I kinda forgot about my Talking Heads round up, so let's bring it back and finish it off, starting here...
My favourite period of Talking Heads is the Stop Making Sense era. Not only is that my favourite of their albums, it's also one of the best films of all time. I must have seen it 12 times at least. So I guess it makes sense that the album recorded at that time is my favourite of all their studio albums. It's often overlooked, although for good reasons. It isn't produced by Brian Eno, it doesn't have Psycho Killer or Once In Lifetime on it and it was recorded in the eighties when everyone thinks of them as the quintessential New York seventies group. However it possesses possibly the finest opening quartet of songs in all of rock (Burning Down The House, Making Flippy Floppy, Girlfriend Is Better, Slippery People) and the finest song David Byrne ever wrote (This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)). It a perfectly realised balance between pop, punk, funk and afrobeat, one which neither they or anyone else has bettered.
Here are my favourite tracks from February's blog pillage:
Sebastien Tellier's new album, Sexuality, is a splendid collection of breathy French housey pop, with production by Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk. It's not as full on as you would expect from that association, referencing more Daft Punk's love of 70's AM rock, as previously heard on Digital Love. It sounds like the kind of music that fellow Frenches Air and Phoenix attempted (and failed, in my humble opinion) to capture. Here's my favourite track, Divine, which reminds of a The The hit from the eighties which I can't remember the name of.
Free Blood features John Pugh, a former !!!-ster, and that's all I needed to know to investigate any further. They do not disappoint, as the video below shows:
Here's a track I shuffled across. I grabbed it a few of months ago, and should have put it up here before. I don't know anything about Findlay Brown, but the remix is by Beyond The Wizards Sleeve, who are Erol Alkan and Richard Norris, formerly of the Grid. This is the remix for people who don't like remixes, as BTWS gives the two DJ's the opportunity to showcase their love of psychedelia, Nuggets style garage rock, soundtracks and other oddities. It's one of the best remixes of the last year, and unlike anything else around. It also really reminds of something, but I can't figure out what. Any suggestions would be welcome.
And in other news, DFA records is the best. But they also don't like mp3 blogs very much, so you can go elsewhere to acquire the ace new LCD Soundsystem track, the tremendous new Juan Maclean single Happy House, and the fine new Hercules and Love Affair album.
For those of you who are Facebook inclined, I have set up a group for you to join if you wish. I'm not exactly sure why, possibly it's just to mention the group sleeveface, which is genius and provided me with astonishing image above.
March 7th is the day of the Marines, and of global prayer.
There used to be a really good second hand vinyl shop in Ruislip, north west London, called Sellanby (do you see what they did there?) that I frequented often, as it had loads of classic records for really good prices. I distinctly remember returning home from one successful trip with three records, Devo's Are We Not Men? We Are Devo, David Bowie's Heroes and Talking Heads Fear Of Music. It was only when I was pouring over the sleeves that I realised that the all three of these records were produced by Brian Eno. In my early to mid-twenties, when I really did my homework and discovered the music that I love the most, he was always there, at every turn. Glam rock, check, punk rock, check, new wave, check, experimental music, check, krautrock, check...
The thing with writing about Brian Eno is that it's really daunting. His discography is so vast and all-encompassing, it's impossible to know where to begin. Do I talk about his rock albums, ambient works, Roxy Music albums (they were never the same after he left), production, or even his installations, motivational speeches, journalism, political roles or 'obliquestrategies.'
I think it's best to leave all that aside, and let you investigate for yourself, if you haven't already. Suffice it to say, I know that my taste in music would be much poorer if it wasn't for him.
I kinda forgot about my Talking Heads round up, so let's bring it back and finish it off, starting here...
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