Monday 6 June 2011

Yo La Tengo

I mentioned Yo La Tengo yesterday, so I decided to post a couple of my favourite songs of theirs. Both of these tracks are from their 2000 album And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out (which, incidentally, is a wonderful title). First up is the track "Everyday" which creeps around the dark corners of the room...



I wanted the second track to be "Saturday" from the same album, but alas I cannot find it on YouTube. So here's "Tears Are in Your Eyes" (also from And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out which features a beautiful video; I'm unsure if it is an official video or made by a fan.

Here Come the Warm Jets

Following on from the recent post about My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, the 1981 collaboration between Brian Eno and David Byrne, here is another of my favourite Eno tracks. This is the title track from his 1974 album Here Come the Warm Jets. The track is warm and fuzzy and reminds me of Yo La Tengo.



Another of my favourite Eno tracks is "In Dark Trees" from his 1975 album Another Green World. It's colder and spookier than the previous track, and brilliantly evokes a cold, sunless forest.

Sunday 5 June 2011

Byrne/Eno

In my last post I mentioned My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, the fantastic album released by Brian Eno and David Byrne in 1981. I bought it on vinyl from a second-hand shop as  teenager back in the late ‘80s. I had no idea what it would be like, but it has left an indelible mark on me. This album took me into another world of sound, one that I had previously been unaware of. It was one of those albums that introduced me to the more ‘experimental’ end of the musical spectrum. On this album Eno & Byrne experiment with sampling from a range of sources, including various ‘world’ musics and radio/television broadcasts. You can read more about the album here

Here is the track “Mea Culpa” from My Life in the Bush of Ghosts



And here is a more recent collaboration between Eno & Byrne. I love David Byrne’s sweet-as-honey vocals in this song:


Saturday 4 June 2011

Eno on NPR

Guest DJ Brian Eno : NPR

Brian Eno was recently a guest on Radio NPR. You can hear a stream of the broadcast here. Eno was formerly a member of Roxy Music before launching a solo career. I guess today he is mostly known as the producer of several huge bands such as U2 and Coldplay, but his string of solo albums are much more interesting to me; from his early avant-pop albums, through his ambient series, and into his killer album with David Byrne - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. 

New Vue

An evening with a Vue to lifting the spirit

Shannon Bennet's new restaurant is soon to open. I wish I could afford to eat there. Pity about Pete Murray playing though.