Brian Eno: Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)

Brian Eno: Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)

1974

Island Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Burning Airlines Give You So Much More  2. Back in Judy's Jungle  3. The Fat Lady of Limbourg  4. Mother Whale Eyeless  5. The Great Pretender  6. Third Uncle  7. Put a Straw Under Baby  8. The True Wheel  9. China My China  10. Taking Tiger Mountain


My god, I've been looking for a vinyl copy of this album  forever. As I mentioned previously, I wasn't in a huge hurry to check out Eno's music, due to his dedication to ambient snoozedrone, however inside my copy of "The Harder They Come," (which I believe I've discussed before) there was the big, bright colorful sleeve outlining the other Island Records albums that were available...Each and everyone of them looked amazing. Of particular interest, was "Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)" which sported a cover my eyes were immediately drawn to. It must be something in the colors or the title or Eno's bizarre haircut, or maybe the way all these ingredients blended together...For some reason it was irresistible and I decided that one day I would track down this album...

Then four or five years ago, I was at Eastside Records for my birthday and spotted it on the wall! Suddenly, I was holding the album in my hands for real! I remember hanging out at the bar afterwards for a birthday drink, but my heart just wasn't in it...I couldn't help but stare longingly at that gorgeous cover (and it folds out into even more beautiful color variations!).

When I finally got home that night, blissful and buzzed out, I slouched in my chair and tossed this on the turntable and I swear to God almighty, I was immediately treated to quite possibly the greatest song I'd ever heard in my entire life... Opener "Burning Airlines Give You So Much More," is the catchiest, dreamiest dollop of hazy psychedelic pop imaginable...Listen to it on the video below if you don't believe me...

There's just something about the way it lazily floats around in the air without a care in the world. All the talk of Chinese spies, micro-cameras, and gently swaying beards just feels like some sort of pleasant Dramamine-induced dream.  Is the plane on fire? Who cares when you've got this sort of buzz going.

Of course the rest of the album can't possibly live up to that brilliant opener, but wait! There is one other song as equally glorious, just in a different way. "Third Uncle" is fucking phenomenal! This rocking motherfucker must have exploded some heads when it came out. Every punk/post-punk song that came out in its wake has some serious dues to pay when it comes to this track. Just a repetitive bassline that gains momentum and picks up tangles of thrilling electrical noise as it rolls along. There's a guitar solo near the end of the track that is the single best guitar solo I've ever heard. I believe it's played by Phil Manzanera...If this guy didn't earn his place in the rock n roll pantheon with his Roxy Music stuff, then he earns it and keeps it here. My heart sinks when it fades. I've seriously reached out to the speaker before and dramatically whispered, "No...Don't go.." Again, listen for yourself if you don't believe me...

Surely, the rest of the album cannot live up to these two tracks! And, yea...You're kinda right. Those are the big highlights for sure, but the rest of the album's not chopped liver.! Lots of interesting little art rock songs full of fascinating sounds: Like the bizarre, melting orchestra in "Put a Straw Under Baby," or the oddly rocking typewriter solo on "China My China"...It doesn't quite make your head spin in the same dramatic manner that "Here Come the Warm Jets" did. It's a lot band-ier than that album, if that makes sense. Like it's being played by humans rather than malfunctioning robots...So it might actually be a little more welcoming to newcomers in that regard...Special shout-out to "The True Wheel" and "China My China." Those songs are top-notch. "China My China" seems so odd and lumpy at first, but with each repetition, it makes more and more sense until suddenly it's rewired your brain into hearing it as bouncy pop. Awesome trick.

This guy was just nailing it during this time period, really.  I fucking love this record so much.  I actually have a hard time picking which one of the first four Eno albums I love the most. "Here Come the Warm Jets" sounds great when I'm feeling sinister. But when I'm feel like getting lost in a secret world that exists in the cracks of society, this is the go-to album. It's like you're dreamily stumbling through a hidden world that's just teeming with seedy denizens  carrying dark secrets. It can sometimes become unexpectedly violent, but it's mostly serene. The band-yness I mentioned earlier makes it seem a bit more organic and alive than his other albums. Deep Earth and water. Like breathing in the air at a rice paddy or something...

Alright, one more...Here's "China My China" by Brian Eno...Enjoy...