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Rating:
Effervescent, lively, joyful is the atmosphere that the sound, the notes of this Rei Momo make us breathe. Once again, the Scottish musician pulls out his great creativity from his top hat.
David Byrne, after having distanced himself from the Talking Heads project, dives into the sounds of Latin America, and more precisely Brazil. This debut solo album from '89 is a record full of musicality, overflowing with ideas, irony, and feeling. The first thing that strikes the ear is the fun he manages to convey, the joy in having composed this series of songs and offered them to us. The fun is also due to the vibrant energy of the Brazilian musicians involved, who helped and supported him in this endeavor.
Byrne, as an excellent artist and musician, succeeds in taking the elements that compose the character of Brazilian music and the countries of Latin America and in his own way, transforms and reinvents a sound, making it unique and original, creating a very rich, full-bodied, and very pleasant sound.
In the songs of this "King Carnival", David mixes, besides commonly known instruments, percussion, winds, accordions, and violins. The fifteen tracks that make up the album form a sound rainbow different from the usual musical path to which we had become accustomed. Even if certain references to the old "Talking Heads" seem inevitable and hard to erase with a sponge.
Just listen to "Independence day", rich in nuances, cheerful percussion, to realize that the T.H. are right behind the door. "Make believe mambo", with its South American rhythms, is a cheerful track, with a brass section and a mariachi choir, making it one of the most listened to and enjoyable. A ballad filled with voices for a typically Brazilian sound is "Call of the wild", which opens the door to "Dirty Town", a great track rhythmically driven by percussion and led by Byrne's voice, the brass section highlighted by trombones makes this track one of the most accomplished. With "Rose Tattoo" we are in full chinano environment, its nice rhythmic section paves the way as we enter the Mocambo. And "Loco de amor" gives us a preview before moving on to "The dream police", a typically danceable track as they used to say, we see dancers on the floor moving to the rhythm that has now been unleashed. A brief pause with "Don't Want To Be Part Of Your World", gentle and light, the ironic vein is appreciable, excellently arranged, it makes us wait to listen to "Marching Through The Wilderness", an old-style mocambo track with percussion, voices, and refrain. We leave the mocambo to return to street sounds with "Good and Evil", nice and fun, together with "Lie to me" and "Office cowboy" bring us back to the tropical and South American rhythms full of verve and warmth. "Women vs men" takes us home at the end of this sonic journey, not before gifting us with a "Carnival eyes", where the title says it all, the violin section makes it unique and the percussion does all the rest. The album concludes with "I know sometimes a man is wrong", a small masterpiece of melody with an ironic and bitter text. And the party is over.
Needless to say, this is an album for sophisticated palates. The richness of the arrangements, the creativity, and the musical intelligence of David Byrne stand out proudly. If the adjectives that appear most in this writing are cheerful and joyful, it's not a coincidence. So why not listen to it in sad moments? I recommend it.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Make Believe Mambo (05:23)
[Orisa]
It was a pretty picture
It almost made me cry
He's got Big imagination
It's better than real life
He can be a macho man
And now he's a game show host
Well one minute hilarious comedian
Now he's an undercover cop
Say
Oh - let the poor boy dream
Oh - livin' make-believe
So how can we be strangers
He's got no personality
It's just a clever imitation
Of the people on TV
A line for every situation
He's learnin' trivia and tricks
Havin' sex and eatin' cereal
Wearin' jeans and smokin' cigarettes now
Oh - let the poor boy dream
Oh - livin' make-believe
Oh - let the poor boy dream
Oh - livin' make-believe
I can be you and you can be me
In my mundo, todo el mundo
Everyone's happy and everyone's free
Todo mundo, mundo mambo
Here in my mundo where nothing is wrong
Todo mundo, in my mundo
I'm a lady and you are a man
Mundo mambo, todo el mundo
Oh - let the poor boy dream
Oh - livin' make-believe
In my mundo, todo mundo
Mundo mambo, in my mundo
Todo el mundo, mundo mambo
Mundo mambo, Todo mundo
Oh - let the poor boy dream
Oh - livin' make-believe
Mundo mambo, todo el mundo
In my mundo, todo mundo
Todo el mundo, mundo mambo
In my mundo, mundo mambo
09 Marching Through the Wilderness (04:30)
Yeah, we are the noise
The noise between stations
Yeah it's a kinda strange
Oh boy! A strange situation
I walk like a building
Never get wet
I'm looking at ladies
I'm talking like men
Don't work for the city
I don't work for the state
It's none of your business
I'm doin' all right
Marching through the wilderness
Crying out for tenderness
They call me Mr. Pitiful
But ev'rything is wonderful
I'm workin' real steady
I'm workin' real hard
I'm building a monster
In my backyard
Money doesn't matter
Babies never lie
I'm going in the out door
I'm doing all right
Marching through the wilderness
Crying out for tenderness
They call me Mr. Pitiful
But ev'rything is wonderful
I walk like a building
I never get wet
I'm looking at ladies
I'm talking like men
Marching through the wilderness
Crying out for tenderness
They call me Mr. Pitiful
But ev'rything is wonderful
Marching through the wilderness
Crying out for tenderness
They call me Mr. Pitiful
But ev'rything is wonderful
Soy el galã de las penas
Llorando
Sin compasion
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