It’s been ten years since David Byrne put out what I would consider a real David Byrne album. That was 2004’s Grown Backwards, which went off on a few tangents but was mostly the sort of tight, quirky, literate world pop album he’d released four other times since 1989.
Those five albums — the kind of David Byrne records I adore — are (chronologically) Rei Momo, Uh-Oh, David Byrne, Feelings and the aforementioned Grown Backwards.
Winding down this week of critics’ picks, I have to say so far I’m more impressed by the Billboard Top 10. Sure, I had to put up with Jason Derulo, but I also got Ariana Grande’s ‘Problem’ (Song of the Summer!), Ed Sheeran’s ‘Sing’ and several other gems.
The critical faves have been annoying or boring for the most part.
But I have high hopes for this last entry, based solely on the band name and song title.
Damon Albarn is a new name to me, but it turns out I’ve been at least passingly familiar with his work for nearly 25 years.
Albarn was the frontman for the British pop band Blur, probably best known for ‘Song 2,’ the “woo hoo” song. He later formed Gorillaz, a “virtual” band that was made up of rotating musicians but always represented as cartoon apes.
I had high hopes for this song by Brooklyn’s Parquet Courts.
I’ve read a lot of high praise of this band in recent months, the sort of breathless praise that Vampire Weekend enjoyed around the time of their debut. Might this be a new group that will become a favorite of mine?
I’m not sure where I read about Kevin Drew or the song ‘It’s Cool.’ Probably Rolling Stone. All I know is this is the first song in a long, long time that I haven’t been able to locate on YouTube.
Drew is a founding member of the Canadian band Broken Social Scene, which has been around for 15 years. He has released two solo albums, including this year’s Darlings.
