Discreet Music, this is not
Neon, colour-changing record player, anyone? Brian Eno is launching yet another vinyl-spinning feast that is as much for the eyes as it is for the ears, following his original ‘Turntable’ released in 2021.
The fittingly named ‘Turntable II’ is, like its predecessor, built around a frosted-cast acrylic and LED light design, with the platter and base able to change colour — this time ‘independently and seamlessly’ phasing through combinations of ‘generative colourscapes’.
‘The pattern of lights, the speed at which they change and how they change are programmed, but programmed to change randomly and slowly,’ the announcement reads. Speaking about the Turntable
II’s artistic and aesthetic ambition, Eno said: “It’s the softness of these colours and the way they merge with each other that is so seductive... when it doesn’t have to do anything in particular, like play a record, it is a sculpture.”
Eno likens his approach to fusing light and sound for the record player to that of his paintings and other artworks, which have been a part of his life longer than music-making, the creative having studied painting and experimental music at Ipswich Civic College’s art school. “Since my first experiments with light and sound in the late 1960s," said Eno, "I’ve never ceased to be fascinated by the amazingly intricate, complex and unpredictable results produced by simple deterministic systems.”
“Out of simplicity, complexity arises. That is for me the most incredible idea of evolution theory and of cybernetics. John Cage once said: ‘The function of Art is to imitate Nature in her manner of operation’, and that has been an objective for me throughout my working life.”
“I use the same sorts of generative processes in music as in painting, based on overlapping unsynchronised cycles. Several overlapping light cycles will keep producing di¥erent colour balances and blends — and di¥erent shadow formations that slowly evolve and never exactly repeat. The process is simple. The results are complex.”
I'm not certain who has manufactured the Turntable II for Eno, though unsurprisingly the design features crucial elements from some of the market’s most reputable companies, such as an 8.6-inch aluminium tonearm from Pro-Ject and Ortofon’s 2M cartridge. They’re both white in colour, no doubt to stand out from the neon colours glowing beneath them.
The belt-drive design is driven by a 15v motor and DC power supply, and can spin at 33 and 45rpm speeds (via an electronic switch). Signature and edition numbers are engraved on the base's side, which brings me to just how limited-edition this model is. While the original was limited to 50 units, 150 Turntable IIs are up for grabs this time.
The Brian Eno Turntable II went on sale on 13th February through London’s Paul Stolper Gallery, where it was also displayed for a few weeks. I expect many die-hard Eno fans residing in London would have been forced to see it from the sidelines considering it costs £20,000. That’s excluding value-added tax, by the way, and the gallery website notes that ‘the price will increase as we sell through the edition’!