solo David Byrne - S/D

pretty radically different albums, not even sure they're comparable

My life in the bush of ghosts is by far the most interesting album david byrne or the talking heads have ever released.

Everything That Happens Will Happen Today > My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts

Tempted to agree, one of the most open-hearted, joyful, full-sounding records in my collection (no slight on Ghosts, apples to oranges and maybe I like oranges more)

The Catherine Wheel > My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts

Keep coming back to this album. So good.

The full band arrangement of My Big Hands that TH performed from '82 is so damn great.

My Big Hands is a big fave of mine. I saw him when he did that Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno tour back whenever that was and was thrilled when that one found its way into the set list.

American Utopia on HBO Max is enjoyable, but I can't get into Byrne's solo stuff at all. It all lacks personality. I particularly enjoyed the performance of 'Blind,' a song I've never really rated.

I will watch this but yeah, i never like the solo stuff as much as i want to. Its cool that he seems to be having more success now than he has in a long time, but I always wish he would be a little weirder and take more chances than he does with his music. For example, the only song that I really liked off the Everything that Happens record was "I Feel My Stuff", the only one that stood out as what I imagined a 21stC Byrne/Eno collab would sound like rather than his comfort zone of easygoing secular-gospel.

Then again I havent kept up with the last couple albums so I'm hoping for a surprise, but in general the positivity-guru/Ted talk/Jobs energy that he rides these days is not really what I'm looking for.

you probably won't be crazy about this then. I would say "secular gospel" and "guru energy" are words that might flow through your head, though to the degree that it's infused with positivity, I think he comes by it honestly.

otoh if you have a special place in your heart for the choreography of Stop Making Sense, it can be evocative of that in some very cool ways/

Yeah, I saw the show when he was touring it and loved every second of it and I can't even tell you what solo songs he played, let alone hum a single one of them.

I kicked myself for months for missing it when it was touring, and then ponied up the dough to see it on Broadway so I wouldn't always have the regret. It was worth it. I do enjoy several of his solo albums, but like Josh said, you don't need to have a connection to those songs to dig this show.

Yeah, I saw the show when he was touring it and loved every second of it and I can't even tell you what solo songs he played, let alone hum a single one of them.

― Josh in Chicago, Monday, October 19, 2020 1:42 PM (thirty-six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

+1
one of the best shows I've ever seen. hope it works on TV, but live the staging was so fucking ingenious, so inventive yet really very simple and not relying on typical rock concert gimmicks

def felt like the next extension of Stop Making Sense

I gotta disagree. The staging is nice but the band’s renditions of Talking Head songs lack the power and skill of circa 1980 Talking Heads. Watered down greatest hits . Janelle Monae cover was a bit better.

Watch the 1980 expanded Talking Heads gig in Rome on YouTube and you’ll hear stronger versions of many of the songs https://youtu.be/2KQjy02eqOk

I more meant the staging/the way it was conceived visually

I'm not saying it's better than hyper coked out era Talking Heads musically!

American Utopia needs the P-Funk Extras from back then ( or the equivalent)

Yeah I'm definitely not expecting the thrills of the Imperial Cocaine Era of Talking Heads. But yeah I think I'm mostly interested in the staging, choreography, and visuals. If anything about the music sticks with me that'll be a plus, but not getting my hopes up that they'll reveal any exciting new shades to "Road to Nowhere" (or whatever TH songs they play)

The era of that live in Rome stuff is some of the greatest live music ever made, imo. Not a fair comparison.

American Utopia is such an awesome integration of staging, choreography, music. I'll grant you that maybe the music suffers ever so slightly because there is so much focus on all these other elements, but the synthesis of them all is its own artistic achievement and makes up for any ways that Slippery People or Once in a Lifetime is a little less gritty or funky or whatever.

Yeah, you're not going to get a new look at any Talking Heads song but I will repeat that "Blind," which was never one of my favorite Talking Heads tracks, sounds really good in American Utopia and I've given Naked a couple listens since. I also found out about Byrne's early-2000s pop hit, "Lazy" through American Utopia. My partner was shocked when it came on and she knew every word. I'd never heard it before. Guess it was a thing in the UK at some point? I kind of dig it.

Does he do "Like Humans Do?" I sort of remember that. That's a nice song.

No Like Humans Do. The solo material is heavily weighted towards the new(est) album, for which this was originally the tour. And those songs are pretty musically eh but they fit the format well and Byrne's love for them results in them just being done well.

Totally agree about Blind - forgot to mention that earlier -- it was never a song that had registered with me at all but I was humming it after this show.

Hmm, looked it up and he definitely did Like Humans Do when I saw him.

I'm a big fan of side 1 of Naked so thats cool to hear. Im always interested to hear him do stuff from Naked since it never got a live airing by TH.

The only solo song I remember/know, "Lazy' aside, is 'Glass, Concrete and Stone,' which is also pretty good.

Btw, I know Spike Lee directed this, but is there any character to how he directed it? That is, is it at all identifiable as a Spike Lee joint? He's a much more visually eccentric director than Demme, though of course even Demme made some strong choices in Stop Making Sense (like not showing the audience, or some extreme close-ups).

those of you who don't dig the solo stuff - have you heard the s/t he released in '94? it's head and shoulders above any of his other solo stuff afaict.

The black and white cover one? Yeah, guitars on that are cool. Less whimsy overall.

yeah there are some good rockers on that one

'lazy' was also a club hit ftr

#2 pop hit in the UK as well

Lazy by X-Press 2 was famously held off #1 in the UK by the loser of the first series of Pop Idol

speaking of his collaborations with middle-aged house acts, Toe Jam is also in the show, and like Lazy, stands out for its rhythmic engagement

I lived in NYC for 30 years until 2 years ago…two days before I moved (moving day was Brett Kavanaugh/Blasey ford day) I went to see the show in question at the Kings Theater, a 10 minute walk from where I lived.

During those 30 years, every time I attended a broadway show, I strongly disliked the experience: this includes Hedwig and Hamilton, both of which are theatrical treatments of rock and hip-hop culture which would prompt my parent's peers to say "oh yr a music journalist, don't you you think these shows are marvelous?" No I did not (although while I dislike Hamilton, it is clearly a formal breakthrough and step forward for theatre if not popular music way way beyond any other suck-ass musical theatre rapprochment with pop/rock/hip-hop/whatever)…

But I am grateful that American Utopia was on Broadway. This is because I was and am struck dumb by how much those musicians give David Byrne: whether or not they're as good as Dolette McDonald, Adrian Belew and Bernie Worrell in 1980, they play the shit out of the those fucking songs, every member sings, AND! AND! AND! they have to remember choreography that is completely unique to each tune and in many cases to each musician. Quite different to standing on stage, playing your parts well and gently swaying back and forth, or high-kicking or what have you…

When that show was on the road for what? a year and a half? it had to be hugely hugely expensive, and I doubt that Byrne had anything like extravagant tour support from Nonesuch (I have to think he got investors to help with this on his own, which one would think he could do). He has to pay the choreographer, lighting designer and shit tons of production upfront, and then he has to keep that HUGE production on the road, crew and musicians, providing basic needs. laundering the suits that they all wear…and what kind of wage do the musicians earn? I reckon not much, and in the current climate, they can't bloody well go to other bandleaders and say "Check me out, I was in the American Utopia band, I did all that insane training for it so I could put it on my resume, so pay me a premium to play with Selena Gomez."

So he put the show on Broadway: the production stays put, and by god, no matter whether Chris Frantz sez that his Mr Rogers bit is an act and he's as much of asshole as he always was in the gacked out 70s/80s, I have to think he finally was able to pay those musicians, whose efforts on his behalf were indeed priceless, a whole hell of a lot better than he could when they had to keep that show on the road across the country and the world.

my fave part was the very end, when the band gets offstage after knockin' the fucker out the park, they're each high on the achievement, and one of the ladies exclaims "WORLD STAR!"

yes I lolled at "worldstar!"

I thought Spike Lee did a great job with the movie, finding some (literally) new perspectives on a lot of the performance. I particularly appreciated the occasional overhead shot, which revealed elements of the choreography that wasn't apparent facing the stage. There were a couple of other nice tricks he threw in, like tilting the camera for effect and having a mounted camera on the balcony show the effect of everyone dancing and bouncing around up there. Mostly the movie did a great job at capturing the sheer joy of the band/show, and for that alone I'm glad it was documented.

I liked it more than Stop Making Sense possibly, though the shows are doing pretty different things. Really opens your eyes to what bands can do. Byrne is still in great voice too, though I think I heard a little correction on it now and then?

Hard to say. I do think he's singing better than he ever has.

I'm still watching this (an hour in), but I'm surprised that it's kind of disappointing. I had high expectations based on some of the comments here, but there hasn't been a moment where it felt like it hit it out of the park. Spike Lee's direction is solid so I think it's just the show. Some choices like the dramatic pauses feel corny, at one point the marching cymbals on "Once in a Lifetime" feel like a complete misfire, and as mentioned, the post-Talking Heads songs are really underwhelming compared to the Talking Heads material. I'm still waiting for Byrne to tie it all together in a meaningful way. I was really skeptical about the Springsteen show but without barely anything except a guitar and a piano, he gave really, really familiar songs a context that led to some miraculous alchemy. I was hoping context would save the day, but so far the show feels kind of shallow, covering quite a few bases in an insubstantial way. (Yes, not enough people vote...I need more than a visual aid for the stats.) Even the Kaepernick tribute didn't have anything like the impact I really would have liked...maybe this all comes off better in-person?

*but with barely anything

Forgot to mention, upthread there were a few comparisons to Stop Making Sense. The show works best when it doesn't try to compete with that tour/film or when it simply makes a playful reference (like the one to Byrne's chopping hands at the beginning of the show). But when they choreograph a move from it, it suffers in comparison. The one where everyone leans back and slowly rises up has nothing like the dramatic or visual impact Demme got when he filmed it.

Kind of sadly ironic considering that his best albums that I've heard are Songs From the Broadway Production of "The Catherine Wheel" and Music for The Knee Plays, based on his work with/for Twyla Tharp and Robert Wilson respectively: maybe he was born to stage, but with launchpad provided by people who really know what they're doing.

But also, I greatly enjoyed How Music Works, and still get his enewsletter---'ow about another book next, Mr. B.?

Just finished, and there is a good climax. "Burning Down the House" is excellent, and the cover of "Hell You Talmbout" may be the highlight - I want to credit that to Spike Lee because it looks exactly like the kind of thing he's done in many films (especially recently), from the camera moving in on the subjects, the subjects being relatives holding up the photos of those killed by police brutality, the direct info of the text (name, date of birth, date of death) and even the rhythm of the editing (which builds up to each of those moments in similar fashion). He seems to take over the film from there, partly because there's more opportunities to display his personality rather than filming a meticulously designed show. (This is especially true in the credits, where he even manages to simulate his favorite tracking shot on the individual bikes.)

"One Fine Day" was pretty nice, and it's a fine lead-in to the similar (and even better) gospel-influenced opening of "Road to Nowhere."

Overall, I thought this was too uneven to be a great show. It feels too much like a collection of performances - some really good, some not so great, and a lot in between. As a result of the uneven quality, until I got to the last 15 or 20 minutes, there didn't seem to be any sustained momentum. But "Road to Nowhere" kind of drives home why this is worth seeing - the Talking Heads songs are classics, and we at least still have Byrne in good health performing them well with a very talented group of performers. It's not the same as the band in its heyday, but when Byrne's gone, this will be sorely missed. (Granted, it's churlish the way Byrne's torched his bridges with his bandmates, but that's old news.)

I was going through some old bootlegs and I found one I never got around to listening - an acoustic show with Byrne and Richard Thompson from March 24, 1992 at St. Ann and the Holy trinity Church in Brooklyn Heights. A clean soundboard recording (probably a DAT) that must've leaked out, it seems to have been bootlegged many times over. Some video footage actually exists, mainly when Thompson joins Byrne on a few numbers. (There's some professionally shot video of the two that comes from a different show from around the same time, but it's part of a promo or news piece of some kind.)

Some nice surprises like Byrne covering Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World." A couple of Talking Heads covers are excellent, but most of the set comes from Uh-oh which doesn't do much for me. The one exception is "Dirty Old Town" which sounds great in this rendition - I popped on the album version with the full band and horns and was a bit disappointed because it kind of sounds like a Talking Heads simulation. Even better was "Buck Naked," one of the few numbers he played from his other solo albums. Again, liked it better than the album version, and apparently he performed it solo in that concert film he made in 1992 as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMoqcUAH2K0