More Songs About Buildings And Food

TALKING HEADS – Second Album ‘MORE SONGS ABOUT BUILDINGS AND FOOD’ Came Out 45 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

NYC’s new-pop-wave legends TALKING HEADS released their 2nd LP
MORE SONGS ABOUT BUILDINGS AND FOOD this day 45 years ago,
on 7 July 1978.

The first of 3 albums produced by Brian Eno.

The front cover of the LP, conceived by Byrne and executed by artist Jimmy De Sana,
is a photomosaic of the band comprising 529 close-up Polaroid photographs.

Tina Weymouth (bassist) about the LP’s title: “When we were making this album I remembered this stupid discussion we had about titles for the last album. At that time
I said, “What are we gonna call an album that’s just about buildings and food?” And
Chris (drummer/husband) said, “You call it more songs about buildings and food.”

The longplayer peaked at #21 in the UK, #29 in the US, and #4 in New Zealand.

The only single was their fabulous cover of
soul giant Al Green‘s Take Me To The River.

ROLLING STONE wrote: “The eclecticism of ‘More Songs about Buildings and Food’,
its witty distillations of disco and reggae rhythms, its reconciliation of “art” and punk
rock, is masterful, The music represents a triumph over diversity, while the words spell
out defeat by disparities between mind and body, head and heart. Score: 4.5/5.

TURN UP THE VOLUME says: Mostly thanks to neurotic frontman David Byrne TH
had the genial inventivity of making alternative pop music sound fresh and hip and
totally cool. One of the most significant bands of the punk/new wave era.

ALBUM


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TALKING HEADS: Facebook – Biography – All Albums


Back sleeve

Turn Up The Volume’s TOP 5 Of TALKING HEADS Albums

Posted on by JL

1. FEAR OF MUSIC – 3rd LP – 1979

Rolling Stone said: “Fear of Music is often deliberately, brilliantly disorienting. Like its black, corrugated packaging (which resembles a manhole cover), the album is foreboding, inescapably urban and obsessed with texture.”

Stream here…

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2. REMAIN IN LIGHT – 4th album – 1980

AllMusic: “Talking Heads were connecting with an audience ready to follow
their musical evolution, and the album was so inventive and influential.”

Stream here…

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3. ’77’ – debut LP – 1977

The Village Voice wrote: “Every tinkling harmony is righted with a screech, every self-help homily contextualized dramatically, so that in the end the record proves not only that the detachment of craft can coexist with a frightening intensity of feeling—something most artists know—but that the most inarticulate rage can be rationalized. Which means they’re punks
after all.”

Stream here…

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4. MORE SONGS ABOUT BUILDINGS AND FOOD – 2nd longplayer – 1978

Pitchfork: “On ‘More Songs About Buildings and Food’, Talking Heads were sorting out how
to engage simultaneously with the mind and the soul (or at least the hips)—how to be both
art-rock and dance music… a magnum opus.”

Stream here

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5. THE NAME OF THIS BAND IS TALKING HEADS – double LP – 1982

AllMusic: “Although most people probably think the only Talking Heads live release is Stop Making Sense, the fact is that there’s an earlier, better live album called ‘The Name of This
Band Is Talking Heads… It’s arguably one of their finest releases.”

Stream here…

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10 Fabulous Longplayers Turning 40 in 2018!…

Posted on by JL

1978: An effervescent year to dive into!
Here’s my selection – 10 superb ones!

1/ ‘All Mod Cons’ by THE JAM
NME wrote: “Not only several light years ahead of anything they’ve done before but also the album that’s going to catapult ‘The Jam’ right into the front rank of international rock and roll.”
Released: 3 November 1978 – their outstanding 3rd LP
Listen here

2/ ‘Darkness On The Edge Of Town’ by BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
Rolling Stone wrote: “It poses once more the question that rock & roll’s epiphanic moments always raise: Do you believe in magic? And once again, the answer is yes. Absolutely.”
Released: 2 June 1978 – passionate 4th longplayer
Listen here

3/ ‘This Year’s Model’ by ELVIS COSTELLO
All Music wrote: “The songs on This Year’s Model are typically catchy and help the vicious sentiments sink into your skin, but the most remarkable thing about the album is the sound. Costello and the Attractions never rocked this hard, or this vengefully, ever again.”
Released: 17 March 1978 – sparkling second LP
Listen here

4/ ‘Another Music in a Different Kitchen’ by THE BUZZCOCKS
All Music wrote: “The big secret is Shelley’s worship of Krautrock’s obsessive focus on
repetition and rhythm, which transforms what would be “simply” basic punk songs into
at-times monstrous epics.”
Released: 10 March 1978 – their thunderous debut LP
Listen here

5/ ‘The Modern Dance’ by PERE UBU
All Music wrote: “The Modern Dance is the signature sound of the avant-garage:
art rock, punk rock, and garage rock mixing together joyously and fearlessly.”
Released: January 1978 – fascinating debut album
Listen here

6/ ‘Real Life’ by MAGAZINE
Melody Maker wrote: “No one that has the slightest interest in the present
and future of rock ‘n’ roll should rest until they’ve heard Real Life”
Released: June 1978 – their gloomy debut LP
Listen here

7/ ‘More Songs About Buildings And Food’ by TALKING HEADS
Rolling Stone wrote: “The eclecticism of ‘More Songs about Buildings and Food’, its witty distillations of disco and reggae rhythms, its reconciliation of ‘art’ and punk rock is masterful, The music represents a triumph over diversity.”
Released: 7 July 1978 – their funky second album
Listen here

8/ ‘Germ Free Adolescents’ by X-RAY SPEX
All Music wrote: “Poly Styrene’s frantic claustrophobia permeates the record. It’s full of kick-out-the-jams rockers, with a few up-tempo thrashers and surprisingly atmospheric pieces with
a raw, wailing saxophone.”
Released: 10 November 1978 – smashing debut
Listen here

9/ ‘The Scream’ by SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES
Melody Maker wrote: “Strong, abrasive, visceral and constantly inventive,
with a thrust that makes the spaces equal partners to the notes”
Released: 13 November 1978 – black pitch debut longplayer
Listen here

10/ ‘Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!’ by DEVO
Rolling Stone wrote: “It’s a brittle, small masterpiece of Seventies pop irony, but its shriveling, ice-cold absurdism might not define the Seventies as much as jump the gun on the Eighties.”
Released: 28 August 1978 – mental debut LP
Listen here