Pop!Tech 2006: Dangerous Ideas

Brian Eno is an ambient music pioneer, glam rocker, hit producer, multimedia artist and technological innovator. Brian championed theory over practice, serendipity over forethought, and texture over craft; in the process, he forever altered the ways in which music is approached, composed, performed, and perceived, and everything from punk to techno to new age bears his unmistakable influence.

Art school introduced him to music by contemporary composers John Tilbury and Cornelius Cardew and taught him about conceptual painting and sound sculpture. He also began experimenting with tape recorders, “my first musical instrument.” After joining Merchant Taylor’s Simultaneous Cabinet, as well the improvisational rock unit Maxwell Demon, Brian joined Cardew’s Scratch Orchestra in 1969. In 1971 he joined Roxy Music. A 1975 car accident, which left Brian bedridden for months, resulted in perhaps his most significant innovation, the creation of ambient music. After returning to pop structures for 1977’s Before and After Science, Brian continued his ambient experimentation with Music for Films. In 1978 he began a long, fruitful union with Talking Heads. In 1980, he began working with producer Daniel Lanois on a series of records for U2. In 2005, Brian released his first solo vocal album in 15 years.

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