During my undergraduate degree, I could always count on residence-mate Pete to alert me to great music, old and new. I have greatly missed his recommendations over the years. Geography has gotten in the way, and we have both drifted apart. If it weren't for Pete, lots of bands might have slipped past.
In 1985 or 1986, Pete lent me two Adrian Belew cassettes. I had what I would call an instant appreciation for what I heard coming out of my speakers. Undeniably, there was a Beatlesesque pop sensibility, but it was infused with a radical guitar sound, the likes of which I had never heard. Later, I found copies on vinyl.
Over the years, I have seen Belew's name pop up everywhere as producer, writer, or collaborator. In fact, I already mentioned him in the Laurie Anderson posts. He has also worked with The Bears, Frank Zappa, Talking Heads, David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, Jerry Harrison, David Byrne, Tom Tom Club, Joe Cocker, Cyndi Lauper, Mike Oldfield, Paul Simon, Porcupine Tree, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Jars of Clay, Tori Amos (I think I can forgive him for that), Robert Palmer, Mariah Carey, Herbie Hancock, Asia, and Tony Levin. He has worked with as many as 100 acts.
Incidentally, I should add that of all the bands and singers I have mentioned so far, Adrian is the only one I have seen in concert, the first time with King Crimson, for whom he was the guitarist (along with Robert Fripp) and with ProjeKct Two, also with Robert Fripp. I have never seen him solo, unless you include the between-sets mini-concert he did during the ProjeKct Two show in Toronto several years back.
There are so many amazing songs on this record, it's hard to know what to highlight. I am tempted to embed a video for Big Electric Cat, possibly my favourite Belew track, but I will save that for later. Instead, here is an infectious pop tune. The songs are quite diverse, so don't take this tune as representative of the entire album.
No comments:
Post a Comment