David Byrne – “Music For the Knee Plays” (1985)

As a teenager I listened a lot to Talking Heads, an interest which automatically led to the exploration of the individual band members and their solo efforts. David Byrne was the lead singer of Talking Heads and its main songwriter, while in the band he did some solo records, Music For The Knee Plays was his third.

The sad story of when I bought this album is unfortunately one that was repeated far too often. I found it in a record store, listened to it there and didn’t think it was any good. But because I liked Talking Heads, I had the compulsive idea that David Byrne's solo records also must be good. In addition, I dared not tell the staff at the store I wasn’t interested, what would they think? What if they were hurt or disappointed? So I put my own feelings aside, let my insecurity guide me and bought the album. There was perhaps also a feeling that I would win some respect from the store by buying an album with David Byrne, isn’t it kind of intellectual? In this way, I came home with a record I really didn’t want. The positive side on this coin is that my musical explorations were extended and I got to know some music I wouldn’t have come across otherwise. I was around 15 years old when I bought this LP.

Music For The Knee Plays is music Byrne composed for Robert Wilson's opera The Civil Wars: A Tree Is Best Measured When It Is Down. Other composers in this opera included Philip Glass, Gavin Bryars and others. The opera was composed for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles 1984. The idea was that six different composers from six different countries would compose the different musical parts of the opera. The various pieces would then be performed in each country and finaly be fused together in an epic performance for an entire day during the Olympics. For various reasons this ultimate performance was never done and still haven’t been done until this day.

The music on the album is inspired by The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, a brass band from New Orleans. In practice this means that there are only wind instruments and percussion on the record in addition to Byrne's voice, which sticks to talking (no singing). This was too unusual for me and I had a hard time get into the groove. I really tried to like the album but besides a few songs, it was not the easiest album to deal with. Allmusic.com describes the album as "brass-led marches that sound like an art school has landed on Bourbon Street." So you understand that a 15-year-old Markus had to struggle a bit. Byrne has written most of the songs, some are traditional and arranged by Byrne and / or others.

When I now listen to the album, I think pretty much the same. It's not really my kind of music and I probably woudn’t have bought it today (well, maybe if I found it for less than five dollars).The songs I thought were good as a teenager, I still like, the feeling is the same for those I didn’t like. Yet I’m glad I bought the album, maybe I can gain some respect by owning a vinyl album with David Byrne. Or do people just see me as a weirdo?

Favorite Songs

Tree

Theadora Is Dozing

 

Tracklist

Side A

1. Tree (Today Is An Important Occasion) 4:02

2. In The Upper Room 3:35

3. The Sound Of Business 6:15

4. Social Studies 4:52

5. (The Gift Of Sound) Where The Sun Never Goes Down 2:34

6. Theadora Is Dozing Trad 2:59

 

Side B

1. Admiral Perry 5:32

2. I Bid You Goodnight 2:51

3. I've Tried 3:24

4. Winter 6:11

5. Jungle Book 3:38

6. In The Future 6:35