fate

I've always felt like I'm destined to do great things. Whether it's delusional or self fulfilling is remain to be seen, fact is, now and then, something happens which continues to support my thinking. One good example of this happened just a few days ago, when I, in pursue of my continuing interest in Talking Heads, decided to shell 26 euros for the Rhino reissue of The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads. A lot of money for me, but somehow, for unknown reason (boredom), I bought it. What I heard in this album continues to fuel my interest in Talking Heads. In a time where I'm beginning to develop an interest in funk, I found a band which incorporated funk with DIY music. Talking Heads is like a mix between Velvet Underground and Funkadelic, which is in fact half right since member Jerry Harrison was keyboardist with The Modern Lovers, whose singer, Jonathan Richman, besides being a big fan of the Velvets, slept on the Velvet's manager's couch upon arriving in New York and Bernie Worrel, who's played with Parliament/Funkadelic, was the additional bassist for Talking Heads during tours. The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads may be a live album, but with the reissue expanded in two discs boasting 33 tracks, it might as well be a collection of their best work between 1977 until 1981. The first cd anthologise their early sparse minimalist sound, whereas the second cd captures them at the height of their power, which sees them perform with up to 10 additional musician. Whereas the earlier cuts were raw, jerky, nervy, or whatever you may call it, the later tracks were considerably beefed up. The songs became muscular, powerful and colorful as can be heard on the 2nd cd, where the version of Psycho Killer found here differ from the one on the first cd. This cd, ultimately, isn't just a live album. It's a document of a the band's growth and one that only justify their place in the annals of music history. That being said, me discovering their music is surely a sign from the music gods to continue my pursue of a form of music which in the end I can call my own. Another step in defining my musical identity by distilling all the band I've heard. Maybe. Hopefully. Only time will tell.