of the instruments, so that lower instruments are slowest. In the second piece, "French Catalogues", groups of notes are associated with time-related directions from different parts of the score. The third piece, "Brutal Ardour", presents the players with sequences of notes that are related but of different lengths. The titles of these pieces were derived from inaccurate French-to-English translations of the liner notes of a version of Pachelbel's Canon performed by the orchestra of Jean-Francois Paillard. Release Discreet Music was the third (of four) simultaneous releases on Eno's new Obscure Records label. This album was re-released on the Virgin label in 2004. On CD reissues, a full minute of silence separates Discreet Music title track from the Pachelbel piece. Reception and legacy Reviewing for The Village Voice in June 1977, Robert Christgau stated that the album "encourages a meditative but secular mood (good for hard bits of writing) more effectively than any of the other rock-identified avant-garde music that's come our way". In 1979, Lester Bangs described it as "either the definitive unobtrusively lustrous statement on ambient musics or a wispy treacly bore that defies you to actually pay attention to it [...] depending on your point of view." Trouser Press described the album as "striking and haunting, filled with beauty and apprehension, paralleling the minimalist music being made by Steve Reich and Philip Glass." AllMusic's Sean Westergaard said it is Eno's "first full foray into what has become known as ambient music," and added that "[the album's] reputation as a groundbreaking and influential work is surpassed only by its placid beauty." This album was a favourite of David Bowie's, and led to his collaboration with Eno on Bowie's late '70s Berlin Trilogy. For the 40th anniversary (2015) of the release of the album, the Canadian music ensemble Contact recorded "Discreet Music" with classical instruments as a seven-part one hour work. Track listing Side A "Discreet Music" (Brian Eno) – 30:35 Side B Three Variations on the Canon in D Major by Johann Pachelbel (Brian Eno) "Fullness of Wind" – 9:57 "French Catalogues" – 5:18 "Brutal Ardour" – 8:17 Personnel Brian Eno – synthesizer, keyboards Gavin Bryars – co-arranger and conductor on Side B The Cockpit Ensemble – performer on Side B Technical Brian Eno – producer, photography Peter Kelsey – engineer Simon Heyworth – mastering John Bonis – cover design Andrew Day – redesign See also Electronic music References