Since the breakup of
Talking Heads
,
David Byrne
's solo work has been notoriously inconsistent. But before that band's dissolution, he made a couple of very fine albums on his own:
My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
(with
Brian Eno
) and
The Catherine Wheel
, a musical score commissioned by
Twyla Tharp
to accompany her dance project of the same name.
Byrne
's score is always interesting and frequently brilliant; it draws on the instrumental talents of such session greats as drummer
Yogi Horton
, percussionist
John Chernoff
, guitarist
Adrian Belew
(who had been recording and touring as a sideman with
), and, inevitably,
Eno
.
Horton
's drumming establishes a muscular
funk
foundation for much of the material, which also showcases
's underrated guitar playing. Only the lyrics disappoint; they consist almost entirely of cliched and predictable depictions of domestic suburban angst. Highlights of the program include
"The Red House,"
with its eerie use of deconstructed vocal samples, and the lovely faux-
juju
"Ade."
Highly recommended. ~ Rick Anderson