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There’s a certain friction applied to some of the same instruments here that wasn’t present in the first movement and it casts the ambiance in a slightly dimmer light. Where the first movement was a generally hopeful and light-hearted sound, the second one introduces more plucked or finger-picked strings. What does become apparent quite quickly, however, is the gradual change in mood. There’s a brief silence between “LUX 1” and “LUX 2”, but given the pacing of the record you could quite easily overlook it and pass through without noticing. Grab a cup of something warm and comforting and relax. “Lux” is the Latin word for “light” and the first movement is just that - an easy entry point which serves to place you mentally where you need to be for the next three pieces. The distance between notes seems placed just far enough for them to reach out to one another but dissolve over light strings and pads without quite making contact. “LUX 1”, begins with sparse piano notes barely teasing at a melody which never arises. Though the instruments are few, the placement of their sounds seems very deliberate. Brian Eno is an experienced and mature producer at this stage of his career and that is evident in every note of this record. It would be more accurate to say it hangs there, shifting and morphing in on itself without repetition but all the while managing to stay familiar. Even the word progresses seems inappropriate. LUX progresses in exactly the same manner. Though the slow movement understates it, they promise to rain down, fracture the light or block out the sun as they mix and roll over each other so slow as to be almost imperceptible.
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You have to experience it as though you were lying down watching clouds pass overhead. Like any good artist pushing the boundaries of his medium, Eno does away with the easily digestible progression through brief poems of sounds and opts instead for four movements, barely distinguishable to the impatient ear, but demanding to be taken seriously. This record needs to be approached the same way - there are no songs. The sound involved takes on form and a presence around you if only loaned by the structure of the walls and the way it reverberates. When you walk through a gallery you take your time exploring, immersing yourself and hopefully, appreciating.
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Like any good sound engineer, Eno worked with the physical building and speaker placement to create a composition that was unique to and optimum for the Great Gallery itself. The last part, however, if taken by itself, turns out to be very indicative of the sound structure of Lux.
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According to the exhibit information, “The sound installation created by Brian Eno explores the possible aesthetics offered by new technology in relation to the ambient, with a series of musical movements which stratify into each other.” I believe that you may need a degree from a prestigious art school to parse (or tolerate) the structure of the first part of that sentence. The original press release and the promo material are sparse on the details of the original art installation which inspired the work, but it did turn out to be very relevant. All this and in spite of how thin he might appear to be spread, this pillar of the ambient music community is at the top of his game.
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Oh and Lux actually began its life as a sound art installation for the Great Gallery of the Palace of Venaria in Turin, Italy. He recently unveiled his most recent (note: not his only) iPad app called Scape, created a building-sized light and sound show in Rio De Jeneiro called “77 Million Paintings” and within the same year he managed to produce a 75-minute, 12-part, four-movement ambient composition called Lux. Brian Eno has been a busy guy as of late.