Left via / Right via
Travel is the great leveller of people: we all have to pass through stations and airports, all need to stop for a quick piss at a rest stop during a long drive sometimes. You meet people from all walks of life in these places, and for this reason, it's rare that you'll find music playing in them: you'll never please everyone. This was the great crisis that Brian Eno implicitly addressed with his landmark album Ambient 1: Music For Airports forty years ago, and now, to celebrate four decades of its mastery, the good people at London City Airport are playing it in its intended environment all day. A PR stunt, yes (and a weird one, since no one truly has the gall to book a flight and travel on the same day) but still: pretty, pretty good. Hook this record up to my veins and pump it into my heart.Melanie Burnley, who is the airport's Director of Customer Experience said of the move, "The anniversary of Brian Eno’s famous work is an apt occasion to play the full album in its intended environment – an airport." Quite right too. She continued, "It is a subtle album which creates a calm and pleasant ambiance as passengers make their way through to Departures," though she did heed that "because of the airport’s size and speed, it is possible to get from the front door to departure gate in 20 minutes or less, so they may only hear a snippet.” You've been warned.So erm, if you're at a loose end today and you fancy hanging out at an airport and listening to Brian Eno then you could probably do worse than getting yourself down there, to be honest. Because what better thing is there to do than hang out in a clandestine environment, among hordes of stressed bankers, trying to find some semblance of peace, without having even bought a plane ticket?Follow Noisey on Twitter.
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