Author Topic: Holy Sh!t the Talking Heads... (Read 161 times)

glocke · « **on:** March 28, 2011, 03:42:04 PM »

Wow...I've always liked this band, but really was only ever exposed to their studio material. I also had no idea Adrian Belew (whom Im a big fan of) played with them.

Spent most of Sunday watching these clips on youtube...what an energetic, fun band. This show looks like it was quite the party.

Cities: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51IZG6Ryeis&feature=player_embedded#at=137

Crosseyed and painless:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g8lFmsCXhg&feature=related

I zimbra:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-MekqMi9tk

What an amazing band....

poor_nigel · « **Reply #1 on:** March 28, 2011, 05:04:37 PM »

Checkin em out! Wow, I really like this stuff. Hofner bass? First one like that I have seen on stage. OK. Thanks!

hydrargyrum · « **Reply #2 on:** March 28, 2011, 06:24:49 PM »

I'm a huge talking heads fan, or more specifically, a huge David Byrne fan. If you've never seen the Stop Making Sense movie (directed by Johnathan Demme of Silence of the Lambs fame), then you owe it to yourself to check it out. The David Byrne film Live at Union Chapel is also superb.

/As separate as the fingers, Suddenly - as one - as the hand

tncaveman · « **Reply #3 on:** March 28, 2011, 08:36:07 PM »

Their double live album is their best - the old 4 piece band with the large band and Adrian - awesome stuff. The CD version has several more songs than the LP version (2 different Psycho Killers!). I saw them live the year after Adrian left the band. My favorite CD to drum to for sure.

BTW - Adrian lives about 3 miles from us. I see him out with the kids a couple of times a year. Great player and a nice guy too.

Stephen

terryc · « **Reply #4 on:** March 29, 2011, 08:06:44 AM »

Listen to King Crimson from the Discipline album onwards...the Byrne influenced vocals are very apparent and the guitar playing is outrageous..Elephant Talk must be the weirdest guitar sound of that era.
That lineup is a far cry from the post psychadelic era of the 60's and free jamming/complexity of the 70's.
Mind you it got more complex in the 90's as well with Trey Gunn & Pat Mastelotto!!!

David Houck · « **Reply #5 on:** March 29, 2011, 06:27:01 PM »

Thanks Greg; brings back some memories.

peoplechipper · « **Reply #6 on:** March 30, 2011, 12:23:39 AM »

I forgot how good Talking Heads were; been awhile since I listened, and David Byrne solo hasn't been as good(except maybe with Eno...) sometimes you need those people around you to put the right frame around it...Tony

hydrargyrum · « **Reply #7 on:** March 30, 2011, 06:43:32 AM »

Personally I don't like the Brian Eno collaborations as well as Byrne's solo stuff. And frankly, as good as the Talking Heads were, there was some pretty darn mediocre bass playing going on. I'm not into Tom Tom Club at all, as far as some of the other member's post-Heads work is concerned. Byrne often reworks Talking Heads material, and the only place I think it suffers is the lack of some of the backing vocalists. But hey, different strokes for different folks (that's why there's pepsi, sprite, and coke). Check out Grown Backwards for an example of what I consider to be a top notch solo Byrne album.

peoplechipper · « **Reply #8 on:** March 30, 2011, 11:41:14 PM »

I'll have to check out that album...I know what you mean about the bass playing...sometimes an artist just needs to have limits on them to do their work;working with certain bandmates, a certain subject, whatever...breaks the tyranny of the blank page...I remember a Brazilian friend absolutely HATING rei Momo his brazilian music album, claiming he didn't have a clue about good Brazilian music, calling him a tourist at best(actually, I really can't print it here...) anyway, limits are good; my canvas is this big, I have these colours and I have to finish before the fall harvest...or something...
Tony

hydrargyrum · « **Reply #9 on:** March 31, 2011, 02:59:55 AM »

I have Rei Momo, and I would agree that it is not his best work. I do have to give him credit for trying something different though.

hydrargyrum · « **Reply #10 on:** March 31, 2011, 04:04:22 AM »

Here's Lazy from Live at Union Chapel. It's got some great bass playing (well, as a guitar player I think it's great anyway). This song never fails to get my three year old dancing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNchGnSKaPg

glocke · « **Reply #11 on:** March 31, 2011, 04:26:18 AM »

as good as the Talking Heads were, there was some pretty darn mediocre bass playing

I was thinking the same thing. Overall their music really is not very challenging from a technical standpoint (Belew excluded), but they more than make up for that in terms of presentation and energy, which at the end of the day is what things really come down to.

I've seen alot of bands play that are full of chops and technique, but oftentimes I was left more or less bored. As good as some of these bands were they just did not have alot of energy. Bottom line for me is I want to go see a band and get entertained have fun, it is not all about chops in my book.

(Message edited by glocke on March 31, 2011)

hydrargyrum · « **Reply #12 on:** March 31, 2011, 06:16:32 AM »

I couldn't agree more. I would much rather listen to a loud nasty punk set, than sit through five minutes of milquetoast jazz fusion (no offense to those who like jazz fusion). However, I would once again point to Live at Union Chapel as an example of Talking Heads music that was reworked by a far superior bass player. Even the simplest of lines seem to have more energy. But I'm willing to concede that it may be just a matter of my personal taste.

Oh, and I would add that while it isn't particularly over the top, David Byrne himself is one heck of a guitar player in an often subtle way.

(Message edited by hydrargyrum on March 31, 2011)

hifiguy · « **Reply #13 on:** April 01, 2011, 09:01:28 AM »

There is NO better free-form guitar freakout than Adrian Belew going nuts through only-Eno-knows-what devices at the end of The Great Curve from Remain in Light.

And the Stop Making Sense film is indeed fab.