film derives from the homoeroticism portrayed between the soldiers...

and Breathless

Breathless (1983 film)

Breathless is a 1983 American drama film starring Richard Gere and Valérie Kaprisky. It is a remake of the 1960 French film À bout de souffle and was released in France under the title A Bout de Souffle Made in USA. The original film is about an American girl and a French criminal in Paris...

and M386 and Alternative 3 appear in Rock 'n' Roll High School.

The album is a loose compilation of material from the period 1975 to 1978, composed of short tracks ranging from one-and-a-half minutes to just over four, making it the antithesis of the long, sprawling, ambient pieces he later became known for. The compositional styles and equipment used also carried over onto Eno's work on some of David Bowie

David Bowie

David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

's 1977 album Low.

Unlike Eno’s later ambient works, Music for Films utilizes a broader sonic palette, with Eno’s synthesizers and "found sounds" being supplemented by standard studio instrumentation played by other musicians (see Credits).

Two further Film albums were released : More Music for Films

More Music for Films

More Music for Films or Music for Films Volume 2 is an album by Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, and Roger Eno. On the back cover Eno states, "I released the first volume of 'Music for Films' in 1978, and it contained samples of my work, spanning the period of 1975-78...

, in 1983 (reissued/expanded in 2005) and Music for Films, Volume 3 in 1988.

Different Versions

The album has manifested in several forms, featuring different track-listings and track-times.

• 1 : Promotional LP, 1976 (the Director's Edition), issued in a limited number of 500 copies. There are two versions :
  • A Test pressing with 25 tracks (where the titles are not given).
  • Official release with 27 tracks. Many of those tracks were taken from Another Green World or appeared later on the official 1978 issue of MfF. Essentially all of the 'unreleased' tracks are available on the Music For Fans, Vol. 1 bootleg and - rather more officially - on the Eno Instrumental Box Set.
• 2 : Original 1978 Release.
• 3 : Editions EG reissue. The tracks were rearranged into what Eno felt was a more satisfactory sequence. This is now the "standard" issue. (Note : the cassette version of the Editions EG reissue used the track order from the original 1978 version, though the packaging listed the tracks in the rearranged order.)

"Dark Waters" appears on other records as "Slow Water"

Editions EG Reissue

1. "Aragon" (Eno) – 1:37, Performed by: Eno, Percy Jones, Phil Collins
2. "From the Same Hill" (Eno) – 3:00
3. "Inland Sea" (Eno) – 1:24
4. "Two Rapid Formations" (Eno) – 3:23, Performed by: Eno, Bill MacCormick, Dave Mattacks, John Cale
5. "Slow Water" (Eno) – 3:16, Performed by: Eno, Robert Fripp
6. "Sparrowfall (1)" (Eno) – 1:10
7. "Sparrowfall (2)" (Eno) – 1:43
8. "Sparrowfall (3)" (Eno) – 1:23
9. "Alternative 3" (Eno) – 3:15
10. "Quartz" (Eno) – 2:02
11. "Events in Dense Fog" (Eno) – 3:43
12. "There Is Nobody" (Eno) – 1:43
13. "Patrolling Wire Borders" (Eno) – 1:42, Performed by: Eno, Paul Rudolph, Phil Collins
14. "A Measured Room" (Eno) – 1:05, Performed by: Eno, Percy Jones
15. "Task Force" (Eno) – 1:22
16. "M386" (Eno) – 2:50, Performed by: Eno, Percy Jones, Phil Collins, Paul Rudolph
17. "Strange Light" (Eno, Frith) – 2:09, Performed by: Eno, Fred Frith, Rhett Davies
18. "Final Sunset" (Eno) – 4:13

Original 1978 release

1. M386
2. "Aragon"
3. "From the Same Hill"
4. "Inland Sea"
5. "Two Rapid Formations"
6. "Slow Water"
7. "Sparrowfall (1)"
8. "Sparrowfall (2)"
9. "Sparrowfall (3)"
10. "Quartz"
11. "Events in Dense Fog"
12. "There Is Nobody"
13. "A Measured Room"
14. "Patrolling Wire Borders"
15. "Task Force"
16. "Alternative 3"
17. "Strange Light"
18. "Final Sunset"

Limited-Edition 1976 Promo Issue

1. Becalmed
2. Deep Waters
3. 'There Is Nobody'
4. Spain
5. Untitled
6. The Last Door
7. Chemin De Fer
8. Dark Waters
9. Sparrowfall (1)
10. Sparrowfall (2)
11. Sparrowfall (3)
12. Evening Star
13. Another Green World
14. In Dark Trees
15. Fuseli
16. Melancholy Waltz
17. Northern Lights
18. From The Coast
19. Shell
20. Little Fishes
21. Empty Landscape
22. Reactor
23. The Secret
24. Don't Look Back
25. Marseilles
26. Final Sunset
27. Juliet

Personnel

• Rhett Davies
  Rhett Davies
  Rhett Davies is an English record producer and engineer.Rhett Davies' father was trumpet player Ray Davies; they are no relation to Ray Davies of The Kinks. Davies became a studio engineer at Island Records studios in the early 1970s, and his first session was the recording process for Brian Eno's...
  
   -- trumpet on "Strange Light", assistant producer
• John Cale
  John Cale
  John Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....
  
   -- viola on "Patrolling Wire Borders"
• Phil Collins
  Phil Collins
  Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
  
   -- percussion
• Robert Fripp
  Robert Fripp
  Robert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
  
   -- electric guitar on "Slow Water"
• Fred Frith
  Fred Frith
  Fred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
  
   -- electric guitar
• Percy Jones
  Percy Jones (musician)
  Percy Jones is a Welsh bass guitarist, and was a member of jazz fusion band Brand X, from 1974 to 1980, and a reformed version which lasted from 1992 to 1997...
  
   -- bass guitar
• Bill MacCormick
  Bill MacCormick
  Bill MacCormick is an English bassist and vocalist. He was a member of the bands Quiet Sun with Phil Manzanera, brother Ian MacCormick and others; Matching Mole with Robert Wyatt and others; 801 with Manzanera, Brian Eno and others; and Random Hold...
  
   -- bass guitar on "Two Rapid Formations"
• Dave Mattacks
  Dave Mattacks
  Dave Mattacks is a rock and folk drummer. Best known for his work with Fairport Convention, Mattacks has also worked both as a session musician, and as a performance artist...
  
   -- percussion on "Two Rapid Formations"
• Paul Rudolph
  Paul Rudolph (musician)
  Paul Fraser Rudolph is a guitarist,bassist, singer, and cyclist. He made his mark in the UK underground music scene, and then as a session musician, before returning to Canada to indulge his passion for cycling...
  
   -- guitar
• Rod Melvin -- electric piano
• Ritva Saarikko -- cover photograph

Versions

Country	Release Date	Label	Media	Cat No.	Notes
UK	1976	EG Records	LP	EGM 1	Promo - 500 copies
UK/France/Aus	Sep 1978	Polydor	LP/Cass	2310 623
US	Sep 1978	Antilles	LP	AN-7070
W.Germany	1978	Polydor	LP	2344 123
UK	1978	Editions EG	LP	EGED 05
US	1978	Editions EG	LP/Cass	EGS/EGSC 105	"New" track order
Europe	1987	EMI	CD	787189
US	Nov 1987	Editions EG	CD/Cass	EEGCD/EGEDC-5
	2005	Virgin/Astralwerks	CD	7243 5 63646 2 2

Chart performance

Chart (1979)	Peak position
New Zealand Albums Chart	27

External links

• Info on the limited-edition 1976 preissue
• 'AlmostCool' review
• 'SilentUproar' review
• '3Skor Music for film'
• Connollyco.com review