Spinner (album)
Encyclopedia
Spinner is an instrumental album by British
musicians Brian Eno
and Jah Wobble
(aka John Wardle), released in 1995.
biographical 60-minute movie Glitterbug, which was released in 1994, shortly after Jarman's death.
The movie was an abstract montage composed of Super-8
excerpts from his personal video-diaries, going behind-the-scenes of many of his movies from the late sixties right up to the end of the eighties.
Eno composed most of the soundtrack in his Kilburn studio, working directly onto digital stereo. The music stayed in the film; it was never released as a separate entity. Eno explains "I had intended to collect the music as a soundtrack record, but in the end a lot of it didn't make much sense without the film".
In 1995, Eno handed the master-tapes to Wobble. "He received from me a number of stereo tapes and did what he does - spanning the gamut from leaving them completely alone (such as "Garden Recalled"); playing along (such as "Like Organza"); or using them as atmospheres for entirely new compositions (such as "Steam")".
Eno did not participate in any co-production on Spinner at all; it was all done by Wobble. Eno said "I didn't even hear it all till it was finished. I had no input at all on that stage of it. Everything that he put on, he produced. Anything you hear looming around in the back is probably what I produced".
Wobble, interviewed on BBC Radio 3
programme Mixing It
in January 1998 explained that Eno had specifically asked for his input in creating a standalone CD.
Some of Eno's thoughts on the album in its final stages can be found in the last section ("Wobbly letter") of the appendix of Eno's published diary, A Year with Swollen Appendices
. This section is a copy of a letter from Eno to Dominic Norman-Taylor of All Saints Records, describing Eno's opinions of Jah Wobble's mixes and treatments of the tracks. Several of the tracks are given their working titles ("Unusual Balance", for example, is referred to as "Scrapy"). The letter gives hints as to the methods used by Eno and Wobble in creating the album, with Eno providing many of the original tracks, which Wobble then treated and sequenced.
The finished product is a fusion of ambient
, instrumental rock
, and Dub
. Eno referred to the last track as an example of what he called "Unwelcome Jazz. Because for the last 3 or 4 years, really, I've been writing these pieces of music, which sound like some peculiar take on jazz. They don't really sound like jazz, they obviously have some kind of influence from jazz. But most of the people I played them to don't really like them - so I call it 'Unwelcome Jazz' [laughs]".
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
musicians Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
and Jah Wobble
Jah Wobble
Jah Wobble is an English bass guitarist, singer, poet and composer. He became known to a wider audience as the original bass player in Public Image Ltd in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but left the band after two albums...
(aka John Wardle), released in 1995.
Track listing
- Where We Lived - 2:59
- Like Organza - 2:44
- Steam - 3:16
- Garden Recalled - 3:21
- Marine Radio - 5:04
- Unusual Balance - 5:23
- Space Diary 1 - 1:51
- Spinner - 2:54
- Transmitter And Trumpet - 8:41
- Left Where It Fell - 7:02
- (Hidden Track) - 8:42
Overview
The music on Spinner has its origins in the Eno-penned soundtrack to the Derek JarmanDerek Jarman
Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman was an English film director, stage designer, diarist, artist, gardener and author.-Life:...
biographical 60-minute movie Glitterbug, which was released in 1994, shortly after Jarman's death.
The movie was an abstract montage composed of Super-8
Super 8 mm film
Super 8 mm film is a motion picture film format released in 1965 by Eastman Kodak as an improvement of the older "Double" or "Regular" 8 mm home movie format....
excerpts from his personal video-diaries, going behind-the-scenes of many of his movies from the late sixties right up to the end of the eighties.
Eno composed most of the soundtrack in his Kilburn studio, working directly onto digital stereo. The music stayed in the film; it was never released as a separate entity. Eno explains "I had intended to collect the music as a soundtrack record, but in the end a lot of it didn't make much sense without the film".
In 1995, Eno handed the master-tapes to Wobble. "He received from me a number of stereo tapes and did what he does - spanning the gamut from leaving them completely alone (such as "Garden Recalled"); playing along (such as "Like Organza"); or using them as atmospheres for entirely new compositions (such as "Steam")".
Eno did not participate in any co-production on Spinner at all; it was all done by Wobble. Eno said "I didn't even hear it all till it was finished. I had no input at all on that stage of it. Everything that he put on, he produced. Anything you hear looming around in the back is probably what I produced".
Wobble, interviewed on BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
programme Mixing It
Mixing It
Mixing It was a radio programme showcasing experimental music. Its original remit was to showcase "crossover" music that blurred the established boundaries between genres...
in January 1998 explained that Eno had specifically asked for his input in creating a standalone CD.
Some of Eno's thoughts on the album in its final stages can be found in the last section ("Wobbly letter") of the appendix of Eno's published diary, A Year with Swollen Appendices
A Year with Swollen Appendices
-First edition:The book published by Faber and Faber in 1996 is divided into two sections. The first part is a diary covering the year 1995, the second part, the 'swollen appendices' of the title is a collection of essays, short stories and correspondence. The cover photograph is by Anton...
. This section is a copy of a letter from Eno to Dominic Norman-Taylor of All Saints Records, describing Eno's opinions of Jah Wobble's mixes and treatments of the tracks. Several of the tracks are given their working titles ("Unusual Balance", for example, is referred to as "Scrapy"). The letter gives hints as to the methods used by Eno and Wobble in creating the album, with Eno providing many of the original tracks, which Wobble then treated and sequenced.
The finished product is a fusion of ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
, instrumental rock
Instrumental rock
Instrumental rock is a type of rock music which emphasizes musical instruments, and which features very little or no singing.Examples of instrumental rock can be found in practically every subgenre of rock, often from musicians who specialize in the style, most notably Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Link...
, and Dub
Dub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
. Eno referred to the last track as an example of what he called "Unwelcome Jazz. Because for the last 3 or 4 years, really, I've been writing these pieces of music, which sound like some peculiar take on jazz. They don't really sound like jazz, they obviously have some kind of influence from jazz. But most of the people I played them to don't really like them - so I call it 'Unwelcome Jazz' [laughs]".
Credits
- Compositions 1,4,7,8,11 by Brian Eno ; 2,3,5,6,9,10, by Brian Eno And Jah Wobble
- Synthesizer, treatments : Brian Eno
- Bass, drums, keyboards, atmospheres : Jah Wobble
- Keyboards, atmospheres, percussion : Mark Ferda
- Guitar : Justin Adams
- Drums : Richard Bailey & Jaki LiebezeitJaki LiebezeitJaki Liebezeit is a drummer probably best known as a founding member of Can who has been called "one of the few drummers to convincingly meld the funky and the cerebral"....
- Vocals : Sussan Deihim
- Cover art : Brian Eno & David Coppenhall
- Recording & mastering : Transfermation, London
Versions
| Country | Label | Cat. No. | Media | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | All Saints | ASCD23 | CD | 1995,1999,2003 |
| US | Gyroscope | 8190 6614-2 | CD | 1995 |
| ? | All Saints | 571495 | CD | 2006 |
| ? | Hannibal | 1495 | CD | 2006 |
Anthologies
- Sonora Portraits 1, a compilation CD accompanying a book of essays and interviews edited by Claudio Chianura & Giampiero Bigazzi, features the track Left Where It Fell, as well as a few selections from Glitterbug (Materiali Sonori, MASO CD 90110, 1999).
- The tracks Spinner and Left Where It Fell appear in Jah Wobble's 2004 anthology I Could Have Been A Contender .
External links
- Interview; The Wire, Issue 139, Sep 1995
- Profile; Future Music, Issue 38, Dec 1995
- Interview; jazzthetik magazine, Nov/Dec 1996
- Beep discography entry
- ConnolyCo discography entry
- Discogs.com entries : 5 , 6 , 7.
- ProgArchives review
- Rolling Stone review.
- All Saints entry.
- Jah Wobble's homepage
- Glitterbug IMDB entry