everythingthathappens.com
Two pioneering rock heavyweights’ Talking Heads founder David Byrne and producer, musician and ambient aesthetician Brian Eno’ have again collaborated in “Everything That Happens Will Happen Today,” a bounding compendium of interesting and enjoyable songs.
Byrne and Eno collaborated previously for “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts,” the seemingly important but largely unlistenable 1981 album.
“Everything” is a lot of things. The folksy “My Big Nurse” is appealing, with steady guitar strumming and harmonic background atmosphere. Things get wonderfully weird on “I Feel My Stuff,” which has a falsetto Byrne echoing above undulating electronic beats and melodic meanderings.
The title song is accessible and just morose enough, with a gospel shimmer and a slight tremble in Byrne’s voice. It’s on songs like this that Eno’s added ambience and electronic tremolo is most effective, providing a cinematic underscore and character to songs that have recognizable features, but unidentifiable details.
“?Joe Wertz
This article appears in Aug 27 – Sep 2, 2008.