Brian Eno - Here Come The Warm Jets Poll ~ Oh no Oh no Oh no Oh no Oh no!

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Treats me good just like an armchair

salthigh, Tuesday, 4 April 2017 04:01 (seven years ago) link

i really think that the lines people point to that seem to suggest some kind of unsavory sexual politics on eno's part are best read in context. everybody knows the lyrics on this LP are total dada word salad free association and coupled with eno's sort of androgynous self-presentation, stuff like that "armchair" bit read more like an accidental satire of big macho rock lyrics, rather than some kind of sly pseudo-poetic misogyny-but-i'm-an-artist-haha, y'know?

budo jeru, Tuesday, 4 April 2017 04:16 (seven years ago) link

Huh i always thought it was "just like an object"

Οὖτις, Tuesday, 4 April 2017 04:19 (seven years ago) link

Either way I always heard that libe as eno being the object/armchair

Οὖτις, Tuesday, 4 April 2017 04:20 (seven years ago) link

Now I've found a sweetheart
Treats me good, just like an armchair

Treeship, Tuesday, 4 April 2017 04:23 (seven years ago) link

xpost that's kind of a cool reading.

anyway, here's chrissie hynde interviewing eno in NME:

"Mexican pornography is an interesting island of thought because they seem to be heavily into excretory functions. The traditional American view is that anything issued from the body is dirty. It's incredibly puritanical and it resents bodily fluids, so if one is trying to debase a woman, you cover them with that and hence you get the fabulous term 'Golden Showers' - the term for pissing on someone, which some well- known rock musicians are said to be very involved in . .

"Here come the warm jets?"

"That's certainly a reference."

http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/interviews/nmetxt.html

budo jeru, Tuesday, 4 April 2017 04:24 (seven years ago) link

huh. he seems really gross and weird in that interview.

Treeship, Tuesday, 4 April 2017 04:32 (seven years ago) link

lol yeah

"the limp handshake (handshake?)"

budo jeru, Tuesday, 4 April 2017 04:34 (seven years ago) link

in fairness, chrissie hynde doesn't come out looking particularly good either

budo jeru, Tuesday, 4 April 2017 04:36 (seven years ago) link

20 year old me would want to kill me for saying this but:

I actually prefer Stranded to Here Comes The Warm Jets.

That being said, there are a few good tunes on here (the first two especially), but it is the weakest of his 70s vocal albums.

I voted for the title track.

Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Tuesday, 4 April 2017 04:43 (seven years ago) link

Even mentioning Zappa in the same breath as Eno is 0_o

I just remembered that Adrian Belew ended up working with Bowie because Eno saw him playing at a Zappa gig in Germany. Though I believe Eno had just got free tickets and thought, what the hell I'm not doing anything else tonight.

Bill Teeters (Tom D.), Tuesday, 4 April 2017 09:28 (seven years ago) link

I love Driving Me Backwards, had no idea it would be considered a weak link.

Voting for Baby's On Fire though. Intense!

Gavin, Leeds, Tuesday, 4 April 2017 09:43 (seven years ago) link

Voted Dead Finks, because his Bryan Ferry impression (which sounds like he's doing Elvis) cracks me up

frogbs, Tuesday, 4 April 2017 13:23 (seven years ago) link

Listening to this now. You're all wrong about Driving Me Backwards, it's probably the best song on Side A, opening track possibly aside

an uptempo Pop/Hip Hop mentality (imago), Tuesday, 4 April 2017 16:35 (seven years ago) link

Obviously TTM is the better album but you all knew that already

an uptempo Pop/Hip Hop mentality (imago), Tuesday, 4 April 2017 16:36 (seven years ago) link

i had a really hard time deciding between 'some of them are old' and the title track. it's hard for me to separate the two since they work so well together.

Karl Malone, Tuesday, 4 April 2017 16:37 (seven years ago) link

xxp if I want overwrought howling I'll listen to a Peter Hamill record ;)

sleeve, Tuesday, 4 April 2017 16:37 (seven years ago) link

Driving Me Backwards is some crazed misanthropic ahead-of-its-time goth vamp with exceptional sonics and a thickening plot

an uptempo Pop/Hip Hop mentality (imago), Tuesday, 4 April 2017 16:39 (seven years ago) link

I like it too but wouldn't single it out

in time of lost search (wins), Tuesday, 4 April 2017 16:44 (seven years ago) link

Threw my vote at DMB in the end as it is so bad and hated but the bookends deserve it as much idk w/e

an uptempo Pop/Hip Hop mentality (imago), Tuesday, 4 April 2017 17:01 (seven years ago) link

On Some Faraway beach is A warped version of " Still The Same" by Bob Seger

i know what you mean, there are huge similarities in the tune but "on some faraway beach" is about a million times better. it focuses much better on the main theme and it repeats it so many times that it becomes music coming directly from the heavens. it makes me melt away. you are right about the warped part, the piano has been drinking. anyways this is my pick of an excellent album from start to finish.

concerning the warm jets, they are on the cover. there is this game card with the policeman next to the woman in an obvious position on the beach on the left of the eno photograph.

Alex in Spree-Athen (alex in mainhattan), Tuesday, 4 April 2017 17:39 (seven years ago) link

another small little detail concerning "on some faraway beach". it was released in 1973, "still the same" is from 1978. go figure who influenced whom...

Alex in Spree-Athen (alex in mainhattan), Tuesday, 4 April 2017 17:49 (seven years ago) link

There's lots of great stuff on here. While I would choose most other tracks over Driving Me Backwards I don't consider it weak either.
It was a tie for me between On Some Faraway Beach and Dead Finks Don't Talk, went for the mighty Beach.

Valentijn, Tuesday, 4 April 2017 19:14 (seven years ago) link

i see the Eno/Zappa connection. both were 70s misanthropic studio wizards that enjoyed making mutant deconstructions of rock n roll/doo wop.

AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 4 April 2017 22:44 (seven years ago) link

What? Eno has never ever been misanthropic.

Bill Teeters (Tom D.), Wednesday, 5 April 2017 00:18 (seven years ago) link

allmusic: a "self-described non-musician [...] Eno championed theory over practice, serendipity over forethought, and texture over craft"

i think eno's theory of the "study as instrument" and his reliance on people who were competent enough to actually play guitar, drums, etc. distinguish him from zappa, who was a multi-instrumentalist and very much a control freak. whereas eno's well-documented use of chance methods sort of put him an a spot that's less studio-creep, more open to improvisation or at least input from the musicians he worked with (zappa almost always got full songwriting credit right from the start -- HCTWJ, at least, is different in that respect). it's also hard to imagine eno telling his band how to behave, what drugs not to take, etc.

as for the music, i guess you can call it misanthropic? you could point me to where that is, but i've never heard it. eno himself never comes off as such in interviews. he seemed / seems to be genuinely interested in humans and all the world has to offer. isn't that so? can you even imagine zappa being involved in something like the long now foundation? eno's politics are pretty right on.

i'll give you "mutant deconstructions" i guess, but i'd argue that's being generous to zappa. more like tasteless parodies. dude had zero sense of humor and, as has been discussed at length on other threads, his lyrics are full of just super gross sexism, homophobia, and machismo that is super direct and unpleasant.

budo jeru, Wednesday, 5 April 2017 00:38 (seven years ago) link

eno's music is the opposite of misanthropic

Treeship, Wednesday, 5 April 2017 00:59 (seven years ago) link

yeah budo jeru OTM - Zappa and eno are not in the same wheelhouse.

Carlotta's Portrait (Ross), Wednesday, 5 April 2017 01:01 (seven years ago) link

I give you all that on Eno but I feel there is a definite bitter (manipulative, vulgar, yeah misanthropic) streak to Eno maybe up until AGW. Like early Roxy and solo albums are tastier than Zappa sure, but it's not that different of a wheelhouse. Ferry had enough genuine leading man gusto to tamper it a bit and the difference after Eno left is telling. Many moments on this album make me think of Hot Rats by sounds alone but also a certain feeling of being pulled on by a bullshiter. Like, the melodies on On Some Faraway Beach and the title track are genuinely pretty but he sort of plays against them in a cheap kitschy way as opposed to enhancing them as he started doing in all his later stuff. Like it's a difference, that we were talking about during the Talking Heads poll, between early and late Byrne. The nervous hateful wreck vs a guru. Eno wore the guru better but Byrne was a much more likable wreck.

Also I agree, Zappa is a dumbass both as a person and as an artist. Still, Freak Out and We're Only in It for the Money have moments where all his miserable bullshit sort of becomes poignant (Mom & Dad comes to mind). I actually prefer those to Here Come The Warm Jets.

gospodin simmel, Wednesday, 5 April 2017 01:38 (seven years ago) link

Think of the pretty pars of Peaches En Regalia and tell me you don't hear the similarity! But ok, can probably phrase it all better once I clear my head a bit. But again, I would probably go on a "Still the Same is a million times better than On Some Faraway Beach" rant so I should shut up forever.

gospodin simmel, Wednesday, 5 April 2017 01:46 (seven years ago) link

parts*

gospodin simmel, Wednesday, 5 April 2017 01:46 (seven years ago) link

i feel like these early, overstuffed albums are brimming with affirmative exuberance rather than any kind of mockery or scorn. sometimes absurdism can feel hostile, but the dada lyrics here just seem like a way to untether the songs from any single meaning, allowing the album to retain some of the improvisational energy of the recording process

Treeship, Wednesday, 5 April 2017 01:56 (seven years ago) link

Eno is a masterful self-publicist, so we should take "non-musician" for the delicious nonsense it is. He plays excellent keyboards, although perhaps not in 1973.

the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 5 April 2017 02:03 (seven years ago) link

i spent a year of my life living completely inside this album. just about literally. fave song at beginning: "needle in the camel's eye." fave song in middle: "on some faraway beach." fave song at end: "here come the warm jets."

since there's been hardly any mention of "blank frank," i'll add that i love how the hand percussion turns around on every verse, having played through the metric changes on the instrumental interludes as if they weren't there.

fact checking cuz, Wednesday, 5 April 2017 02:19 (seven years ago) link

Dead Finks Don't Talk is a piss-take of Ferry, right?

Carlotta's Portrait (Ross), Wednesday, 5 April 2017 02:20 (seven years ago) link

In hindsight, I wonder if Eno knew of 'Maggot Brain' in how on the track 'Here Come the Warm Jets' he kinda keeps the drums completely out of the mix until the last part of the tune. I'd imagine there is a drum take on the whole tune, but either it was off or it just sounded better having the guitars, bass and synth on that front half and slow mixing in the drums. How it is mixed reminds me a bit of how Clinton created the studio Maggot Brain in that way.

earlnash, Wednesday, 5 April 2017 02:28 (seven years ago) link

between this and the Talking Heads poll this has been an Olympics record-breaking month for the amount of complete bullshit wittered on ILM

Django Chutney (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 5 April 2017 04:54 (seven years ago) link


“Dead Finks is not about Bryan Ferry. After all the music was recorded and the words written, Chris Thomas (my producer and Roxy’s as well) said, ‘you’ll get me shot for that track. It’s obviously about Bryan.’ So I listened back to it and it obviously was. It was certainly something I hadn’t realised. Essentially all these songs have no meaning that I invested in them. Meanings can be generated within their own frame-work. It may be a very esoteric thing to talk about but I don’t think it’s entirely out of the question.” -- Brian Eno, 1973

JoeStork, Wednesday, 5 April 2017 05:45 (seven years ago) link

Surely the faux Ferry inhabitance at 1.14 in "Dead Finks Don't Talk" is the best recorded on tape

Carlotta's Portrait (Ross), Wednesday, 5 April 2017 05:47 (seven years ago) link

It's dead on

Carlotta's Portrait (Ross), Wednesday, 5 April 2017 05:47 (seven years ago) link

I have on occasion taken off my earbuds during the title track to check if there actually is a bell going off somewhere. I love it. Also love two drum kits playing practically the same thing at the same time.

in twelve parts (lamonti), Wednesday, 5 April 2017 06:30 (seven years ago) link

Like early Roxy and solo albums are tastier than Zappa sure, but it's not that different of a wheelhouse. Ferry had enough genuine leading man gusto to tamper it a bit and the difference after Eno left is telling.

It is that different of a wheelhouse(?) As for Roxy, Eno twiddled knobs + wore feather boas, it was Ferry's band.

Think of the pretty parts of Peaches En Regalia and tell me you don't hear the similarity!

I can't hear the similarity.

Bill Teeters (Tom D.), Wednesday, 5 April 2017 09:03 (seven years ago) link

I mean, I don't think it's crazy to see black humour and misanthropy in a rock song called "Baby's on Fire" that is literally about a woman on fire and written with this tone:

Baby's on fire
Better throw her in the water
Look at her laughing
Like a heifer to the slaughter

Baby's on fire
And all the laughing boys are bitching
Waiting for photos
Oh the plot is so bewitching

Rescuers row, row
Do your best to change the subject
Blow the wind blow, blow
Lend some assistance to the object

Photographers snip snap
Take your time, she's only burning
This kind of experience
Is necessary for her learning

Idk what the digression about Juanita and Juan is really about, though.

My Body's Made of Crushed Little Evening Stars (Sund4r), Wednesday, 5 April 2017 13:56 (seven years ago) link

^ but Eno has never ever been misanthropic

AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Wednesday, 5 April 2017 14:22 (seven years ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Sunday, 16 April 2017 00:01 (seven years ago) link

I listened to this album in the car for three days straight last week.

― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, April 3, 2017 11:01 PM (one week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This was precisely what prompted me to poll it, randomly grabbed the cd out of a box and played it on the road for a couple of days. A week later my appreciation for it was completely revived and upgraded.
Shame someone brought Zappa into this, he's the last person on my mind when thinking about Eno. Always though of 'Baby's On Fire's lyrics as a critique on gossip/press/voyeurism/celebrity cult.

Perfect album, impossible to vote in my own poll, but will give it to the title track.

On Some Faraday Beach (Le Bateau Ivre), Sunday, 16 April 2017 23:28 (seven years ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Monday, 17 April 2017 00:01 (seven years ago) link

wow, interesting spread, everything got at least one vote

sleeve, Monday, 17 April 2017 00:02 (seven years ago) link

I didn't realize the title track was as widely loved as it is. I always thought of it as a gem tucked away behind needle and baby's on fire.

Karl Malone, Monday, 17 April 2017 00:19 (seven years ago) link

Me neither! Expected Needles to walk this tbh. But the title track is such an immense anthem. One of the best album closing tracks I know.

(great turnout btw ty ilm)

On Some Faraday Beach (Le Bateau Ivre), Monday, 17 April 2017 00:36 (seven years ago) link

Yeah hard to get inb4 anything here, this album title famously refers to piss and eno has two separate piss anecdotes in his diary, he’s a piss guy

The album cover features a photograph of a woman peeing!

Josh in Chicago, Friday, 18 May 2018 19:57 (five years ago) link

"Driving Me Backwards" is my fave (not sure if I voted here). never knew it wasn't rated/liked by others. and although I do love it Warm Jets is my least fave of the '4 vocal albums'.

as for sex, "ooo what to do in a tiny canoe" (Backwater) is my fave playful Eno sex lyric

Paul, Friday, 18 May 2018 20:02 (five years ago) link

Correct answer is some of them ate old

Exit stage left (Ross), Friday, 18 May 2018 20:10 (five years ago) link

brutal

two cool rock chicks pounding la croix (circa1916), Friday, 18 May 2018 20:12 (five years ago) link


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