My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
After years of searching, a new re-issue of the highly influential album by Brian Eno and David Byrne.
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My Life in the Bush of Ghosts is the first collaborative album by Brian Eno and David Byrne, released in February 1981. The album borrows its title from Amos Tutuola's 1954 novel of the same name, and musically integrates sampled vocals and found sounds, African and Middle Eastern rhythms, and electronic music techniques.[4] Recorded by Eno and Byrne prior to their work on Talking Head's fourth album Remain in Light (1980), sample clearance issues delayed its release until several months after the latter.
While it initially received mixed reviews, My Life is now widely regarded as a high point in the discographies of Eno and Byrne.[5][6] AllMusic critic John Bush describes it as a "pioneering work for countless styles connected to electronics, ambience and Third World music".[3] The extensive use of sampling on the album is widely considered ground-breaking and innovative, though its actual influence on the sample-based music genres that later emerged continues to be debated.[7][8] Pitchfork listed it as the 21st best album of the 1980s, while Slant Magazine listed the album at No. 83 on its list of the "Best Albums of 1980s".
Eno and Byrne first worked together while collaborating on More Songs About Buildings and Food, the 1978 album by Byrne's band Talking Heads. My Life was primarily recorded during a break between touring for Fear of Music (1979) and the recording of Remain in Light (1980), subsequent Talking Heads albums also produced by Eno, but the release was delayed while legal rights were sought for the large number of samples used throughout the album.[10] Eno described the album as a "vision of a psychedelic Africa."[11]
The "found objects" credited to Eno and Byrne were common objects used mostly as percussion. In the notes for the 2006 expanded edition of the album, Byrne writes that they would often use a normal drum kit, but with a cardboard box replacing the bass drum, or a frying pan replacing the snare drum; this would blend the familiar drum sound with unusual percussive noises.[full citation needed] Rather than conventional pop or rock singing, most of the vocals are sampled from other sources, such as commercial recordings of Arabic singers, radio disc jockeys, and an exorcist. Musicians had previously used similar sampling techniques, but critic Dave Simpson declares it had never before been used "to such cataclysmic effect" as on My Life.[12]
In 2001, Q magazine asked Eno whether he and Byrne had invented sampling. He replied:
“No, there was already a history of it. People such as Holger Czukay had made experiments using IBM Dictaphones and short-wave radios and so on. The difference was, I suppose, that I decided to make it the lead vocal on the album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts[13]”
The album was recorded entirely with analog technology, before the advent of digital sequencing and MIDI. The sampled voices were synchronized with the instrumental tracks via trial and error, a practice that was often frustrating, but which also produced several happy accidents.[citation needed]
According to Byrne’s 2006 sleeve notes, neither he nor Eno had read Tutuola’s novel before the album was recorded, but felt the title apt:
“At some point during this African obsession [during the recording] we became aware of Amos Tutuola’s books, and the title of one—My Life in the Bush of Ghosts—seemed to encapsulate what this record was about. We hadn’t yet read this particular book (his The Palm-Wine Drinkard was more easily available), but the title was perfect, so that became the name of the record.
My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
After years of searching, a new re-issue of the highly influential album by Brian Eno and David Byrne.
-----------------------------------------
My Life in the Bush of Ghosts is the first collaborative album by Brian Eno and David Byrne, released in February 1981. The album borrows its title from Amos Tutuola's 1954 novel of the same name, and musically integrates sampled vocals and found sounds, African and Middle Eastern rhythms, and electronic music techniques.[4] Recorded by Eno and Byrne prior to their work on Talking Head's fourth album Remain in Light (1980), sample clearance issues delayed its release until several months after the latter.
While it initially received mixed reviews, My Life is now widely regarded as a high point in the discographies of Eno and Byrne.[5][6] AllMusic critic John Bush describes it as a "pioneering work for countless styles connected to electronics, ambience and Third World music".[3] The extensive use of sampling on the album is widely considered ground-breaking and innovative, though its actual influence on the sample-based music genres that later emerged continues to be debated.[7][8] Pitchfork listed it as the 21st best album of the 1980s, while Slant Magazine listed the album at No. 83 on its list of the "Best Albums of 1980s".
Eno and Byrne first worked together while collaborating on More Songs About Buildings and Food, the 1978 album by Byrne's band Talking Heads. My Life was primarily recorded during a break between touring for Fear of Music (1979) and the recording of Remain in Light (1980), subsequent Talking Heads albums also produced by Eno, but the release was delayed while legal rights were sought for the large number of samples used throughout the album.[10] Eno described the album as a "vision of a psychedelic Africa."[11]
The "found objects" credited to Eno and Byrne were common objects used mostly as percussion. In the notes for the 2006 expanded edition of the album, Byrne writes that they would often use a normal drum kit, but with a cardboard box replacing the bass drum, or a frying pan replacing the snare drum; this would blend the familiar drum sound with unusual percussive noises.[full citation needed] Rather than conventional pop or rock singing, most of the vocals are sampled from other sources, such as commercial recordings of Arabic singers, radio disc jockeys, and an exorcist. Musicians had previously used similar sampling techniques, but critic Dave Simpson declares it had never before been used "to such cataclysmic effect" as on My Life.[12]
In 2001, Q magazine asked Eno whether he and Byrne had invented sampling. He replied:
“No, there was already a history of it. People such as Holger Czukay had made experiments using IBM Dictaphones and short-wave radios and so on. The difference was, I suppose, that I decided to make it the lead vocal on the album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts[13]”
The album was recorded entirely with analog technology, before the advent of digital sequencing and MIDI. The sampled voices were synchronized with the instrumental tracks via trial and error, a practice that was often frustrating, but which also produced several happy accidents.[citation needed]
According to Byrne’s 2006 sleeve notes, neither he nor Eno had read Tutuola’s novel before the album was recorded, but felt the title apt:
“At some point during this African obsession [during the recording] we became aware of Amos Tutuola’s books, and the title of one—My Life in the Bush of Ghosts—seemed to encapsulate what this record was about. We hadn’t yet read this particular book (his The Palm-Wine Drinkard was more easily available), but the title was perfect, so that became the name of the record.