A hybrid work through and through, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts revolutionized the concept of "World" music by exploring what it could be rather than preaching what it should be. By wedding African-inspired percussion (sometimes played with found objects such as a frying pan) to Funk-inspired compositions, as well as utilizing a vast array of vocal samples (also groundbreaking), Brian Eno and David Byrne carry out a relentless assault on the fetishistic notion of cultural purity. Whereas previous "Western" attempts to engage the music of other cultures tended to treat these music forms as museum artifacts, Eno & Byrne highlight the fact that all culture is in some sense a mash-up, constantly in conversation with other cultures and therefore perpetually in flux. While this is heresy to preservationists, what it does is open our ears to the limitless possibilities of such conversations. My Life in the Bush of Ghosts was one of the first pop recordings to borrow freely and explicitly from multiple cultural sources in the effort to create something new, something unforeseen. In doing so, it laid the groundwork for, among other things, Paul Simon's next muse and all the Vampire Weekends of the future.
My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (2006 Remastered Edition)
1. America Is Waiting (3:38)
2. Mea Culpa (4:57)
3. Regiment (4:11)
4. Help Me Somebody (4:17)
5. The Jezebel Spirit (4:56)
6. Very, Very Hungry (3:21)
7. Moonlight in Glory (4:30)
8. The Carrier (4:19)
9. A Secret Life (2:31)
10. Come with Us (2:42)
11. Mountain of Needles (2:39)
-Bonus Tracks-
12. Pitch to Voltage (2:38)
13. Two Against Three (1:55)
14. Vocal Out-takes (0:36)
15. New Feet (2:26)
16. Defiant (Remixed Version of "Qu'ran") (3:41)
17. Number 8 Mix (3:30)
18. Solo Guitar with Tin Foil (3:00)
A great place to start with Eno if you are not familiar with his music.
ReplyDeleteNo Qu'ran! But I haven't heard this album since the late 1980s and I don't miss the omitted track. This album actually sounds better today than it did then, don't ask me why, and I don't mean because it's remastered.
ReplyDeleteAny chance you've any leads to a flac version
ReplyDeleteof this good sound quality outtakes 'boot' ?
"Brian Eno/David Byrne - Ghosts Outtakes [Klondyke 1CD: 59707] My Life in the Bush of Ghosts outtakes, 1979. Ex SBD stereo."
thanks
Anon., I will look around and see if I can locate it
ReplyDeleteThanks, this LP was a total game changer for my music world exploration when I experienced it the first time back in the week it was released.
ReplyDeletebtw, I was googling for a rare unmastered/unremixed earliest 1986 edition CD with original track list including "Qur'an" when I discovered the existence of this outtakes CD.
ReplyDeleteI eventually found a download purporting to be the first edition, and "Qur'an" tested ok in TLH
as not being lossy - but the artwork was from a later release, and I'm not convinced it was not a fake [perhaps a reasonable vinyl transfer].
Does anyone have the "Ghosts" outtakes album, or know where to find it? Been searching for months . . . Thanks in advance!
ReplyDelete