Brian Eno, a new video, Stiff, released today, created from vintage footage newly unearthed during the making of the documentary Eno. The release is to accompany the Official Soundtrack to Eno – a generative film about visionary musician and artist, Brian Eno. The soundtrack features seventeen career spanning tracks including three previously unreleased songs 

“Stiff is vintage Eno. With its irreverent lyrics, humour, and uniquely identifiable sound, it was originally included on the highly elusive Eno album My Squelchy Life. Due for release in 1991, the entire album was pulled because of scheduling delays and remained out of the public realm until it eventually saw the light of day in 2015. Some of the original recordings on My Squelchy Life eventually evolved into Nerve Net but for reasons now forgotten, it was decided not to include Stiff. The original Eno footage included in the video was shot in the early 90’s and finally re-discovered by Gary Hustwit in the making of the Eno film. The song is included in both the film and official soundtrack album.

The OST also features the brand new song, All I Remember. The closing song from Eno, it was especially written for this film and is a contemplative, reflective vocal track that sees Eno referencing early influences and experiences. Order details

As well as this, there are two unreleased tracks on the album, Lighthouse #429 and By This River (Live at The Acropolis). The former was taken from Eno’s Sonos radio station, ‘The Lighthouse’, where the programming exclusively delves into his extensive archive and is the first track to have had a public release from the station. ‘By This River’ (Live at The Acropolis), a fan favourite was originally performed by Brian and brother Roger Eno at the Acropolis, Athens in August 2021.

There are what we are told are two beautifully packaged versions of the vinyl – 2LP recycled black vinyl and 2LP pink & white vinyl (d2c only), and a 73-minute long CD with an illustrated 16 page booklet of elegant portraits.The album is also released as a digital thing if you like that kind of thing

‘Eno’ – the definitive documentary about the visionary musician, artist and activist is a typically groundbreaking project – a feature film that’s never the same twice. The film had its general release on July 12 as well – firstly at Picturehouse Cinemas across the UK and a run in one of New York’s most respected cinemas, Film Forum. Fans in Los Angeles, Nashville, Austin and Toronto can also watch screenings soon after, and a week-long run in San Francisco is at the Roxie from July 26th. For this screening information see here.

Accompanying the new film is an OST that serves as a companion audio journey touching on Eno’s output throughout his rich career. The 17 tracks included on the physical album feature work from early solo outings such as Taking Tiger Mountain, acclaimed collaborations with the likes of David Byrne, John Cale, Cluster and more recently, Fred again… all the way through to music from his latest album, FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE.

TRACKLISTING:

Brian Eno – All I Remember Previously Unreleased
Brian Eno with Daniel Lanois and Roger Eno – The Secret Place
Brian Eno & Fred Again – Cmon
Brian Eno & Cluster – Ho Renomo
Brian Eno – Sky Saw
Brian Eno & John Cale – Spinning Away
Brian Eno & Tom Rogerson – Motion In Field
Brian Eno – There Were Bells
Brian Eno – Third Uncle
Brian Eno & David Byrne – Everything That Happens
Brian Eno – Stiff
Brian Eno with Leo Abrahams and Jon Hopkins – Emerald & Lime
Brian Eno – Hardly Me
Brian Eno & David Byrne – Regiment
Brian Eno – Fractal Zoom
Brian Eno – Lighthouse #429 Previously Unreleased
Brian Eno & Roger Eno – By This River (Live At The Acropolis) Previously Unreleased

Eno – the film: For the past 5 decades, Brian Eno has been at the forefront of musical creativity, technology, and artistic innovation. This self-described “sonic landscaper” began his career as an original member of the legendary Roxy Music in the early 1970s. He left the band to release a series of solo records and later pioneered the genre of ambient music with his 1978 album Ambient 1: Music for Airports. As a producer, Brian Eno has helped define and reinvent the sound of some of the most important artists in music, including David Bowie, U2, Talking Heads, Coldplay, and dozens of others. He also composed what may be the most heard piece of music in the world: the startup sound for Microsoft Windows. Undeniably, Eno has changed the way modern music is made.

The definitive documentary about visionary musician, artist and activist, ‘Eno’ is a typically groundbreaking project – a feature film that’s never the same twice. Gary Hustwit and creative technologist Brendan Dawes have developed bespoke generative software designed to sequence scenes and create transitions out of Hustwit’s original interviews with Eno, and Eno’s rich archive of never- before-seen footage, and unreleased music. Each screening of Eno is unique, presenting different scenes, order, music, and meant to be experienced live. The generative and infinitely iterative quality of Eno poetically resonates with the artist’s own creative practice, his methods of using technology to compose music, and his endless deep dive into the mercurial essence of creativity.

Hustwit’s collaboration with Eno first began in 2017, when Eno created an original score for Hustwit’s film Rams, about the German designer Dieter Rams. Says Hustwit, “Much of Brian’s career has been about enabling creativity in himself and others, through his role as a producer but also through his collaborations on projects like the Oblique Strategies cards or the music app Bloom. I think of Eno as an art film about creativity, with the output of Brian’s 50-year career as its raw material. What I’m trying to do is to create a cinematic experience that’s as innovative as Brian’s approach to music and art.”

And any excuse, we don’t really need an excuse, that start is just so so beautiful…