Surreal commuting

On the way home tonight a normal commute became quite a surreal journey. I left work fairly late and it was a cold clear evening; the sort that makes even a city sparkle at night. So what made it surreal?

This morning in the driveway I met the courier delivering a CD ordered earlier in the week (thank you Marbecks!). Tonight I popped it into the player and headed for the motorway.

To drive over the virtually empty harbour bridge, with brighter than bright city lights reflecting on the harbour, listening to David Byrne singing opera was very strange. The opera piece was Au Fond du Temple Saint by Georges Bizet, from Les Pêcheurs de Perles and is a duet with Rufus Wainwright. Its surprisingly good as is the rest of the disc.

"Grown Backwards" is a mixture of musical styles with the only real common thread being Byrne's usual, unusual, lyrics and distinctive voice. The voice seems to have grown in range since Talking Head days but maybe it’s just the variety of music that reveals this. There are short audio samples (Real Player) on his web site but the 30 seconds clips are just a taste and don't expose the complex arrangements that develop in many of the pieces.

If you like David Byrne “Grown Backwards” is worth checking out. If you don't have a listen anyway its a whole new David Byrne and you may just change your mind. Its staying in my playlist.