DAVID BYRNE
GROWN BACKWARDS
Following his recent virtuoso effort at the National Concert Hall, I felt compelled to root through my music collection and dig out Grown Backwards. Recorded in 2004 at various locations in the US and the UK on the pioneering Nonesuch label, this album epitomises what David Byrne has evolved into since his Talking Heads days. It mixes the quirky (almost definitely an insulting term to use about the music of a genius like Byrne) with the classical.
The arrangement of each song is impeccable; you get the feeling that he spends three times longer arranging a piece of music than most artists do. With so many unique songs on one record, it’s an album to listen to from start to finish. His re-working of music by Verdi and Bizet is both brilliant and brave. The latter’s ‘Pearl Fishers Duet,’ featuring Rufus Wainwright, is a fantastic modern interpretation of one of the most beautiful pieces of classical music ever written.
Still, for me the favourite is the opening track, ‘Glass, Concrete and Stone.’ Given that this is a man who is the musical icon of most architects, writing a song like that is a definite case of knowing your audience.
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