While I’m not even close to S or T
in the alphabet, I can mention
how happy I am to get an early listen
to two of my favorite musical artists
before I get to St. Vincent and
before I get to Talking Heads.
It’s hard to overstate how jazzed
I was when I learned that my
favorite twenty-first century
songwriter was collaborating
with my musical hero from the 80s.
Annie Clark’s guitar prowess,
beautiful singing, and super-smart
lyrics matched with Byrne’s
absurdity and masterful story-
telling and stage craft, and a
full section of brass players,
and you get their 2012 album,
Love This Giant. As I listen,
I am struck by how new it
sounds to me, and unfamiliar.
For some reason, I must not have
played it very often. Maybe it was
one of the first new vinyl records
I bought that didn’t have a
download card, and released before
my first subscription to a streaming
service, so it wasn’t available to me
for mobile listening unless I paid
for it again as a download.
It’s a brilliant collaboration, an
almost perfect hybrid between
these two iconoclastic artists,
absolutely worth a re-listen
several times over.
I have nearly every pure solo thing
David Byrne has ever done on CD,
only the most recent two on vinyl,
American Utopia and Who Is The Sky?
I’m not sure why, but both of these
records make me exceedingly happy.
In part, I would argue that this
is and has been David Byrne’s primary
mission, to make other humans happy.
Also, it’s just joyful to watch
our elder statesmen and women
continue to be vital into their 70s.
And these two records, if they are
anything, are the very picture of vitality.
As good (nearly) as anything he did
with Talking Heads, and maybe the
best solo work he’s ever done.
Another in the great pantheon
of great singers who are not really
great at singing, David Byrne
is in strong voice, his ideas are
still brilliant, funny, profound,
his lyrics uplifting and inspired,
and he’s surrounding himself
with incredibly gifted musicians.
Reasons to be cheerful, indeed.
Notes on the vinyl editions: Love This Giant, Todo Munda Ltd., 4AD Records, 2012, black vinyl. American Utopia, Todo Munda Ltd., Nonesuch Records, 2018, black vinyl. Who is the Sky? Matador Records, 2025, lime green vinyl.
If you are just joining me for the first time, I am attempting to listen to all of my records in alphabetical order and then writing a poem-like-thing for each artist represented there. Today, December 20th, 2025, marks the conclusion of all of the records in my collection whose artist’s name begins with the letter B. I started with the letter B on November 1. Two months worth of B artists! So many B’s. I’d venture to say that I have more artists in the B’s than in any other letter of the alphabet. Maybe the letter S comes close. We shall see.
michael jarmer 