I groaned when I read the Guardian's pretentious introduction too, but since I'm a massive Eno fan I read on. He's actually very down to earth, confessing his love for Abba, and coming up with a great metaphor for the music industry:
"The record age was just a blip. It was a bit like if you had a source of whale blubber in the 1840s and it could be used as fuel. Before gas came along, if you traded in whale blubber, you were the richest man on Earth. Then gas came along and you'd be stuck with your whale blubber. Sorry mate – history's moving along. Recorded music equals whale blubber. Eventually, something else will replace it"
If you're interested in his music, here's a good taster:
During the summer 2 friends of mine and I put together a Brian Eno cover band, just for fun. We learned our favorite songs from his rock era and played a couple of shows. It was really amazing to strip down his songs to a point where a trio of musicians couple play it live.
We played a show with a ZZ Top cover band - I assume this is a world first (Brian Eno + ZZ Top on the same night).
"The record age was just a blip. It was a bit like if you had a source of whale blubber in the 1840s and it could be used as fuel. Before gas came along, if you traded in whale blubber, you were the richest man on Earth. Then gas came along and you'd be stuck with your whale blubber. Sorry mate – history's moving along. Recorded music equals whale blubber. Eventually, something else will replace it"
If you're interested in his music, here's a good taster:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOgQyIMX_XU