Channel Z

Happy birthday to a man that I have much creative respect for - David Byrne.

10 By Talking Heads - A Good Starting Point

In response to this completely valid list, ten of my favorite Talking Heads tracks for you to listen to if you’re not familiar with… the greatest band that has ever existed ;)

Talking Heads – The Book I Read
Talking Heads – The Girl Wants To Be With The Girls
Talking Heads – Found A Job - 2005 Remastered LP Version
Talking Heads – Cities
Talking Heads – The Great Curve
Talking Heads – This Must Be The Place - Live LP Version
Talking Heads – The Lady Don’t Mind - 2005 Remastered LP Version
Talking Heads – Dream Operator
Talking Heads – Totally Nude
Talking Heads – Road To Nowhere - 2005 Remastered LP Version

This robot with David Byrne’s voice is one of the creepiest fucking things I’ve seen in a while.

I got this promotional e-mail today regarding a new Talking Heads DVD set from David Byrne:

Hi,

Though it may not seem it, this little project took years to pull together. I had seen much of this footage, and realized there might be an interesting video timeline of the various manifestations Talking Heads went through. But, tracking down all of the owners of these bits of footage and followed by getting the rights of the material was another matter. Some of the early clips were obviously not commercial—the sound and image can be a little rough in those—but you can see the extremely stripped down version of the band playing at CBGB in those days. These bits and pieces of footage coming together into a cohesive chronology morphed into something very different and impossible to predict.

This was very much a live band—at least until the late 80s. The initial recordings emerged out of what we played live, what worked in that context and how we refined our skills playing together. For a lot of musicians in the digital era this is not always the case. These days, the record often comes first and then how it is staged comes later. The Lester Bangs essay is also very much part of this time. Other than some very specific references, it holds up amazingly well as a passionate and idiosyncratic piece of writing. There’s a reason a lot of writers continue to hold him up as a role model (though I hope they bypass some of the substance abuse). Though his piece is in the form of a record review, it is in truth a beautiful existential rant—and I am proud to be in some way associated with it. Come to think of it, maybe many of these songs are partly something else in disguise as well?

With each iteration of Chronology, you can pretty plainly see what came before as well as a hint of what was to come—all easy to spot in retrospect, of course. There are some fashion don’ts as well as some prescient looks—but what you really get is a sense of how tight this band was. Of course, there is more footage to be found from these sources but I thought to myself, “How many versions of the same songs can one view?” I think the sampler approach gives the viewer a sense of the musical and performative changes we were going through, but without the possibly tedious repetition.

DBNYC

…  could Byrne come off as more of a pretentious asshole?  I don’t want Talking Heads to ever reunite because I want the rest of the members to be spared David Byrne’s immense bullshit.  Happy Thanksgiving.

dunford:

I met David Byrne! Manhattan, June 2011.

Great photo of Mr Musical influence of mine!

Paul Simon And David Byrne Sing The Songs Of The '80s

This is so awesome!

I saw David Byrne perform “Call Me Al” with Paul Simon a few years ago at BAM.  So glad that they had an encore performance.  Graceland is where Talking Heads and Paul Simon’s aesthetic meet!  When David Byrne sings “Call Me Al” it’s amazing how much is sounds like a lost track from “Naked”.

Now this is a David Byrne cover I can get behind.

David Byrne: You Can Call Me Al (via victoriawesome)

I am sorry, but this cover is god awful.

saraphrase:

yourkitchensink:

David Byrne - Crazy In Love

I was at this show that David Byrne did with Arcade Fire at the Hollywood Bowl in 2005.  I’ve spent the past 5 years searching the internet to find this cover.  Last night I finally found it.  Enjoy.

postpunk:

bradelterman:

I shot tons of concerts, but I never really found it all that stimulating. Record companies would hire me, but my heart was not all that into it. How creative can you be taking a photo of some guy with a guitar in his hand? This photograph of David Bryne takes exception. I knew that when I saw Talking Heads at UCLA in 1978 that this was a very special moment. It was a stunning late summer afternoon with perfect light and of course the band was cosmic. You can feel it in the photo. Is there something so cool and California in this photo or is it my dream?

Photo by Brad Elterman

ride, rise, roar

New David Byrne concert documentary.  Great to have a record of one of last year’s highlights.