There are few more storied collaborations left to whisper of legend than those of David Byrne and Brian Eno. My Life In The Bush With Ghosts was spectacularly niche’d, and, today, an entirely unexpected another LP of “electronic gospel” fell from the heavens to earth.
Everything That Happens Will Happen Today is still playing itself out in my iTunes, a completely independent (so HUSH) release from two absolute geniuses…ok, one utter musical genius mastermind and one African percussion usurper formerly in possession of a brilliant yelp of tension long before Thom Yorke’s.
The songs on Everything That Happens, regardless of how timeless the two contributing forces may be, sound aged and weary, like two fathers on a playground exchanging war stories. That’s not to say there isn’t soft and subtle beauty here-there is, but it’s the same calming effect found in a Crate & Barrell lavendar-scented candle: you don’t want to love it, because you know the frowned-upon WASPness it indicates.
The opening of Everything That Happens also happens to be the mission statement of everything within: looping, soft ambiance accompanied by what can only be described as Byrne’s new-wave croon, both setting themselves up for an attempt at “healing music”. This is pretty atmosphere, but time will reveal what else it becomes.
David Byrne: I Wanna Dance With Somebody
Any internet music thief aficionado worth his or her salt remembers when this started making the rounds-a percussioned-out, loved-up croon-Byrne (as opposed to “yelp-Byrne”) cover of one of Whitney Houston’s first hits. There’s something about the intro to this, as Bette Noire pointed out, that makes it appear as though it’s setting itself up to be the theme song to…something. To 2 dads, just rockin’ it gently in Two Thousand and Eight? Possibly, but this is still the catchiest thing you’ll hear all day.
