I‰’ll begin with a brief warning. You will probably not have fun listening to Brian Eno‰’s Ambient 1: Music for Airports. This is not dancing music. This is not driving-down-the-highway music. This is not makeover montage music. Some people wouldn‰’t even consider the album to be music at all. The piece does what good music is supposed to do, however. It invokes an emotional response in its audience. It might not be overwhelming joy or throatcrushing rage, but Eno has created the perfect musical embodiment of peace and calm.

Music for Airports contains four tracks, titled 1/1, 2/1, 1/2 and 2/2 respectively (each song was a whole side of the original two LP set). Each track features different instruments ‰ÛÒ from pianos to wordless vocals to synthesizers ‰ÛÒ but they all have the same stylistic feel. The best way I can describe it is by asking you to imagine you are on an airplane. You‰’ve taken off without problem, and the plane is flying low enough that you can see the rolling hills and tiny buildings below. You are enveloped in an immense space ‰ÛÒ drawn into the landscape curving and twisting underneath you. You have no idea what‰’s going to appear next on the horizon of your view, but you anticipate each moment. That‰’s the feeling I get while listening to this CD. The songs meander through harmonies to notes just out of reach. The notes are faded enough that you have to strain to catch everything that‰’s going on. It tempts you, draws you inside its circular movements, and then begins to expand around you.

For a time as stressful as now, with all your big tests and projects right around the corner, Eno‰’s Ambient 1: Music for Airports is just what you need to sit, relax and let your mind be calm for a while. Check out part of the fantastic first track (the real one‰’s sixteen minutes long) and let us know what you think in the comments!