Customer Reviews

My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I will admit it--when I first heard this album, I couldn't help but wonder exactly what I'd got myself into, or even whether I was going to like the thing. It sure had some neat stuff, that I could tell, but other things were very quirky, highly unusual, and perhaps a bit dated on the first hearing. But over time, I came to appreciate this album, and now I rate it quite highly indeed. I initially heard of it thanks to a recommendation by Pink Floyd's keyboardist Richard Wright, in a 1996 interview given to Record Collector Magazine.
Mr. Wright (who incidentally also thinks highly of Remain in Light) describes his first reaction to the album, presumably on its initial release: "This knocked me sideways when I first heard it--full of drum loops, samples and soundscapes, stuff that we really take for granted now, but which was unheard of in all but the most progressive musical circles at the time." That's really the key to getting used to this album--remembering that these were the first ventures into things we now consider ordinary. In a certain way, the roughness of parts of it gives it a unique sound that sets it far apart from the overpolished works of today. That is not to say this is *sloppy* in any way--the best was done with the technology that existed then, and for that I respect David Byrne and Brian Eno.

"There's a song called The Jezebel Spirit where there's a snippet of a preacher and the way the sounds were mixed in was so fresh it was amazing," Mr. Wright comments on a track that seems to get good reviews from most people. While I admit the track is well put together, there are times when I skip it because it can be quite unnerving! If you ask me, that exorcist sounds much more evil at times than the supposed demon he is trying to remove! I'm afraid I can't see why some reviewers are calling this track optimistic. Probably, in addition to "The Jezebel Spirit", my least listened-to track on this album is "Moonlight in Glory". However, over time, I have actually come to appreciate it even if it's not a favorite; this is why I no longer feel any heartburn with giving a full 5-star rating.

In my opinion, the three strongest tracks are the ones that draw from Middle Eastern sources for their vocals. Each of them, including the painfully short "A Secret Life", I wish had been longer! My two favorites were those with vocals sampled from Lebanese mountain singer Dunya Yusin: "The Carrier" and "Regiment". I must also point out the excellent guitar work in "Regiment", which seems to me like a precursor to the similarly enjoyable work in Speaking in Tongues' "Making Flippy-Floppy". I also noticed what seemed to be almost a sort of commentary by David Byrne upon politicians and televangelists (the latter are not slams on religion, in my opinion--rather, the *popularization* of it); the way sound clips are used seem to make both groups look a bit ridiculous at times. For instance, "Mea Culpa's" juxtaposition of the babbling politician's weasling out of whatever he did with David Byrne's listless "blah blah blah blah" makes just as much of a statement as if he'd written lyrics of that nature and sang them. I also notice that in the song "Come With Us", he makes the evangelist sound rather like some freaky cultist, which in my opinion sometimes becomes the case when the evangelist focuses upon creation of a personality cult rather than a religious organization. There are other examples than just these two, however.

Overall, I think this is a very worthwhile album if you're willing to put forth the effort that may be needed to adjust to it.

there was an earlier version with the track "Qu'ran" on it, but they had to cut it from later editions due to political/PR pressures.

this is one of the very best Brian Eno albums, an artist whose best works tend to be collaborations anyway (i.e, Bowie, Talking Heads, etc.). an early (though not first) example of certain types of sampling (vocal) mixed with live instruments and loops. david byrne (talking heads) apparently played most of the wide variety of acoustic instruments used to make the sounds that weren't sampled off the radio or an old record. such sound sources reportedly included a pot, a spoon, a box, and other unusual items (no doubt "treated" or manipulated somehow by Eno to sound totally different). the sampled voices are great, including berkley radio personality Charles Amirkhanian, some famous female arabic singer (sorry, forgot who ;), a great gospel preacher, and various other radio personalities.

Byrne and Eno work very well together on this album to balance out each others worst tendencies and enhance their better ones, imho. this could very well be the best album released by both of these very prolific artists-both of whom have released a lot of great albums.

This Dutch import is available domestically for a lot less than $21. I picked it up new at my local record store for $13. Do a little searching off-site, I'm sure you can find it for less.

An absolutely amazing, seminal piece of sample-based composition, full of voices from fire-and-brimstone preachers to contrite politicians to disturbing exorcisms. All this is layered into a bed of funk and world-beat polyrhythms that is astonishing to behold.

Un bijou! Une fusion techno-ambiant largement en avance sur son temps. L'exploration des possibilités du "sampling" par Byrne-Eno est prodigieuse et sert l'oeuvre, non pas comme simple artifice, mais comme véritable instrument de base...

If you find yourself troubled by this music, I think I can explain why while showing you why I love it.

Long before I had ever heard of Tod Dokstader, Wm S Burroughs and Brion Gysin, "Tomorrow Never Knows," Pink Floyd, Byrne and Eno *My Life* album, post-*Bone-Machine* Tom Waits, Negativeland (did I leave out any of the classic hand-samplers or cut-up artists?), or any number of today's computer-age sampling artists, I had spent many a weekend absorbed in this or that sound project -- at first, to play for the kids at school and later to play at *those* parties. I'd grab my 2-head Sony (R-R tape recorder) and smuggle my Dad's 3-head Sony and lay the whole thing out on my workbench. Then I'd close my eyes, grab an old record or reel of tape from Dad's by-then-unused collection, and listen and cut and splice and listen and splice again and ping-pong this and listen and loop and adjust and then re-listen. And on and on. Actually (I'm giving away my age), I was first inspired by the Beatles's "Revolution 9" at about the age of 11 or 12. To me, this meant that my failures at trying to master any number of musical instruments would no longer prevent me from making music. Mom and Dad won't like it, to be sure, and it'll never make the charts, but what the hell? This is why Pink Floyd was a natch for me. This is why this Byrne and Eno album "feels like home" to me.

The best part is that all this stuff was hand done with a splicing block, variable speed drives, echo machine loops, and such. While I can appreciate the power that my computer brings to the craft (Adobe Audition: what a concept), I'm the one who must have full control over each splice. To create an algorithm and run a clip through it is fine, but that cannot compare with the sense of accomplishment I feel when rubbing my nails across the callouses on my fingertips while I listen to my latest concoction.

I promised to explain why some don't like this music. It's not the technique but the fact that you cannot put new wine into old wine skins. In other words, you cannot play traditional music on a newly invented musical instrument. In 1961, Tod Dokstader pointed out (while discussing attempts to play classical music on the Theramin and the musical saw) that when you invent a new instrument (or even just a new method for creating musical and rhythmical sound), you can't use these methods or instruments for playing traditional music. You must invent new music to go along with the new instruments. This is the *only* reason anybody needs to have trouble with this music. The solution, of course, is to bring forward-thinking musicians and composers such as David Byrne and Robert Fripp into the mix.

At the first listen i was quite flabbergasted, this is definetely NOT commercial music, it takes a few listens to fully appreciate first the immersive soundscapes courtesy of Eno and also the very good percussions, this album is 23 years old but is still of actuality, that is what genuine creativity means althought in my opinion not a classic like "Remain in Light" it is still a must for David Byrne fans, if you have a home theather system with "5 channel stereo" option listen to the track "Very Very Hungry" it will blow your mind!!!!