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David Byrne & Brian Eno

Everything That Happens Will Happen Today

Julie Seabaugh

Thu, Aug 21, 2008 (midnight)

The ’70s and ’80s saw Talking Heads perennially atop both critical and commercial lists, flying the new-wave flag with jittery, globally conscious pop that captured the heady times like few others. The DIY aesthetic that once allowed David Byrne & Co. to transcend their beloved CBGB now returns in force, as Byrne and longtime Heads producer (and My Life in the Bush of Ghosts collaborator) Brian Eno self-release a collection of modern tunes intended for a digital age (and currently available for free stream and digital or physical purchase through everythingthathappens.com).

More

Beyond the Weekly
David Byrne
Brian Eno
David Byrne on Billboard.com
Brian Eno on Billboard.com

Eno’s contributions—uplifting, beautifully orchestrated arrangements as eclectic as anything on Remain in Light—make a deliberate statement: There’s nothing wrong with technology, information and instant gratification, but they should allow for stopping, sitting back and taking the occasional breather. The loping, nearly ecclesiastical “The River,” “One Fine Day” and “Everything That Happens” evoke humid summers spent on front porches; “I Feel My Stuff” and “Poor Boy,” meanwhile, are equal parts electro-stutter and slink. For his part, Byrne tones down the dead-serious whimsy long characteristic of his lyrics and vocals even as he name-checks generational touchstones from Sam Cooke to baby daddies.

It’s not entirely new territory for the two men, but their tastes have become decidedly more refined over the decades. Far more enigmatic than a closet-full of giant suits lingers the mystery of how artists so indelibly of-the-day age so timelessly.

The bottom line: ****

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