Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) is Eno's second solo album, inspired by a series of postcards regarding a Chinese revolutionary opera of the same name. Eno described his understanding of the title as referring to "the dichotomy between the archaic and the progressive...Half Taking Tiger Mountain – that Middle Ages physical feel of storming a military position – and half (By Strategy) – that very, very 20th-century mental concept of a tactical interaction of systems." Eno and artist Peter Schmidt developed instruction cards called Oblique Strategies to use throughout the creative process of the album. The content of the lyrics seems to range from espionage to the Chinese Communist Revolution. Forty plus years later, this album is still mindblowing. Listen in for yourself starting at 5p PT on KDRT.
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