The Brian Eno album Johnny Marr described as “real innovation”
Although the sounds they have made across their respected and storied careers might be very different, Johnny Marr and Brian Eno are both true pioneers. The former is widely lauded as one of the most influential guitarists of all time, cultivating a dynamic, arpeggiated sound that made The Smiths indie world-beaters. As for Brian Eno, the former Roxy Music man and ambient music godfather, he has done more for the development of contemporary music than is conceivable.
Eno first broke through in the early 1970s as the synthesising warlock in British art rockers Roxy Music. Soon after their early success, he departed the group and made his name as a pioneer of the ambient electronic genre. Aside from his solo flourishes, Eno has also crystallised his legacy as a producer. In his time behind the desk, he’s brought the works of prominent acts such as Talking Heads and U2 to life.
Unsurprisingly, Johnny Marr has appreciated Brian Eno’s work for a very long time. When listing his 13 favourite albums for The Quietus in 2015, he named Eno’s second solo effort, 1974’s Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy), as one of them. Notably, it is a loose concept album that touches on themes ranging from Chinese-style communism to espionage. Eno and Peter Schmidt also developed the Oblique Strategies cards to help the all-star cast of musicians involved in the recording process.
During the interview, Johnny Marr revealed himself to be such a great fan of the album that he deems Eno’s use of the studio as an instrument “real innovation” and the precursor to DAWs such as GarageBand. Of the record, he said: “A little like David Bowie and his influence, with me being a teenager during the ’70s meant I never stopped being affected by Brian’s music. If you were a big Brian fan, you would get into a cast of characters – be it T. Rex or Roxy Music or Bowie – and you followed the connections of those artists.” Marr is not alone in relishing the world that Eno welcomed you into”.
“Eno managed to stay really intriguing. When Eno’s first album – Here Come The Warm Jets – came out, it was a record you only had if you were in the know,” Marr explained. “It was obscure and underground but I had never gotten into it. I had a couple of friends who were Roxy freaks and bought everything and anything to do with the band and I had a best mate who was obsessed with Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) and was playing it all the time”.
Adding: “I got to know it really well and it has connected to a lot of records that I like. Arguably, Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) was the blueprint for Wire. It was the blueprint for David Bowie’s later records and you can hear the proto-Talking Heads on that record. People forget that Eno was omnipresent in the late 70s on collaborations with Bowie, Talking Heads and Devo. If you listen to Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) that makes complete sense. It sounds like all of those bands four or five years before they made similar stuff. ‘The True Wheel’ sounds like something off Scary Monsters and it is four or five years before. ‘Third Uncle’ sounds like Talking Heads many years before – so make of that what you will.”
He concluded: “The idea of using the studio as an instrument, which has become commonplace now with people in their rooms on GarageBand, was a real innovation when Eno was doing it. There was no one else like him at the time. But, it is all about the listening experience and, like the Wire album, when I heard Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) and listened to it a lot, it was everything rock music hadn’t been up until then. I was making note of that – it was anti-blues, it was anti-rock and it was anti-faux authenticity. It was a long, long way away from Laurel Canyon.”
In essence, it was its own thing entirely, and Marr and Eno have always purveyed the benefit of that.
