David Byrne, Ear Head, and Games

For the David Byrne-founded label Luaka Bop's anniversary compilation (Twenty First Century, Twenty First Year), I designed and illustrated the packaging, including a poster detailing the history of the company. You can now watch the animated poster, so to speak, on the label's website.

And if the site's animation's not enough to satisfy your cartoon/record needs, you can play a game (below) featuring all the characters I created to symbolize each of the musical acts on the poster. If you enjoyed the game Memory, here's the indie rock version.

The Society of Yonlu

I've been waiting to talk about this album until it hit stores. That day is finally here, so:

When I was approached last year to draw the album artwork for this, I'll admit that my initial interest stemmed from it (the album) being released on the David Byrne-founded label Luaka Bop. But it was the music that guaranteed my involvement: this is easily one of the best albums I've heard in years. The depth and maturity of these songs is staggering, and that they were produced by a boy in his middle teen years is humbling to anyone who's ever attempted to craft decent music. Almost no one is this good at this age.

The story behind Yonlu is a tragic loss: these songs are all that is left of the young musician. He committed suicide shortly after most of the songs were recorded. His work was excavated from his computer by his father, who released the album in Brazil. And now, this achingly beautiful collection has made its way here.

I would recommend this album wholeheartedly if I hadn't been involved with it at all. In fact, it is only because I feel so strongly about the album that I worked on it in the first place.

Before purchasing, feel free to go to the Yonlu page on Luaka Bop's site, where you can listen to tracks and see some of the artwork floating around, animated from the 16-page booklet I drew for the album (a sample of which is below).

Then do yourself a massive favor and purchase this album. Right now. Then buy it for a friend.

The People Tree, Talking (to Yourself) Heads

Boing Boing just featured the above video that's pretty impossible for me to not love. I'm an unabashed fan of David Byrne, and love just about everything Marcel Dzama and Chali 2na have done, so the combination of all three was a welcome union.

Speaking of David Byrne, it reminds me to post this (below) interview I stumbled across a while ago: A bizarre Bryne on Byrne interview that only he could pull off as strangely or wonderfully as he did.

"Crying About the Dying Cassette"

Ian Rogers, the head of Topspin (the company responsible for the incredibly well-considered release of David Byrne and Brian Eno's new album), posted his recent keynote speech to music industry bigwigs at the GRAMMY Northwest Musictech Summit 2008.

His words are direct, insightful, and paint a picture that should stir hope in independent artists and fear in the inflexible corporations myopic enough to cling to previous (outmoded) models of success in music. He makes the clear point: music is and always has been about the relationship between the artist and the listener, the fan. The only thing failing in the industry is the paradigm of exploitation. As Rogers says, "The 'two hit songs for $17 at Best Buy' business is over."

It's certainly no mystery that David Byrne would work with a company headed by Rogers, given that Rogers' speech directly mirrors Byrne's own (equally direct and insightful) thoughts and observations in his piece for Wired magazine (which I posted about earlier this year).

ByrnEno Again, 30 Years Later

David Byrne and Brian Eno have rejoined forces, some thirty years since the groundbreaking heyday of Talking Heads, to give us Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. Certainly the sounds have changed, but I can't argue with the end result. (Though I can hardly be objective, as I admire and enjoy few artist's output more than Byrne, and have always had a great respect for Eno's intellect and ideas about sound and music's future.)

I'm looking forward to the Deluxe Package, which I have confidence will solidly trounce Radiohead's "Discbox" released in conjunction with their album In Rainbows (the album was solid from start to to finish, but the art and packaging left me scratching my head, seeming a bit phoned in for a band normally so acutely aware of aesthetics and visual art in their albums). Given Byrne's past art books and art works (including his ingenious playing the building), I have faith this won't disappoint.

And speaking of Radiohead, who allowed consumers of their album to initially name their own price, even allowing it to be downloaded for free, Byrne and Eno allow you to listen to the album in its entirety for free (and embed the player as well, see below). You can almost hear big labels streaming urine down their pinstripes.

Goodbye George, Fun With Censorhip

With George Calrin's recent death, his Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television (a sort of reexamination of which is in the above video) was mentioned about as often as his actual passing. But it wasn't until I gave the routine another listen and read more on the history of the Supreme Court case surrounding it that I gained an appreciation for just how much he accomplished with this single 1972 seven minute string of words. Just words, think of that.

So amid this reading up a bit on the history of the effect of simple words and thoughts and on censorship generally, my brother-in-law Dan's recommendation of this "censored" video from The Brighton Port Authority (featuring the voices of David Byrne and Dizzee Rascal) was perfectly timed. I don't know much about The Brighton Port Authority other than they seem to have a knack for working with great people and having fun with the conventions of what our fragile minds can handle. Somewhere in the seventies, George is smiling.

Punk's (And The Rest of Music's) Not Dead

I missed this with my previous post about David Byrne interviewing Thom Yorke for Wired Magazine (and thanks to my brother-in-law Dan for catching it): David Bryne also wrote an insightful and inspiring article about the current state of music (essentially what it's always been: a psychological and social compulsion toward and celebration of sound, rhythm, etc.) and the music industry (changing radically in the face of modern technology and putting commercial fear into major record executives going from being mega super rich to merely super rich). Again, if time allows, be sure to listen to the mp3 interviews Byrne conducted with Brian Eno, Mac McCaughan, Aimee Mann's manager Michael Hausman, and Radiohead's manger Bryce Edge.

This seems mandatory reading and listening for any musician or independent label head. Those soon-to-be merely super rich major label CEO's may want to give it a read too. Feel free to pass the link on to "their people" We'll do lunch.

TalkingheadRadiohead

This went up while I was in Berlin and on a bit of hiatus from posting anything, but my applause goes out to whatever editor sat down two of my favorite musicians to talk: David Byrne and Thom Yorke. While the transcript is interesting on its own, give the mp3s to the side a listen, as they're far more revealing as to how these two work, consider, and react, from sentence to sentence and album to album.

David, You're Killing Me (Or: I Don't Care How Old It Is, I Don't Need a Reason to Post This)

Being that good was nuts, being that good live was/is/will be ridiculous. Every clip I see is difficult to process, and a complete joy. Watch everything you can find. You owe it to yourself.