[Review] David Byrne: Music for the Knee Plays (1985)

Brass band music for stage, with David Byrne providing the brass balls.

Kronomyth 3.0: In the future, no one will listen to this music.

Music for the Knee Plays is David Byrne’s score to part of Robert Wilson’s unfinished magnum opera, The CIVIL WarS, purportedly inspired by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. I write “purportedly” because a) I’m a wiener with no friends and b) you couldn’t possibly listen to the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and come away with something this unfunky. Byrne didn’t just iron the funk out of their music, he steam-cleaned the soul out if it too. What you’re left with is an unholy cross between Philip Glass and a jazz funeral, occasionally featuring dry narration from David Byrne delivered after what I can only assume was a particularly grueling electroshock session. It makes for interesting, occasionally arresting music between scenes of people moving awkwardly on stage like Japanese marionettes, but if you’re planning to put this on your turntable at home and actually listen to it, you really have to wonder whether your self-loathing has gone too far. I know, that sounds harsh. I’ll accord David Byrne all the cool points in the world for making music this self-consciously strange. But My Life in the Bush of Ghosts was strange too, and that was awesome. Even The Catherine Wheel was awesome about half of the time. Nothing from the knee plays is awesome. You might salvage the Enoesque Winter from this set, or draw a connecting line between Byrne and Laurie Anderson on Social Studies, but I’m more inclined to draw an X over the whole thing and move on with my purported life. If, for some odd reason, minimalist New Orleans jazz is your thing, there’s an expanded compact disc (plus bonus DVD) version of this released in 2007 on Nonesuch Records with a different cover and presumably some type of suicide capsule stuffed into the sleeve.

Original elpee version

A1. Tree (Today Is an Important Occasion) (4:02)
A2. In the Upper Room (traditional, arr. by The Baptist Methodist Choir Church of God/Davud Byrne/David Blumberg) (3:35)
A3. The Sound of Business (6:15)
A4. Social Studies (4:52)
A5. (The Gift of Sound) Where the Sun Never Goes Down (traditional, arr. by Clara Hudman “The Georgia Peach”/David Byrne/David Blumberg) (2:34)
A6. Theadora Is Dozing (traditional, arr. by Ensemble of the Bulgarian Rep./David Byrne/David Blumberg) (2:59)
B1. Admiral Perry (5:32)
B2. I Bid You Goodnight (traditional, arr. by The Pindar Family/David Byrne/David Blumberg) (2:51)
B3. I’ve Tried (traditional, arr. by Swan’s Silvertone Singers/David Byrne/David Blumberg) (3:24)
B4. Winter (6:11)
B5. Jungle Book (3:38)
B6. In the Future (6:35)

All compositions by David Byrne except as indicated.

Expanded compact disc reissue bonus tracks
13. Tree (Reprise)
14. I’ve Tried (Things to Do)
15. Tic Toc 2 (In the Future)
16. Whisper
17. Misterias
18. Faust Dance
19. Ghost
20. Super Natural

The Players

David Byrne (voice), David Blumberg (conductor), Garnett Brown (trombone), Ray Brown (trumpet), Rich Cooper (trumpet), Pete Christlieb (saxophone), Ernie Fields (baritone sax), Chuck Findley (trumpet), Bill Green (saxophone), Bobbye Hall (percussion), Dana Hughes (trombone), Paul Humphrey (drums), Jackie Kelso (saxophone), Harry Kim (trumpet), Don Myrick (saxophone), Nolan Smith (trumpet), David Stout (trombone), Phil Teil (trombone), Ernie Watts (saxophone), Fred Wesley (trombone). Produced by David Byrne; engineered by Joel Moss and Mark Wolfson; mixed by David Byrne and Dominick Maita.

The Pictures

Cover drawing by Robert Wilson. Reissue design by David Byrne with Michael Hodgson.

The Plastic

Released on elpee and cassette in May 1985 in the US and the UK (ECM, 1/ECM 4-25022) and Japan (EMI/Zonophone, EMS-91127). Reached #141 on the US charts. (First appeared in 5/23/85 issue of Rolling Stone.)

1. Re-issued on expanded compact disc in 2007 in the UK (Nonesuch, 303228-2) with 8 bonus tracks + bonus DVD.