Personally, I’d rather hear a new Talking Heads album produced by Eno.\u00c2\u00a0 The Heads were a better fit than Coldplay will ever be.\u00c2\u00a0 Because the Heads were more about sound than songs…well, sound played an integral part.\u00c2\u00a0 Compare "Talking Heads: 77" to "More Songs About Buildings and Food" to get the idea.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, "77" contained "Psycho Killer", which spawned the great parody "Psycho Chicken", but what blew the band up was its cover of Al Green’s "Take Me To The River" on the Eno-produced "More Songs".<\/p>\n
What is that sound, that resembles a guitar pick sliding slowly, but with force, over a guitar’s strings?\u00c2\u00a0 You could listen again and again and continue to discover quirks that enraptured you.\u00c2\u00a0 How did the whitest guys on the planet record a rhythm and blues number (thanks Jerry!) that sounded more London than Memphis but still retained so much SOUL!\u00c2\u00a0 Listening turned you into Gumby.\u00c2\u00a0 Bending in places you didn’t know you had joints.\u00c2\u00a0 But moving so slowly you were on a drug heavier than pot, more akin to an animal tranquilizer.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s like your feet were stuck to the floor and every step was an effort, which you didn’t mind taking, which you HAD TO TAKE!<\/p>\n
The apotheosis was "Once In A Lifetime", off "Remain In Light".\u00c2\u00a0 Which sounded like it was recorded underwater, but in a world more intriguing than what was happening on land.\u00c2\u00a0 If you don’t constantly ask yourself where is your beautiful wife, where is your large automobile, then you weren’t alive back in 1980, when this track ruled the airwaves on the hip stations that you pledged fealty to, before the advent of MTV and the resurgence of Top Forty radio.\u00c2\u00a0 This was when there was a clear division between hip and straight, when you were either in on the joke or you weren’t, before we all became members of the monoculture.<\/p>\n
But now the monoculture has been blown to bits.\u00c2\u00a0 Those wearing pegged jeans and horn rims are still ranking out vapid hits not knowing that no one cares anymore and the rest of are licking our wounds, ensconced in front of the big screen, asking ourselves how did we get here?<\/p>\n
David Byrne’s been a has-been for almost two decades.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s an artist as well as a musician.\u00c2\u00a0 But visual artists don’t have quite the same impact as musicians in our society.\u00c2\u00a0 But at least he’s aged.\u00c2\u00a0 In a world where forty sends you to the plastic surgeon, David Byrne looks his almost sexagenarian self.\u00c2\u00a0 Even Eno’s face has gone oval.\u00c2\u00a0 And they’ve decided to work together again.<\/p>\n
Yes, Eno’s given up sculpting hits that no longer challenge limits for U2 to do something outside with his old partner, the one who truly built his producer cred.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve been reading about it for a month.\u00c2\u00a0 When I saw the story in Sunday’s "New York Times" <\/p>\n
\nTogether Again in Different Time Zones<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
I\u00c2\u00a0winced.\u00c2\u00a0 The mainstream loves the has-beens.\u00c2\u00a0 But this is where my demo goes to find out what they should listen to.<\/p>\n
But they’re not being driven to Wal-Mart.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re being driven to the duo’s site, <\/p>\n
\nEverything That Happens Will Happen Today<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
That’s today’s store, that’s where the discussion takes place, that’s where you go, not to a retail establishment where the clerks insult you.\u00c2\u00a0 Online you find a home, ever-changing in the best of circumstances, that you can visit whenever you need a HIT, of fresh air!\u00c2\u00a0 (Thank you Dino Valente!)<\/p>\n
And I didn’t expect this modern collaboration to be as good as their previous one, "My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts".\u00c2\u00a0 But, I went, because Ian sent me there.\u00c2\u00a0 What I liked best about his e-mail was his link to the Twitter chatter… <\/p>\n
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