Brian Eno

Featuring: Robert Fripp, Fred Frith, John Cale, Phil Collins

condition (record/cover): EX / EX (minimal edge wear)

Music For Films (1978) is exactly what the title says: a portfolio. Brian Eno had spent the previous two years assembling short instrumental pieces (some recorded as far back as 1975, some recent) with the explicit thought that filmmakers could license whatever they liked. An initial 1976 edition had been pressed in a small white-sleeved run distributed directly to directors. The 1978 commercial release on Polydor (2310 623) and EG is the expanded version, eighteen pieces in just under forty minutes, intended for general purchase.

It is also one of the most quietly influential records of its decade. "M386", "Becalmed", "Aragon", "From The Same Hill", "Quartz" and the rest are miniatures, none longer than four minutes, most around two. Personnel include Robert Fripp, Phil Collins, John Cale, Fred Frith, Percy Jones and Rhett Davies, with several Eno aliases. The pieces vary from rhythmic vignettes ("Sparrowfall (1)") to atmospheric drift ("Slow Water", "Inland Sea") to small chamber compositions for layered keyboards. As a whole the record functions as a notebook of every Eno mood that would expand into the full-length ambient pieces of the early 1980s.

The original vintage European Polydor pressing of 2310 623. Music For Films was followed by Music For Films Volume 2 (1983) and the EG box-set re-presentation, but this 1978 edition remains the reference version. A noted early record for film scoring and ambient music alike.