Comments on: Brian Eno On Genius, And “Scenius”

By: Brian

Brian — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 11:33:49 +0000

therefore genius is a summation and representative of the scenius they came from?

dunno about contributing Eno's brilliant work to a collective tho…as nice a thought as it might be

By: MirlitronOne

MirlitronOne — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:16:07 +0000

Agreed. In fact, I'd go so far as to call him a 'genius'… And so is David Byrne. I don't always like their music, but they regularly come out with some very pertinent observations about music and their place in the great scenius of things…

By: synthhead

synthhead — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:54:47 +0000

I think he'd agree.

He's said in the past that he's not a musician, he's questioned whether what he does is music and it's hard to imagine him thriving in the music world in an earlier time.

That doesn't diminish his importance or the importance of his work, though.

By: synthhead

synthhead — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:51:57 +0000

I'm with you completely on the idea of having personal heroes.

Eno's "scenius" idea is interesting to me because it suggests that we may be able to cultivate these scenes and encourage more great work.

By: chaircrusher

chaircrusher — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:36:25 +0000

Personally I think Eno himself is a perfect example of 'scenius' — his rise to prominence happened in the context of an absurdly creative scene in the UK of the early 70s. I haven't liked anything he's done since about 1990 though, and I think a large part of the reason is that he became more isolated and singular.

Not to mention he and David Byrne forming a mutual admiration society…

By: MirlitronOne

MirlitronOne — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:25:23 +0000

Indeed, or even putting the 'stupid' into a suitably supportive environment in which they can thrive and develop 'cleverness'.

By: tay0

tay0 — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:15:37 +0000

Mr. Eno can always get right at the meat of a thing. Scenes and cultures can cultivate mediocrity and me-too-ism, but they also provide incubation for those that can take all the pieces and parts and really make it happen, separating the clever from the stupid, or just making the stupid clever.

By: Torley

Torley — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:50:26 +0000

And that reminds me of younger folks who heard Oasis and then the Beatles, and go, "Wow! The Beatles sound like Oasis." Thankfully that doesn't happen very often because Brothers Gallagher have been open about their influences.

By: Torley

Torley — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:48:25 +0000

It *is* easier to recognize individual personalities than relate to groups (especially "faceless corporations"). Mythological stories often reflect this, too — there are main characters. As in "Jason and the Argonauts".

By: MirlitronOne

MirlitronOne — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:36:41 +0000

As a race, we prefer to celebrate genius to scenius (note that 'celebrate' and 'celebrity' come from the same root). In pre-1970s science textbooks, the transistor was invented by Bardeen, Brattain and Shockley working at Bell Labs. At some point in the '70s, it was as though the corporation asserted some kind of historical rights, and textbooks started to read "the transistor was invented in the 1950s by (note, not "at") Bell Labs."

I suspect that the latter may be more accurate, but, for inspiration, I preferred the romance of the former statement. I'm sorry, but I cannot recognize Bell Labs, nor "the minimalist movement", as a personal hero.

By: minz

minz — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:46:00 +0000

i think eno is spot on with his observation, but i also think that a big part of being called a genius is summing up an era nicely for historians. so, once history is generally agreed upon, the place of the genius tends to be reinforced. as an example, beethoven might not have been the most brilliant composer of his time, but when you put him central in that place and time, it's becomes a nice way to characterize the time and place in the way we do now.

it reminds me of steve reich being asked in an interview about how it was for the '4 geniuses of minimal music' (reich, glass, lamonte young, riley) in the 70s. reich said that there were hundreds of minimal composers around at the time, and that nothing put them in a special position.

personally, i think the whole idea of a genius comes out of the human urge to tell stories. of course, at the center is somebody doing something extremely well, but historians can make it seem as if all the good work from a time and place can be attributed to that person. a scenius indeed.

By: synthhead

synthhead — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:38:31 +0000

Your comment reminded me of the band Jet – which reminds me of PInk Floyd & The Beatles.

My kids listen to Pink Floyd and think they sound like Jet……

By: Torley

Torley — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:32:47 +0000

What prevails time and time again throughout history is that no matter how brilliant or talented someone is, they can't succeed on a large scale without opportunities: such as finding an incredibly well-matched promoter to get the word about them, and learning the right tools to connect with fans. (Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers examines this in greater depth, such as Bill Gates' already financially-privileged background giving him access to computer time that was rare.)

Thus, one cannot contribute without a scene which is receptive. I was just reading about Paul Oakenfold's early "acid house" sound not making it big in Ibiza until some years later, and how wildely popular the descendants of that are today. Persistence, it seems, is a necessary constant — along with change.

I love hearing artists' inspirations of what initially got them into making music, or whatever creative craft they've dedicated their life to. Those are the very keystones upon which their accomplishments are built.

Specifically to this article, reminds me of Aphex Twin's quote: "I guess you can say I'm a modified Brian Eno, though I never heard any Brian Eno before I started making records." So I wonder if he actually listened to someone(s) else who was influenced by Eno, thus continuing the chain of inspiration! (And to wit, all those people wanting to get into game music because of Nobuo Uematsu's battle themes, not realizing they often draw from ELP.)