OK, so just about everyone with a blog or a podcast or a coffee can telephone to yell into has weighed in on their picks for album of the year.

For your standard latte-sipping, NPR totebag-carrying music geek (like me), the consensus picks usually include Animal Collective, the Avett Brothers, Neko Case, and the Decemberists. Nothing wrong with any of those bands, but you can find better writeups elsewhere.

So this Monkey won’t bore you with another list of the same names. Here instead are five songs that made a memorable impact this year that you might not see on other top 10 lists.

(Also, maybe some of these songs technically came out in 2008, but maybe your Monkey didn’t hear them until 2009, and maybe he doesn’t want to hear any corrections, so let’s not nitpick, OK?)

1. Great Expectations by the Gaslight Anthem: Melodic, sentimental and anthemic pop punk. Good band.
2. Oh My God by Ida Maria: More high energy stuff in the pop punk vein. You won’t find a more refreshing blast of music this year.
3. How You Like Me Now by The Heavy. This English band blends elements of Curtis Mayfield, James Brown, and Screaming Jay Hawkins into an awesome mashup of funk, rock and soul. This song proves that last year’s breakout single Colleen was no fluke.
4. The Great Defector by Bell X1: An Irish band writes an unapologetically catchy tune that sounds a lot like the Talking Heads, but that’s OK. U will like.
5. Strange Overtones by David Byrne and Brian Eno. Speaking of the Talking Heads, their former lead singer wows with this super danceable tune. Finally, middle aged white guys have some soul!

Here is the James Brown-ified “The Heavy” at their best.

Hmm…maybe, any day now, I’ll post something besides a Song of the Day.  Still getting used to this blog thing, I suppose, and switching over to WordPress from stupididiotfacenon-functionalaudioplayer Tumblr.  This is “Strange Overtones”, from last year’s Byrne/Eno collaboration Everything That Happens Will Happen Today.  It’s just………….a really good song.  Yeah.

Hace MUCHO que no posteaba una canción, queda ad-hoc para EGT de esta semana, pero no, hay mas para eso. Me encanta esta canción, mucho, me pone de buenas; me encanta la frase “I see the music in your face, that your words cannot explain” me hace pensar, me hace tripear, en la música que nuestro rostro toca en cada momento del día y de la vida… ¡Ahí me dicen que les pareció!

I wake up every morning
I hear your feet on the stairs
You’re in the next apartment
I hear you singing over there

This groove is out of fashion
These beats are 20 years old
I saw you lend a hand to
The ones out standing in the cold

Strange Overtones in the music you are playing
I’ll harmonize
It is strong and you are tough
But a heart is not enough

Put on your socks and mittens
It’s getting colder tonight
A snowball in my kitchen
I watched it melt before my eyes

Your song still needs a chorus
I know you’ll figure it out
The rising of the verses
A change of key will let you out

Strange overtones though they’re slightly out of fashion
I’ll harmonize
I see the music in your face
That your words cannot explain

Strange Overtones in the music you are playing
We’re not alone
It is strong and you are tough
But a heart is not enough

david byrne claims to hv recovered from asperger’s… ?????? …

here is a quote from the article by andrew purcell in the guardian, 2007 – click here for the link.

“For three years, Byrne has been keeping a journal on his website, by turns revealing and thought-provoking, always with more questions than answers. “I was a peculiar young man,” he wrote last April. “Borderline Asperger’s, I guess.”

“I’d only heard of Asperger’s a few years ago,” Byrne says now, “when a group out of Stanford proposed a spectrum that goes from autism to Asperger’s to sort-of-good-at-math. I thought, ‘Wow, I see a lot of myself in that.’ Not that I was good at math, but I could be very focused on certain projects, and painfully shy – although I’d get up on stage, and then be incredibly shy the minute I stepped off.

“And it fits that at some point, after a couple of decades, it wears off. I thought that the bits of therapy I’ve had, and making an effort to be more social, really paid off, but it could just be that it wears off by itself.”

There is a small paper sign stuck to the door of Byrne’s studio. The writing is childish and the sentiment anti-social: “Do not enter my personal space, you are not welcome since your presence interferes with my lifestyle and gives me a headache.” “

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

another one bites da dust… but its ok i am getting used to heroes with clay feet… all my heroes are totally hopelessly dumbasses – like me… so i guess i am my own hero too in a way… yeah… well back to david byrne… one of the coolest lyricists / poets in modern pop culture… music is ok but the best part of the david byrne experience for me are the lyrics… quirky, penetrating, somnambulistic but so sharply awake, a lyrical genius… i adore him yeah…

but reading his interview claiming he’d RECOVERED from asperger’s thru his turning to music – i felt a small stream of disappointment slithering inside me… so this is how other people will see asperger’s from now on… something we can ‘recover’ from if we are brave or determined enough?????… next we will hv some ‘recovered aspergiac’ claiming that asperger’s is nothing but a figment of imagination?

hey, i do agree aspergiacs should NOT use this as an excuse for not living life to the fullest as responsible, contributing individuals within the spheres they happen to exist in… no handicap or difference shd be used as an excuse in any case… but gosh, intelligent talented people often say very stupid irresponsible things… and this is one of them dastardly instances… i have a lot to say on these clay feet of this hero of mine, but i am also left exhausted and speechless… and he has left a bitter metallic taste in my mouth for sure… how can i listen to his brilliant songs with the same exhilaration ever again now?

the note stuck on his door reads like a slap in his ignorant face – “Do not enter my personal space, you are not welcome since your presence interferes with my lifestyle and gives me a headache.” – are these the words of a ‘recovered aspergiac’???? for god’s sake !!!!!!!!

dear david, do u think ur lyrics and edginess wld still be there if u truly ‘recovered’ from ur aspergiac tendencies? hmmmmm…. but i love u anyway… 

(yet another) hero with clay feet… but still a hero nonetheless… i am faithful and loyal to all my clay footed heroes… but i am sad… very very sad… 

but anyhooooo… a recent favorite of mine: Brian Eno & David Byrne – Strange Overtones… enjoy and TRY not to think abt his stupid dumbass statement i guess !!!

Wat de voorzitter betreft is dit hét nummer van 2008. Strange Overtones door David Byrne en Brian Eno. Eerder besteedden we al aandacht aan Dhr. Byrne, een allround kunstenaar, hij is ook thuis in de productontwikkeling en de autonome kunsten.

Dit nummer van het samenwerkingsproject Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, is vooral een vrolijk nummer met een pakkend refrein (zet het volume van uw stereo/pc open!). In deze sombere tijden loont het om de dag met zo’n eenvoudig liedje te beginnen, i.p.v. de gebruikelijke cocktail aan pillen!

(Afbeelding: www.bloodypop.wordpress.com/)

all rights reserved, the hour, flickr.com

I can remember being younger, and swearing I would be a rocker one day. The lead singer of a giant rock band. I forgot a major part in joining a rock band was learning an instrument. Well, I had an electric guitar, I just never bothered to finish learning how chords work. I blame it on my small hands. So I decided to pursue a career with my other passion, art.

I was playing the game of Life with some friends, I picked the career card of an artist. Unlike real life, this career came with a salary of $100,000. I decided I must be a celebrity artist, like David Byrne (above). He has been popular on the alternative music scene since the 80s for being the lead man of the Talking Heads. Since he spent all that money going to one of the finest art schools, RISD, he’s managed to pursue his career as an artist as well. This September, I first heard the new collaborative album between David Byrne and Brian Eno, titled Everything that Happens will Happen Today. It was the melody of the single, Strange Overtones, I couldn’t get out of my head. When I got the album, I really liked the cover art and type treatment. I was not suprised album art master Stephen Sagmeister was responsible.

I still have a hard time getting the song out of my head once it’s there. I then read on another blog, David Byrne had designed temporary installations of bike racks around New York City. You don’t often hear about people becoming famous, and then successfully pursuing art or design. Allow me to point out all the horrible celebrity fashion designers out there. Or perhaps the famous people who most certainly have nothing to do with their design line, or perhaps too much to do with the design, other than their name being plastered on everything. There’s even the famous people who decide they can create music.

Now I’m not saying since you have plenty of money you shouldn’t produce an album. Go for it! But perhaps maybe you should produce a band or an artist who’s been working on their masterpiece for 10 years plus. I’m not an artistic genius, but I’m willing to bet that studio album you cut in six months is about as good an idea as Paris Hilton opening her mouth to speak, much less sing.

David Byrne references pop up everywhere. It’s because over the years, his following has placed enormous trust in what he finds interesting, and assume it will probably pique their interest. I was passed along a link for a great list of the Best/Worst Design in 2008. If you don’t frequent Under Consideration yet, you will now. The 826 Pirate Store front was acknowledged by Byrne as “definitely one of the top five pirate stores.” I think it looks pretty awesome, but I’m partial to pirates and booty. It’s not just that Byrne takes interest in what’s cool, but what’s cool really like him. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, MGMT is one of the best bands to gain a serious following in 2008, comparable to Justice in 2007. They have covered Talking Heads This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody). There have been many awesome covers of Talking Heads songs over the years, as well as art attached to the albums.

I’ve heard if you want to be successful, you should model yourself after successful people you would like to embody. Fortunately for me and my dream of achieving a multi-faceted career, I have looked to David Byrne for inspiration. With the advent of blogging, I can now follow David Byrne’s thought process with ease!

-posted by samsquared

If I were putting together a list of the year’s best concerts in the Tampa Bay area, David Byrne’s show at Tampa Theatre would land somewhere near the top.

My review of the Dec. 12 show is now available at jambands.com, or read the full text below (photo courtesy of Byrne’s site):
David Byrne, Tampa Theatre, Tampa, FL- 12/12
Philip Booth
2008-12-22 Given his background as a visual artist and inveterate, relentlessly curious cultural explorer, it’s hardly a surprise that David Byrne concocts an intriguing new concept for each of his recording projects and tours — here an oversized Latin band, there a small combo with a vibraphonist.

Byrne’s latest tour, in support of this year’s Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, his first collaboration will Brian Eno in nearly 30 years, is no exception, as the former Talking Heads leader demonstrated on a return trip to Tampa Theatre, a beautifully appointed 1926 art deco movie palace that doubles as an intimate concert venue.

This time, Byrne was joined by keyboardist/programmer Mark De Gli Antoni, bassist Paul Frazier, drummer Graham Hawthorne, and percussionist Mauro Refosco plus back-up singers Kaissa, Redray Frazier and Jenni Muldaur, and a trio of hoofers. On many tunes, the vocalists and dancers, and sometimes Byrne, turned in a series of dance routines that were uniformly invigorating and creative, decidedly modern with nods to both theatrical and experimental influences.

The effect, with the entire troupe dressed in white and Byrne out front, topped with a shock of white hair, toting a Stratocaster, and putting body and soul into the performance, was mesmerizing. Cool detachment was out, and a warm sense of connection with the audience was in. Byrne even opened with a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor: “It’s a set menu,” he promised. “No substitutions. I’ll be your waiter. My name’s Dave.”

The music, an exuberantly played mix of songs from the new CD, several Talking Heads albums, and the 1981 Byrne/Eno collaboration My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, kicked off with the new “Strange Overtones,” all low-riding bass and percussion groove, and squiggly synthesizer lines erupting during the instrumental break. Heads tune “I Zimbra,” with the dancers making their entrance, jumping, clapping, twisting and kicking, was followed by the electric-acoustic guitars, loping beat and gospel-edged textures of “One Fine Day.” “Help Me Somebody” (from Ghosts), with its subdued funk and found sounds, led into a tune that prompted the first of several standing ovations — an invigorating performance of the Heads’ “Houses in Motion,” replete with invigorating call-and-response singing, deep, percolating grooves, keyboard-generated sound effects and another round of jaw-dropping dance moves by Lily Baldwin, Natalie Kuhn and Steven Reker.

Those first five tunes were followed by 15 more (including three encores). The group, to the obvious delight of an audience that quickly surrendered to the music’s summons to dance, offered plenty of Heads favorites — “Heaven,” with its open-wide chorus and five-part vocal harmonies; the irresistible gospel drive and exquisite tension and release of Al Green’s “Take Me to the River”; “Crosseyed and Painless,” all chunky funk, unison vocals and whammy-bar guitar; the hypnotic “Once in a Lifetime” and “Life During Wartime”; and, late in the show, an aptly incendiary workout on “Burning Down the House.”

The new material was compelling and well received, too, and, as if to prove a point, Byrne closed the concert with “Everything That Happens,” a lush, slow-moving ballad built on chiming, air-hanging guitars, the leader’s fragile, vulnerable sounding vocals and big, gospel-edged background vocals. “Everything that happens will happen today/and nothing has changed, but nothing’s the same,” he sang, perhaps suggesting a thing or two about his approach to music/performance — carefully and artfully designed but always marked by in-the-moment appeal and spontaneous musical eruptions.

Byrne, at this point, has nothing left to prove. Still, at 58, he continues to give every performance as if it were going to be the one that defined his career. Yet again, he has delivered one of the year’s most memorable pop tours.

“The first single, “Strange Overtones,” is classic meets current – the filtered synthesizers are in place, the funky layered beats are thumping, and the guitars are screaming… when these guys get together it’s the culmination of two of the world’s most consistent and important innovators – “Strange Overtones” is hopefully only the beginning.”
Read more at Prefixmag.com

Here is a song from David Byrne (Talking Heads) and Brian Eno’s album Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. You can go here to stream the album and get a free download. One of the things that I loved about the Talking Heads is that they were a little bit out of control. You never knew when a song would suddenly take a turn or when Byrne would start vocally flipping out like some kind of overexcited animal. Everything That Happens is much tamer, and a little more predictable.

David Byrne and Brian Eno – Strange Overtones

I heard this on my drive to work this morning and thought, “at least someone’s working on the perfect pop song.”  I wish I’d gone to see Byrne instead of N.E.R.D. at ACL.

I was excited when I heard that Brian Eno and David Byrne’s new album was described by themselves as “electronic gospel”, because that brought to mind Talking Heads’ Eno-produced cover of “Take Me To The River”, a brilliant moment on More Songs About Buildings and Food.  Well, it’s not really like that at all.  But I was still excited, because I love Brian Eno’s work, I love Talking Heads, and I love My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts, Eno and Byrne’s first collaboration.  Well, I still love that old stuff, but I am being tested by Everything That Happens Will Happen Today.  It’s strange that Brian Eno and David Byrne described their new album as “electronic gospel”, because the term “gospel” would imply a deep emotional connection to the music, something that’s not even apparent in the way Eno and Byrne albumed the album, communicating through email and Eno making the music with Byrne coming up with vocal melodies.  Sure, this was the way the Postal Service made their album, but that was a self-consciously disposable homage to New Wave, and it comes off rather well.  However, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today is supposed to be a BIG artistic statement (partly because Eno and Byrne have hyped it up, and partly because it follows the landmark My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts, Eno and Byrne’s first collaboration), but everything seems a little lightweight to make this album stick.  Especially the music, which makes it even more strange that Eno and Byrne would call the album “electronic gospel”.  “Electronic” would imply lots of weird sounds, especially since Eno did most of the music.  It’s not really like that either; the music was described by Byrne as “ominous”, but it’s ambient pop in the worst sense; instead of Sigur Ros-style dream pop, it’s music that can be ignored OR listened to with the same amount of impact on the listener; zilch.  This does not bode well for Brian Eno; how did he fall from making Here Come The Warm Jets, Taking Tiger Mountain, and Another Green World in a two year period to producing Paul Simon, Coldplay, and making this crap in the same amount of time?  I’m sorry, but I can’t really say anything else about this; any discussion of the songs beyond Strange Overtones (sadly, the best track on the album) would be restating the same thing; this album sucks.

: ))

Eigentlich wollte ich mich schon der Sonne, dem Wasser und der freien Natur hingeben,

aber  mein Netz-Zugang funktioniert mal ..

darum doch länger im ..

Beim surfen habe ich bei recyle diesen passenden Artikel entdeckt: everything that happens ..

Hier gibt es ein Video >>>

In den 80gern gehörte die Musik der Herren David Byrne und Brian Eno zu meiner bevorzugten.

Hier ist nun eine 9,8 MB große Hörprobe der neuen Arbeit.

strange-overtones mp3

Wird das auch hörbare Musik für das neue Jahrtausend?

I’ve never seen such a huge difference in the release date of the digital version of an album versus the release date of the physical package.

If you check out the David Byrne/Brian Eno site for their new album Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, you can purchase the digital songs – in MP3 or FLAC (lossless) – right now. However, if you want the physical CD, as well, you’ll have to wait until November 30. Seems like a long time, to me.

The other oddity is that for $69.99, you can order a specially-packaged CD with four extra songs and a video about the making of the album. Seems a bit steep. But if you look at it, I think you’re probably paying mostly for the packaging. So even though anyone who purchases it will be BUYING the four extra songs, they’ll be PAYING for the packaging.

Either way, I’ve made my way through the entire album, and it’s like Eno and Bynre never stopped collaborating. The songs are just as exploratory and rhythmic as My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. Makes me even that more excited to see David Byrne in Milwaukee this fall. I just wish Eno would have toured with him.

There’s an embeddable player on the site that I’m trying to up here, but so far, the WordPress tools are not proving to be up to the task. Until then, I strongly recommed checking out the website.

Tall Ship Challenge (Source: ASTA)

(28 minutes)

Download MP3: Messing About In Ships podcast episode 28

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Shownotes coming soon!

It’s always nice getting some sort of personal email, especially when it’s in the form of a musical reunion between David Byrne and Brian Eno. Well, “personal” isn’t quite the right word, but I certainly took the message as a sincere and direct one:

It’s with great pleasure we offer you a sneak peak by sharing an MP3 from the album. The song is called “Strange Overtones”.

The album in question is Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, and it’s the first collaboration from the two post-punk minds in decades. The duo last came together with the album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. However, that album was overshadowed (and probably will always be overshadowed) by Byrne’s main musical artery, Talking Heads. Yet, Eno was a central tenant to the Talking Head’s success, as his role in the producer’s seat for three of the Heads’ best albums (More Songs About Buildings and Food, Fear of Music, and Remain in Light) was as vital as any other performing member of the band. It was because of Eno’s previously-unforeseen creative control over the band – which according to the book Rip It Up And Start Again hit its tipping point when Eno and Byrne got writing credits for Remain in Light ahead of the other band members, who were simply written down under the umbrella of “Talking Heads” – that his relationship with the Talking Heads and Byrne deteriorated.

Talking Heads

It took me quite a bit of time to realize what an impact certain producers have over the final musical product. I always assumed that the final version of a song and album was simply a record of what the musicians themselves had originally created. And in many cases, that is true, especially in the world of underground music (and on the flipside, with mainstream, conglomerate pop, there’s the tendency wherein the “musicians” have less control over the final sound – or even the original sound to begin with). But as I became more interested in music, its with the “behind the music” stories so to speak, that I realized what a fundamental role producers play. The most famous stories I can think of involving the influence of a producer are all about Rick Rubin, the man who transformed the Beastie Boys into a fully-fledged hip-hop act and brought guitars and turntables together with his idea to do a Run-DMC/Aerosmith collaboration.

Rick Rubin

Rick Rubin is the kind of guy who blends a musician’s sound with his own distinct style. His style is not quite overbearing, but you can hear distinct patterns and ideas in songs such as Jay-Z’s “99 Problems”; with it’s big, chunky guitar riffs broken up by break-beats, its in the same ballpark as “No Sleep ‘Til Brooklyn” or “Walk This Way.” It’s something I tend to notice coming out of my favorite producer today – Danger Mouse. Despite the fact that DM works with a diverse number of genres and artists, there’s a certain reliance on futuristic-soul (a bit faster than old skool soul) with a twist that flows through most of his repertoire. Don’t believe it? Take a quick listen to the Black Keys‘ “Strange Times” and compare it to Gnarls Barkley’s “Go-Go Gadget Gospel.” They’re both excellent songs, but they share a pop-friendly downbeat and have the same hand-clap filled start.

Strange Times:

Go-Go Gadget Gospel:

It is partially due to production that emo transformed from an obtuse and ambiguous umbrella term for DC based post-hardcore, into a tangible genre. In its infancy, many of the bands who were tagged as “emo” simply produced their own records, or had friends produce their records. Everyone from Rites of Spring to Beefeater (note – their friend “Gumbo” MacKaye is said to have produced their overture) to Fugazi to Lungfish to Jawbox had band members working on both sides of the soundtrack. Hell, Happy Go Licky, the post-Rites of Spring group in a slightly different formation, only has one album, and its a collection of live recordings. The first wave of emo’s lack of a singular mode of production allowed for each act to create their own sounds uninhibited by any outside forces.

Happy Go Licky's Will Play

Enter the second wave of emo and there are noticeable changes and formulations drawn out that inevitably impact the future of the genre. The 2nd wave basically has two distinct halves: the spread of the DC-inspired sound to particular parts of the country in a small number of bands (Sunny Day Real Estate, Jawbreaker, etc), and then the immediate spreading of “emo” under the influence of the previous 1st and 2nd wave bands (most notably throughout the Mid West). Of all of the groups in emo 2.1, Sunny Day Real Estate had the most influence, and yet, they themselves have two distinct parts in which their sound developed due in part to the band’s relationship to two producers: Brad Wood and Lou Giordano. Wood produced the first two Sunny Day albums (Diary and LP2), and the production value brought out a certain aural dissonance derived from the feedback of the band’s dual guitar-work. Considering the band found an instant fan base (albeit, rather small) isn’t unbelievable as their produced sound shared numerous qualities with grunge, which was still popular at the time (Wood worked his alterna-sweeping grunge sound into the work of other artists such as Red Red Meat, Hum, and Smashing Pumpkins). And yet, on LP2 you could sense that the band wanted to achieve something more powerful than the immediate gratification of sonic blasts, as songs such as “J’Nuh” delved into succinct, taught patterns. When they reformed, Sunny Day grabbed Giordano, who helped relieve the band of its excess dissonance in favor of sparse melodies, a concept which has carried on into the band members’ post-Sunny Day work (The Fire Theft, Enigk’s solo work). Sunny Day held their own individual sound throughout their career, but with the help of two different folks created two distinct portraits.

Sunny Day's final form

As emo spread throughout the rest of America and bands began to share musical ideas, producers helped sift through the sounds to create something resembling a conglomerate creation. And the two people who had the most impact behind the bands themselves are Mark Trombino (former Drive Like Jehu drummer) and J Robbins (former Jawbox frontman). Trombino is best known for his production work with Jimmy Eat World, most notably on the album Clarity, a record which traded the band’s pop-punk leanings for ambient experimentation. Trombino’s relationship with Jimmy Eat World, Mineral, Knapsack, and Boys Life no doubt formed a core aesthetic for emo which mainly highlighted the band’s talents by simply teasing out the volume, focusing on the intertwined guitar flurries, and highlighting the singers’ vocals. It’s a style of down-tuned production that no-doubt has influenced countless pop-punk and emo bands today, many of whom Trombino has worked with.

J Robbins

As Trombino fiddled with certain bands’ sounds, J Robbins mostly covered the bases of bringing the bands to the studio. In the case of many J Robbins’ produced albums (most recently, his work on Ponytail’s Ice Cream Spiritual has gotten attention for bringing a notoriously hard-to-record-but-excellent-live band into the world of recorded sound), Robbins leaves much of the musicianship up to the band, but makes sure to twist the production knobs in a way that it gives each group the kind of pop-friendly gloss they were hoping to achieve. Even in the case of Texas Is The Reason (Do You Know Who You Are?), Robbins has been able to flesh out the noise-fetish in order to create approachable pop. In fact, Robbins’ work with one band in particular helped drive emo into the bubblegum chew of pop perfection: The Promise Ring. After TPR were upset with the sonic outcome of their debut, 30 Degrees Everywhere, they turned to Robbins for a little quality control. And that’s exactly what Robbins did, delivering the band’s two poppiest records; Nothing Feels Good and Very Emergency. It’s with Robbins that certain aspects of the emo “sound” manage to stand out, because he managed to make the sounds all stand out; rather than bands being lost in a caterwaul of noise, Robbins’ produced material (from the Dismemberment Plan to Jets to Brazil to Braid to mewithoutyou) sounds clear and conscience, making the band stand out. And in music production, that’s what counts.

Brian Eno and David Byrne – Strange Overtones (fan video):

More information on the story I broke right here on newtunes.com (after reading it in a few other places).

David Byrne is, indeed, touring this fall on the strength of Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, which comes out August 18th. Unfortunately, he will not be touring with Brian Eno, as originally reported.

Byrne will be playing songs from current and past Eno collaborations, which means music from three early Talking Heads albums and My Life In the Bush of Ghosts.

You can hear the first single from the album, “Strange Overtones,” by going to everythingthathappens.com and downloading it. There’s also a video from David Byrne introducing the album and tour.

Here’s the dates of the tour. Thankfully, he’ll be coming to the Pabst in Milwaukee. I’m hoping to catch him there and in San Francisco. It promises to be a great tour.

09-16 Bethlehem, PA – Zoellner Arts Center
09-17 Baltimore, MD – Lyric
09-18 Newport News, VA – Ferguson Center for the Arts
09-20 Atlanta, GA – Chastain Park Amphitheatre
09-21 Asheville, NC – Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
09-22 Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
09-23 Memphis, TN – Orpheum Theatre
09-25 Austin, TX – Paramount
09-26 Austin, TX – Zilker Park (Austin City Limits Festival)
09-28 Albuquerque, NM – Kiva Auditorium
09-30 Phoenix, AZ – Orpheum Theatre
10-02 San Diego, CA – Humphreys Concerts by the Bay
10-03 Los Angeles, CA – Greek Theatre
10-04 Santa Barbara, CA – Arlington Theatre
10-06 San Francisco, CA – Davies Symphony Hall
10-08 Santa Rosa, CA – Wells Fargo Center for the Arts
10-11 Park City, UT – Eccles Center for the Performing Arts
10-12 Denver, CO – Buell Theater
10-14 Minneapolis, MN – State Theater
10-15 Milwaukee, WI – Pabst Theater
10-17 Omaha, NE – Kiewit Concert Hall
10-18 St. Louis, MO – Fox Theatre
10-19 Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theatre
10-21 Louisville, KY – Palace Theater
10-23 Cleveland, OH – Allen Theatre
10-24 Ann Arbor, MI – Michigan Theater
10-25 Indianapolis, IN – Clowes Memorial Hall
10-26 Chicago, IL – Civic Opera House
10-29 Toronto, Ontario – Massey Hall
10-30 Montreal, Quebec – Metropolis
10-31 Boston, MA – Wang Center
11-01 Atlantic City, NJ – Borgata
11-03 Red Bank, NJ – Count Basie Theatre
11-05 Albany, NY – Empire State Plaza
11-07 Pittsburgh, PA – Carnegie Music Hall
11-08 Philadelphia, PA – Tower Theatre

And, in case you missed it, David Byrne’s most recent installment “Playing the Building” was a really cool concept executed beautifully. Here’s video of it.

From their website:

Brian Eno and I recently finished our first collaboration in about 30 years. For the most part, Brian did the music and I wrote some tunes, words and sang. It’s familiar but completely new as well. We’re pretty excited. The name of the new record is Everything That Happens Will Happen Today and the music will be available on this Web site on August 18th, free for streaming and available for purchase as both a download and in physical formats.

David Bryne & Brian Eno – Strange Overtones

A new track from Brian Eno and David Byrne (from their upcoming album, “Everything That Happens Will Happen Today”), and it’s a straightforward pop song.  If you say “quiet subversion”, I will slap you.  This is easily the most normal thing Eno has ever done, and Byrne’s voice just makes it more so.  His singing sounds vaguely like his work on Remain In Light, though considerably more mellow; even in the chorus where he gets more excited, he never gets completely unhinged, such as during the falsetto on “Crosseyed and Painless”.  The lyrics are vaguely dark, but also vaguely meaningless, without any of the darkly witty wordplay manifested on tracks like Eno’s “Baby’s On Fire” (They said you were hot stuff/And that’s what baby’s been reduced to) or Talking Head’s “Psycho Killer” (I can’t sleep cuz my bed’s on fire/Don’t touch me, I’m a real live wire).   Musically, it’s extremely calm, completely unlike Eno and Byrne’s last collaboration, the landmark “My Life In The Bush of Ghosts”, a frenzied cultural blitz of polyrhythms, sampled televangelists, and psychotically propulsive guitar and bass melodies.  There’s some synth melody, a distorted guitar line in the back of the mix that comes up a bit more in the chorus, and a drum track that sounds sampled.  It comes across as nothing groundbreaking, and retains none of the manic drive of Eno’s early pop work; there’s no sound as weird as the guitar on “Here Come the Warm Jets”, there’s nothing as disturbing as the vocal treatment on “Fat Lady Of Limbourg”, and there’s no melody as perfectly sublime as “I’ll Come Running”.   It’s not a bad track, it’s just… normal.  The good news is: it’s available for free on “http://everythingthathappens.com/”, and the entire album, (released on the 18th of August), will also be available free.  And this is the single, so I still have hopes that the album could be more… well, deranged.  Byrne made a career out of neuroticism, and before Eno plunged into blissful ambience, he was the violently insane (yet tuneful) dadaist in the glam camp.  This is where their best pop music comes from, but “Strange Overtones” is a little too well-adjusted for me.