Obscure Records
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Obscure Records was a U.K. record label which existed from 1975 to 1978. It was created and curated by Brian Eno. Ten albums were issued in the series. Most have detailed liner notes on their back covers, analyzing the compositions and providing a biography of the composer, in a format typical of classical music albums, and much of the material can be regarded as 20th-century classical music. The label provided a venue for experimental music.
Eno started the Obscure Records label in Britain in 1975 to release works by lesser-known composers. The first group of three releases included his own composition, Discreet Music, and the now-famous The Sinking of the Titanic by Gavin Bryars. The second side of Discreet Music consisted of several versions of Pachelbel's Canon to which various algorithmic transformations have been applied, rendering it almost unrecognizable. Side 1 consisted of a tape loop system for generating music from relatively sparse input. These tapes had previously been used as backgrounds in some of his collaborations with Robert Fripp, most notably on Evening Star. Only ten Obscure albums were released, including works by John Adams, Michael Nyman, and John Cage. At this time he was also affiliating with artists in the Fluxus movement.
Ambient Records
- Ambient 1: Music for Airports – Brian Eno – 1978 – Ambient/Polydor/EG AMB-001
- Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror – Harold Budd, Brian Eno – 1980 – Editions EG EGAMB-002
- Ambient 3: Day of Radiance – Laraaji – 1980 – Editions EG EGAMB-003
- Ambient 4: On Land – Brian Eno – 1982 – Editions EG EGED-20
