The Shutov Assembly
Encyclopedia
The Shutov Assembly is an ambient
album by British
musician Brian Eno
, released on November 10, 1992 on Warner
.
, and was created as an assembly of tracks for him, as he had mentioned to Eno the difficulty he had of getting Eno's music in the then-communist Russia.
The track listing appears to reflect Eno's known affinity for word games, yet there is a purely pragmatic reason for why they are so titled.... 2
Or, as the album's Rykodisc entry says "The Shutov Assembly is a journey through Eno’s sumptuous audio-visual installations from around the world, each track touching down on a particular event and atmosphere" 3.
On the rear cover of the CD, the ten tracks of nine letters are arranged in a grid as seen in a word search
puzzle
.
magazine in 1998, Eno explained that The Shutov Assembly tracks "...were originally proposals for orchestral pieces; what I wanted to do was make them, using my normal tricks and devices, and then present them to an orchestra and ask them to try and copy them accurately - so if this sound goes "dnnngeeeee", you might need to have a damped tubular bell and a violin player working together to make that one sound. I thought it would be an interesting way to use an orchestra, to force it to use its instruments in a different way" 4.
Indeed, the Netherlands Metropole Orchestra (Metropole Orkest) played two performances of the music in June 1999 at the Holland Festival, which ran from June 5th - 26th in Amsterdam, the first of which was broadcast live on Dutch radio.
Though the music can certainly be classified amongst his other ambient works, most of the compositions have a certain "dark" feel to them. In an interview, Eno said "it's the association with danger that I didn't use to like, and it's exactly that, what I do like now .... THE SHUTOV ASSEMBLY is sort of the out-of-town version of it, the outside-the-city-limits version of danger" 5.
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 British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
musician 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,...
, released on November 10, 1992 on Warner
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
.
Overview
The album is dedicated to Russian artist Sergei ShutovSergei Shutov
Sergei Alekseyevich Shutov is a Russian artist active in painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, and audio- and video installations. He lives and works in Moscow....
, and was created as an assembly of tracks for him, as he had mentioned to Eno the difficulty he had of getting Eno's music in the then-communist Russia.
The track listing appears to reflect Eno's known affinity for word games, yet there is a purely pragmatic reason for why they are so titled.... 2
- Triennale - Milan festival where Eno had an installation in 1985.
- Alhondiga - Spanish installation in 1988.
- Markgraph - German exhibition music & light company that helps with installations.
- Lanzarote - Canary Islands, host to a yearly music festival.
- Francisco - Installation at the Exploratorium in 1988.
- Riverside - Riverside Studios in London was the site of a 1986 installation.
- Innocenti - 1987 Florence installation (In Harmonic Space).
- Stedelijk - Amsterdam museum with the video installation of Mistaken Memories of Mediaeval Manhattan.
- Ikebukuro - Tokyo installation in 1989.
- Cavallino - Venice gallery with 1985 installation
Or, as the album's Rykodisc entry says "The Shutov Assembly is a journey through Eno’s sumptuous audio-visual installations from around the world, each track touching down on a particular event and atmosphere" 3.
On the rear cover of the CD, the ten tracks of nine letters are arranged in a grid as seen in a word search
Word search
A word search, word find, word seek, word sleuth or mystery word puzzle is a word game that is letters of a word in a grid, that usually has a rectangular or square shape. The objective of this puzzle is to find and mark all the words hidden inside the box. The words may be horizontally,...
puzzle
Puzzle
A puzzle is a problem or enigma that tests the ingenuity of the solver. In a basic puzzle, one is intended to put together pieces in a logical way in order to come up with the desired solution...
.
Track listing
- "Triennale" – 4:02
- "Alhondiga" – 3:16
- "Markgraph" – 3:39
- "Lanzarote" – 8:37
- "Francisco" – 4:44
- "Riverside" – 3:50
- "Innocenti" – 4:19
- "Stedelijk" – 5:26
- "Ikebukuro" – 16:05
- "Cavallino" – 3:06
The music
Talking to MojoMojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
magazine in 1998, Eno explained that The Shutov Assembly tracks "...were originally proposals for orchestral pieces; what I wanted to do was make them, using my normal tricks and devices, and then present them to an orchestra and ask them to try and copy them accurately - so if this sound goes "dnnngeeeee", you might need to have a damped tubular bell and a violin player working together to make that one sound. I thought it would be an interesting way to use an orchestra, to force it to use its instruments in a different way" 4.
Indeed, the Netherlands Metropole Orchestra (Metropole Orkest) played two performances of the music in June 1999 at the Holland Festival, which ran from June 5th - 26th in Amsterdam, the first of which was broadcast live on Dutch radio.
Though the music can certainly be classified amongst his other ambient works, most of the compositions have a certain "dark" feel to them. In an interview, Eno said "it's the association with danger that I didn't use to like, and it's exactly that, what I do like now .... THE SHUTOV ASSEMBLY is sort of the out-of-town version of it, the outside-the-city-limits version of danger" 5.
Credits
- Brian Eno : all instruments
- Recording location : The Wilderness Studio, Woodbridge, UK
- Mastered By Tony Cousins at the Townhouse, London
- The cover art is an image from the video painting "Egypt" by Eno & Greg Jakobek.
Versions
| Country | Label | Cat. No. | Media | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | Opal/Warner Bros | 9-45010-2 | CD | 1992 |
| US | Rykodisc/All Saints | 42/HNCD 1478 | CD | 2004 |
| US | Hannibal | 1478 | CD | 2005 |