Album: Ambient 1: Music for Airports by Brian Eno (5)

Ahead of its era, “Ambient 1: Music for Airports” does far more than staying in the background of a futuristic airport but for everyone to attach emotions and make the most of it. “1/1” is filled with zen fermatas, carrying notes like waterdrops, doing everything but also nothing to empty your mind. Repetitions might be dreary or tedious for some people, but there are differences in the background to be detected and understood if trying to immerse oneself in. “1/1” is also the most suitable and functional one among the four tracks.

“2/1” unfolds with generous and expansive vocals. Sunlight, but rather intensified, tranquil and remote. It waits and remains, saves time for you to walk into it, to take a sunbath, on your own initiative. Then “1/2” comes in as the stopover to see the piano and vocals blending with each other in detail.

You may get lost in the ambitious synthesiser sounds of “2/2”. It scales up quite suddenly. Even though the former track lasts more than 10 minutes, not much connecting and digesting job has been done. However, concerns could be eased when it plays to the middle, especially for listeners willing to swing with the inner flow, grasping the opportunities to discover layers and depths.

The importance of this album is effortlessly being told by “1/1” standing alone, while “1/2” tells stories of vocal use, frequency and the blanks in between. Both of them are easy to adapt and drift away. “2/1” and “2/2” may be less graspable generally but still have their narrative.