I recently registered my vote for Talking Heads over Stevie Wonder in the Montauk Madness competition. Today’s random SOTD is one of the reasons why.
I hear the influence of Talking Heads all over the music I like. I’d never expect the delicate Scottish band Belle & Sebastian to lay down a groove like this, but here they are, channeling David Byrne’s ground-breaking work in a move that makes me appreciate both bands even more.
Best Songs of 2015 – #1
‘Play For Today’ – Belle & Sebastian
I had more Top 40 hits in this year’s top twenty countdown than I ever have before, so I guess I’ve earned the right to go full indie geek and give my #1 spot to an epic Belle & Sebastian song about battling depression.
What did you expect, ‘Hotline Bling?’
When R.E.M.’s 1998 album Up, their first without drummer Bill Berry, was met with mixed reviews, Michael Stipe said this in an interview: “If this record dropped out of the sky by a three-piece band that nobody had heard of, people would be in the street shouting at the top of their lungs, naked, about it.”
He was being overly defensive, but I could see his point. Established bands — especially great ones — are always measured against their own legacy, their finest moments.
Meet Me In Montauk 