8th October - Talking Heads' Remain in Light

Artist – Album: Talking Heads – Remain in Light

Released: 8^th October 1980

Sounds Like: Well, how did I get here?

Talking Heads were once known as a punk band. Admittedly, they were associated with the much more melodic and aptitude-based New York punk scene, rather than the gob in your face, can’t-play-their-own-instruments UK punk scene, but it’s startling nonetheless. In three short years since 1977 (a.k.a the dawn of punk) Talking Heads had morphed into a wildly inventive art rock collective, and their creativity reached an apex with 1980’s Remain in Light. The three chord simplicity of the Ramones’ debut it is not.

The Heads had found themselves obsessed with Afrobeat – particularly the stylings of the king of Afrobeat, Fela Kuti – and endeavoured to replicate the sound of their polyrhythms, fed through a Brian Eno produced filter. Guitars that don’t always sound like guitars are layered over the top of each other, and frequently season the album with random quirks. Husband and wife rhythm section Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth are typically prominent, supplementing their elastic playing with the frenetic beats synonymous with both Africa and their new home in the Caribbean. On top of it all, David Byrne spins wildly, churning out disparate disconnected images and struggling in vain to keep it all together.

It’s hard to pick individual moments from the dense, almost uniform body of the album, with one exception: the stunning ‘Once in a Lifetime’, with Byrne stealing the show as a preacher/marionette. The song, and album that went with it, is a fascinatingly singular effort from a band breaking far beyond the confines of the restrictive punk scene and with all members right at the top of their game. Once in a lifetime stuff indeed.

Albumaday... rating: 9/10

1.       Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On) – 5:49

2.       Crosseyed and Painless – 4:48

3.       The Great Curve – 6:28

4.       Once in a Lifetime – 4:23

5.       Houses in Motion – 4:33

6.       Seen and Not Seen – 3:25

7.       Listening Wind – 4:43

8.       The Overload – 6:02

Listen to ‘Once in a Lifetime’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98AJUj-qxHI

Also released on 8^th October:

1980: Prince – Dirty Mind

Also released on 8^th October:

1971: John Lennon - Imagine

Also released on 8^th October:

2001: Royksopp – Melody A.M.

31st May - Talking Heads' Speaking in Tongues

Artist – Album: Talking Heads – Speaking In Tongues

Released:  31^st May 1983

Sounds Like: Funky!

Talking Heads never were ones for sitting still. After releasing  1977’s stunning debut album Talking Heads: 77, the group rethought its art punk sound and teamed up with Brian Eno to produce More Songs About Buildings and Food, a much more varied album with elements of funk, pop, country and reggae along with the American punk vibe. Fear of Music followed in 1979 and brought with a newfound danceability (in a certain sense, this ain’t no disco) and, by 1980, they’d taken on the dance thing whole hog and combined it with afrobeat influences to create Remain in Light. Throw in spin off group The Tom Tom Club’s self titled 1981 release and it’s quite a journey to have taken in a short space of time for the New Yorkers.

After taking a brief break, the band reconvened to reassume their amorphous state, and, in 1983, they released an album that it’s impossible for one to sit still to. Speaking in Tongues is possibly their funkiest release and it also stood as their commercial breakthrough, boasting amongst its ranks the opener and big hit ‘Burning Down the House’. Although not quite as good as Tom Jones and the Cardigans shiny cover (I’m joking), that track sets the bar high and yet the quality on the rest of the record rarely slackens.

‘Making Flippy Floppy’ is groovy and nonsensical, whilst the gospel tinged ‘Slippery People’ is captivating. Hidden away right at the end is ‘This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)’, a playful love song with the charming goofiness that its naive title would suggest, and actually, very discreetly, one of the best songs to come out of the dirge of a decade that was the eighties. At times the rest of the album can be a little unmemorable, but in the moment it all sounds great and it stands as strong continuation of the Talking Heads rich run of impressive albums.

Albumaday... rating: 7/10

1.       Burning Down the House – 4:00

2.       Making Flippy Floppy – 4:36

3.       Girlfriend Is Better – 4:25

4.       Slippery People – 3:30

5.       I Get Wild/Wild Gravity – 4:06

6.       Swamp – 5:09

7.       Moon Rocks – 5:04

8.       Pull Up the Roots – 5:08

9.       This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) – 4:56

Listen to ‘This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMawfL1lE4k