Talking Heads

Recently all I've been listening to is Talking Heads and Low. I know it's a strange mix, but it's doing me well for now. Anyway, here is a blog post about Talking Heads, maybe soon I'll also write about Low. Then again, if I don't it doesn't matter as no one reads this.

Until very recently, I didn't really like Talking Heads very much at all. I've been vaguely aware of them for a while now and naturally checked them out, but hadn't found the capacity to really like anything other than 'Psycho Killer', which sounds close enough to my Gang of Four/Franz Ferdinand/Poppy-Post-Punk musical safety net. Everything else sounded scarily dated and synthetic and weird and a bit empty.

I still feel that way about most of their stuff, and I doubt anything will change my mind, but after watching Stop Making Sense again I finally recognised the genius flowing through their songs. Remain In Light manages to sound pretty great, but it's a real shame that most of their discography lacks the amazingness their live shows evidently contained.

Everyone should watch Stop Making Sense from start to finish (and you can on YouTube), but here's a few of my favourites:

As good as the individual videos are, nothing beats going through all of them in the proper order in one sitting. If your not smiling and clapping along by the end, you don't deserve your ears, eyes or hands.

Gang of Four 'Content'

Gang of Four were one of the most inventive and exciting bands of the Post-Punk era. It's often said that their politically inspired combination of punk and funk has greatly influenced many generations of bands, from Red Hot Chili Peppers to Franz Ferdinand. I think their first album, Entertainment!, should be listened to and owned by everyone. It's thrillingly intense, loud and (of course) funky. Their next couple of albums were pretty good too, with amazing classics like the song below.

All in all, their early output is utterly fantastic.

However, when I head news of their latest album, Content, I wasn't happy. It wasn't the lack of an original line-up that upset me (but I'll talk about that in a bit), but the dread that this new album would turn one of my favourite bands from the stuff of nostalgic funky legend into a hangover of something once great. Hearing the music samples on their PledgeMusic site only concreted this fear.

I was going to write some more things, but I can't be bothered and it's too late after the release for anyone to care anyway. So here's a video of them that pisses me off for reasons I don't quite understand:

I also read an article in which Andy Gill seemed very bitter about ex-bassist Dave Allen, and that also made me angry. Maybe one day I'll find it again.

I will always have a serious soft spot in my heart for Gang of Four, but I can't help but feel it would be even softer if one of the core members died before Content was recorded.

LIFE GOES ON

Anyway, as I was too lazy to write this properly, here's something better than anything I could ever create:






YYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHH