August 7, 1997
Electronic avant-garde guru Brian Eno tweaks the nervous Caucasian funk of Talking Heads to create Remain In Light, the thinking man's techno. Organic blips and electronic squeals syncopate the dense African-synthesized groove; this landmark album is a feast of polyrhythmic paranoia.
David Byrne's spidery guitar work and formidable, detached intellect make Remain In Light a deeply danceable rumination on the loss of identity in an impersonal world. "Once in A Lifetime" is the obvious hit; the rest of the album is equally impressive, possible even better for being thematically darker.
"Born Under Punches" is a mini tour-de-force of funk bass, Eno's dissonant electronic flourishes and fluid percussion tied to Byrne's dead-on characterization of an Orwellian Government Man. No boring old verse-chorus-verse here - the Heads pull off the damn-near impossible feat of writing brilliant, coherent songs based on open-ended groove. Byrne raps like a languid, nerdy Beat poet over Tina Weymouth's outstanding bass plucks in "Seen and Not Seen"; his outsider observations are a feast for the mind while the electro-funk boogie of Eno and the band jolts your hips.
Rarely does cross-pollination of genres result in such a single, solid fusion that nods to James Brown, worldbeat and experimental electronic music while anticipating "electronica" by 10 years. Most modern bands can only dream of making dance music this challenging and provocative. Pick up Remain In Light and let your brain shake its ass.
- Jared O'Connor
polyrhythmic
paranoia