My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts

Howard: I'll tell you how it works, right? I took a note, sawtooth wave, right off this pantomime four, ran it back here, re-jammed it through itself, looped it back, mixed it with the sound of this crab committing suicide, and let it stew in its own reverb for about three hours, right? And then I pump it all out through this shoe, to give it that oaky timbre.

I feel like I can understand the influence/importance of this album in terms of shaping the perception of sampling in modern music, but that doesn’t mean that I enjoy it very much. It’s not bad and I can almost get into some of the songs but I feel like there is a significant lack of payoff compared to more traditional song structures. Maybe I’m not enough of a genius to understand this or maybe I’ll appreciate it when I’m older. For now, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Half this album is Beverly Hills Cop II and the other half is FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA’S APOCALYPSE NOW (1979). four stars

I feel like I can understand the influence/importance Love this. There's ambition, a kind of cinematic aspect to much of the thing I don't understand there would probably be no radio head without this sawtooth wave the sound of this crab committing suicide and then I pump it all out through this shoe,  to give it that oaky timbre would probably be no a-lot-of-modern-music without  that oaky timbre that oaky timbre I'll tell you how it works, right? I took a note, I'll tell you how it works, right? this one sticks out above the others globetrotting rhythms globetrotting rhythms right off this pantomime four, a degree of nervousness that lets the wider world in, and an exorcist and an exorcist especially good for driving at night I'll tell you how it works, right? I took a note, I took a note a giant mess of sounds. I can understand its significance I took a note a vital funk injection что это очень интересный для меня материал. Ранее полагал a giant mess of sounds and an exorcist the sound of this crab commiting suicide that oaky timbre Bom simploriedade um dos malucos fez música com o Caetano. pretty OK, bit repetitive. bit repetitive bit bit bit bit bit bit repetitive repetitive bit repetitive ran it back here, re-jammed it through itself, looped it back, mixed it with Ранее полагал and let it stew in its own reverb for about three hours, right?  bit repetitive there  there I took a note a vital funk injection Bom simploriedade Globetrotting rhythms I'll tell you how it works, right? there there there bit repetitive sawtooth wave especially good for driving at night I'll tell you how it works would probably be no a-lot-of-modern-music without  that okay timbre ----- Number of albums left to review or just listen to: less than 800, I've temporarily lost count here Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens:  approximately a half so far (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: a quarter Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): the last quarter

The thing I don't understand about these types of albums is who actually enjoys listening to these? It just seems the artists are trying to make it weird, and not trying to make it good.

Experimental avant-rock classic. There would probably be no Radiohead without this LP. There would probably be no a-lot-of-modern-music without this LP.

After recently being exposed to early Talking Heads music I was anticipating I’d enjoy this offering from their lead singer Brian Eno. I found the tracks too experimental for my taste though and way too repetitive. I felt kinda worn out by album end. 1 Star!

Love this. There's ambition, a kind of cinematic aspect to much of the music, and despite all the electronic bells and whistles there's a lot of humanity and heart. It seems to be quite faddish in this era to incorporate elements of 'World Music' into your sound, but this is probably one of the more successful attempts to do so. Great album.

Interesting but not necessarily enjoyable. A lot of unique sounds, but very little musical cohesion and flow.

This was interesting but it's not an album I will likely listen to again. Some of the songs are almost enjoyable but it all gets lost in a giant mess of sounds. I can understand its significance but it's definitely not my thing.

Another classic Brian Eno record, this time featuring David Byrne.

Always

This is a long time favorite of mine. No real _songs_ on the album per se, but I really like the sample collage over tight early 80s funk. Many have pointed out that the use of samples as a vocal lead was revolutionary, it is now so commonplace as to not be as surprising. The use of samples was not unprecedented or unsurpassed; this lies on the trajectory from Steve Reich through to Public Enemy. Arguments could be made regarding cultural appropriation and/or stripping the source samples of their cultural meaning (noting that the track Qu'ran was removed from subsequent versions of this release following complaints from the British Islamic Council). As a listening experience, I still enjoy this record because of the taut funk, featuring an all-star line-up of drummers, percussionists and bass players (plus Robert Fripp) to create a repetitive and funky atmosphere. Again, not really _songs_, but I enjoy listening to it. Today I listened to the expanded version on spotify, which has a large number of tracks not on my original vinyl copy. They have a similar feel, although are not always as focussed, and I can see why they weren't included on the original album. I can hear the way that the recording of this album helped blueprint the approach for Talking Heads' "Remain in light" album, which is their best work, in my opinion.

All of Eno is the template for Moby, but this one sticks out above the others. Sprung basslines, globetrotting rhythms, awkwardly cool whiteboy funk, and ambience that grows like spreading moss. Byrne adds a degree of nervousness that lets the wider world in, but his influence dies back on the second half.

A couple of musical geniuses creating together doesn't automatically make it interesting.

Yup, influential as a library of audio tools

Debut Brian Eno / David Byrn album. Eno described this album as a "vision of a psychedelic Africa". 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 jokeys, and an exorcist. So sampling here is the main vocal. In later years this album has come to be regarded as a highly influential album. I liked it. Especially good for driving at night. :)

big thumbs down. i’m not one to usually critique what music is considered, but honestly this was a bunch of sounds out together. it was almost insulting. i really disliked it because i feel although anyone could do this. i understand that this was influential because nobody had done it before, but there was a reason. it should have stayed undone. 👎👎👎

what is music if not organized stimming

Much less noisy and more musical than I'd assumed from the description. Outstanding! Very enjoyable.

One of Eno's best collaborations, with David Byrne and the entire continent of Africa adding a vital funk injection.

This LP was way ahead of its time. In addition to influencing many artists, I think it may have inspired David Byrne most of all, if you listen to the the singing style he adopted for some of the songs on Remain in Light. Sampling was a fledgling field then and the way Eno & Byrne built songs around samples was unparalleled (and still better than much of what is out there today). After "Regiment", the evangelical samples are my favorites, especially the line "She was intended by God to be a virtuous woman. You have no right to her. Her husband is the head of the house."

Love this. Not background music.

Excellent. Always loved this one.

I like Brian Eno and I love David Byrne but this did not do it for me. 5-6/10

Interesting listen. Very creative endeavor. It's not an every day listening type of album but it's well worth enough spins to get it. It has a lot going on. I need to save this album and listen to more Eno.

Maybe it’s because I am walking through a funky fog of desolation after losing my house to a wildfire, causing me to pause this noble listening project…but coming to this album was very soothing. Ambient, cinematic, pleasant, interesting to listen to. If I was in my right mind, I’d maybe give it a three, but ima give it a four because it felt like what I needed on this day.

A great creative effort from both Eno (a personal fav) and Byrne. Sounds like influenced from Laurie Anderson (Who IS an Artist with a capital A. I hope her albums made the list - especially "Mr. Heartbreak" since when you consider some of the crap I had to listen too...)

This is a wild album. Eno has a knack for the bizarre while Byrne had just recorded Zimbra. You can hear both their contributions and they worked very well together. I wish Eno would have focussed on having his music on albums like this rather than on side 2 of Heroes. It fits so much better here.  I quite like what would have been side 1 (the first 5 songs incl the one Spotify hid) and also like Moonlight in Glory.  The remaining songs were hit and miss for me but that comes with the territory with music that is a little out there. 

Wow. I can hear most of the sample driven world of pop and hip-hop of the past few decades in this. Some of these tracks sound like they could have been made yesterday.

Talking Heads on Acid, Definitely not placid Exciting beats and sounds Going in circles and rounds Would I play it again? I would probably refrain.

I feel like nothing happens in this album. Sure, there are chords and melodies, but none of that builds up to anything. My Life in the Bush of Ghosts has interesting ideas and is overall very well crafted, but these ideas are not expanded upon. Every song here feels like a good intro to a longer song... except the full version never comes.

I'm sure this was reveltatory at it's time but in 2024, this just sounds like something you'd randomly stumble across on soundcloud

Wasn’t bad just not good either

#456. Whose dick did Brian Eno suck to get this many albums on this list? 2/5: it's fucking shit, man

This felt like a movie soundtrack. Some tracks were too monotonous for me and I found myself skipping ahead only to find that it sounded so much the same I couldn’t tell I skipped forward. I needed more variation even if I like the sound for the most part.

I mean, the idea it’s ok for some fragments, even a song. But a whole album like this? Zzzzzz What long an boring experience ! Nontheless, the sound it’s incredible. So modern for the time. 1,5 stars

By Brian Eno only? We’re leaving out David Byrne? Either way, this is a fun album. Throw this on late in the evening in the background at your party and hear strange skronks and sermons drift across the room as drum loops play. I would give this a 4.5, I don’t really re-visit this that often, not the best work for either artist, but 4 stars seems too low. Ah well. These global scores seem too low already.

Fascinating album. A great collaboration between 2 great musical minds. Otherworldly tribal rhythms with samples seamlessly interwoven into the tunes. Highly recommended.

Today I am a grumpy old man full of fuck you punk rock energy, so I was not expecting to enjoy this as much as I did. REALLY good stuff. 5

Genius

This is really interesting and I'd not heard it before. The music is eminently listenable and doesn't feel dated. I daresay this was something of a foundation for the "sample as instrument" genre. It must have been a lot more difficult in 1979 than now, when I have the impression something like this could done in a day or two.

bought this record on a whim as a teenager, falling for the original artwork and the title, and having a basic idea of who the guys were. i'd still put it in my top 3 of the talking heads extended universe. it's still funny, danceable, and surprising after however many years. newer pressings have cut one haram track but it's not a major loss. cultural appropriation was always the point. hindsight is what it always is. if the "psychedelic african" guitar hooks you, check out King Sunny Adé, who is shamefully omitted from the list to make space for three kings of leon cds, i guess.

Such an interesting weird album that needs more then one listen. It has the ambient Eno stuff but at the same time Byrne is doing the afro-funk Fela kinda thing. Fear of Music and Remain in Light are right around this album. Of course then the direct line from that album to Phish covering it for Halloween 96 which led to the groove-based jams of 97 and beyond. So right around the time of my birth in 82 the strange brew of prog like Yes, King Crimson and Genesis combined with the weirdness and technical whatever of Zappa. Throw in classic guitar rock of Hendrix, Zeppelin and the Stones and the music that's defined and dominated my life for near 30 years. So yeah I like and appreciate David Byrne and Brian Eno

an unexpected but genius way to find the beauty hiding in the alienating and empty and alien and blood-stained modern world...listen for the heartbeat of life and dance to it. there truly is so much more to existence than what we can see

What can happen when two autistic creative geniuses get together. Amazing, innovative stuff that is still influencing music today. Could have been released last week.

This really is a seminal and influential work - and it's also very good. One can hear how this album has influenced so much music produced since it was released.

Brian enough is great and this was a fantastic album.

Rare find recordings, Amalgamation of chill, Ground breaking album

My Life In the Bush of Ghosts is a collaborative album created by Brian Eno and David Byrne. They used samples, extensively, in a manner that had never been done before. The album often sounds like the rhythmically complicated minimalism that was found in the work of the Talking Heads produced by Eno. Eno described this album has his "vision of a psychedelic Africa." He and Byrne incorporated a number of African rhythms and samples in their recordings through the 80s and 90s.

Absolutely brilliant. Way out there, but funky as hell 5/5

So ahead of its time

Yet another winner from Brian Eno - I've loved pretty much everything he's had a hand in that I've encountered in this project. This feels very ahead of its time.

I totally dig this, experimental, sampled, instrumentals. Faves: I always find it hard to remember instrumental track names but for this Jezebel Spirit, Very Very Hungry, and Solo Guitar with Tin Foil.

I almost did this album real dirty. Think I had it confused in my head with the David Byrne / Fatboy Slim project "Here Lies Love" which came out in 2010, so I was kinda nonplussed listening to this mashup of world music, samples and electronica, thinking I'd heard plenty of other projects that did the same thing but better. Just before submitting a scathing review saying I'd expect more originality from Eno and Byrne I noticed that it actually came out in 1981! That makes _way_ more sense, and all the projects I was thinking of actually used this as a foundation! So yeah, massive props to this album - it spawned a couple of different genres that I really like. Fave tracks - doesn't make tremendous sense to pick out individual tracks on this one, but "Regiment", "The Jezebel Spirit" and "Two Against Three" had me looking their names up on the last play through, so let's say them....

This album is incredible. I find it to be transporting at times and it’s just so inventive.

New to me, giants. By the time we get to "Help Me Somebody" or "Moonlight in Glory" this is just majestically refined precursors to everything I love, entirely out of time.

thrilling

Add Eno to my controversial artist list, because this is outstanding. I am rating the original realease minus the 6 bonus tracks upon remaster. Maybe it's the David Byrne involvement, I love the afro beats and odd percussions. Beautifully layered soundscapes and it even, dare I say, was catchy at times

Love this album! The combo of Eno & David Byrne is amazing. Definitely going into my favorites list!

Two artists I've recently been getting into are Brian Eno and Talking Heads, so this is a match made in heaven for me. I only recently discovered this album's existence and have been looking forward to it arriving. The first half in particular is a great companion to Remain in Light, before gradually becoming slower and more ambient towards the end. The album hasn't aged a day in my opinion. Yet another masterpiece from the incredible 1977-1981 period. Not up everyone's street I'm sure, but this is definitely forming part of my collection.

Two GOATS. This album is so cool. The sampling is just insane, and the end result is just such a satisfying jammy psychedelic feast. Love it!

It's definitely impressive for being both listenable and extremely "OUT THERE". It is more than a collection of unusual sounds, it's quite musical. Reminds me a lot of TALKING HEADS but it's more off the beaten track even. A quality album. Interesting and I would listen to it again for sure. I am surprised to say all of this. Despite liking ENO a LOT, I expected to write "why do we need so many Eno albums here to introduce different styles to people? But then I heard this. It's surprisingly groovy and cool without being alienating experimental bullshit. So yeah surprisingly it belongs on this list. And now to read what others wrote about it.... Curious ....

This is everything I wanted it to be when I saw it was Brian Eno and David Byrne. It’s eclectic, psychedelic, funk at times, electronic at others. Varied as fuck, and as unpredictable as you could hope for. And weird. It had to be weird. The fact one song has linear notes stating the involvement of an ‘unidentified excorcist’ is about as weird as you can get. I love it.

Again another album from my top ten of all time - superb collaboration with Talking Heads’ David Byrne

Whoa. Okay, I've listened to this at least a dozen times already. It hypnotized me, and I would just sit and listen 2 or 3 times in a row while working on projects. I'm only familiar with the expanded version that's on Spotify, but I truly love it. Definitely best with headphones.

Kongeniales Werk zweier Spitzenmusiker

I haven't listened to this album in years - either I liked it a lot more this time around or I forgot how good it is. The last time I listened to this was about 10 years ago when I read David Byrne's book "How Music Works" - I remember reading about his experiments with found sound sampling and rhythm sampling that led to the creation of this album and later "Remain in Light", including recording late night radio preachers as heard on this album, and how their stylized sermons influenced songs like "Once In A Lifetime" As a Talking Heads fan, this album is a perfect amuse bouche for "Remain in Light". Or maybe it's more like the unfinished Michelangelo sculptures that guide your way up to see the David at the Galleria Accademia. The iconic piece is amazing, of course, but it is just as interesting and beautiful to see the artist's process.

This is a long beloved album in my history. Before I ever heard EDM, I played this a lot. (I was surprised that I could still recite the preacher's sermon verbatim.) This album is such a masterful blend of David Byrne sounds and rhythm with Brian Eno's avant garde.

On muuten aika hieno levy! Leikkisä ja samaan aikaan manaava, just sitä mitä vois näiltä heeboilta odottaa. 5/5

Feel the Byrne

Very stoked this is on this list, but shouldn't be surprised. This album is a masterpiece and is perfect in every way. Very thrilled to get it this morning.

God I love Brian Eno

Mea Culpa. So intriguing. 5/5

This is a great collaboration of two amazing artists. I think it really shows a more experimental side with the sampling and found sounds.

Great record

bellissimo, pieno di campionamenti e un sound elettronico ambient molto unico

This album was very weird, but good weird, and that’s exactly what I expected from a Brian Eno and David Byrne production. A lot of the songs were easy listening and ambient while still being rhythmically interesting.

Absolutely fucking superb. Love Eno, love Talking Heads, so of course I love this. Only bad thing about it is the making of this record kind of sowed the seeds of the Heads' destruction. But oh well, we got the Tom Tom Club as well instead, so there's that. Really glad I got the Holger Czukay album a week or so back or I would have had no idea he was even in Can before that or the significance of him to this record. I enjoy this a LOT more than Movies however. Well worth popping over to YouTube to pick up Quran, which it was possibly blasphemous to remove from the record, but they did. Can I just say, kudos to the review with the cut up pieces of other people's reviews. Love your work!

Внезапно, это не его сольный альбом. Нахожу это великолепным музыкальным выебоном. Я не порекомендую его послушать каждому, но любителям музыки стоит с этим ознакомиться. Просто офигительная работа!

A genre-bending classic. The mix of syncopated electronic rhythms with 'found' voices has been an influence on so many other artists. And, this works so well as a mood and an album, the tracks are distinct also flow well together. Am not always a huge fan of either artist's solo work, but this collaboration seems greater than the sum of its (considerable) parts.

I am so happy that I was high and making chili while listening to this

Arguably the most important of the Byrne/Eno collaborations, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts remains a dizzying, staggering achievement. The brain waves that surged through both men in the creation of this album has often become a source of fascination that beguiles to this day. So much inspiration, so much information, so much trouble; forty plus years has done little to suppress the fact that, without this album, much of what has come in the world of music would be very, very different.

Two musical geniuses together on one record. I really love both of them and their first album is a huge hit.

You can clearly notice Brian Eno and David Byrne in this, nice surprise

Dark, twisted, frequently funky and hauntingly weird. I bought this album years ago on cassette as a teenager after hearing "The Jezebel Spirit" on the radio. Back then, the album mostly confounded me, but I have grown to love it over the years. This is a really diverse and unique work from Brian Eno and David Byrne, two of the most creative minds in music. It's a collaboration that really works, full of moments both unsettling and transcendent. The layers of samples and looped sounds are central to the album's sound, giving off a cool found footage vibe. But listen deeper, and you will find elements of solid musicianship that give the album its depth, particularly on percussion and bass. There's really nothing else like this in music. The album was years ahead of its time when it came out, but it has aged beautifully. The song "Qu'ran" from the original album is not available on Spotify, but you can easily find it on YouTube. Fave Songs (All songs, from most to least favorite): Regiment; America Is Waiting; Mountain of Needles; Help Me Somebody; The Jezebel Spirit; Mea Culpa; Qu'ran; The Carrier; Come with Us; Moonlight in Glory; Very, Very Hungry; A Secret Life

amazing at the time it was released and still holds up

Weird and wonderful, tickled my brain. I'd like to see people's brainwave patterns when listening to this, on one of those machines

After the first few tracks, I initially brushed this off as "typical Eno", but oh no. Eno's done some very good stuff, but this might be my favorite (and of course, Byrne deserves much credit too). Obviously this isn't your standard modern rock album, so listening might take a little getting used to, but I really like the sounds and the melodies. Not only do I enjoy the music as it is (making it at least a 4 star album), but I appreciate how influential and ahead of its time it was, being released in 1981. As Richard Wright said, "[this album] knocked me sideways when I first heard it – full of drum loops, samples and soundscapes. Stuff that we really take for granted now, but which was unheard of in all but the most progressive musical circles at the time... The way the sounds were mixed in was so fresh, it was amazing."

Love. Fricken love a good instrumental and made by two absolute legends. Glorious.

Fantastic Byrne/Eno collaboration.

Another of my favourite albums and one of the greatest albums ever created. Bought this on cassette and played it over and over. It's mesmeric. You don't like? Ok sister, you have a Jezebel spirit within you! Genuinely disturbing samples with an insane rhythmic beat.

I love this album; the perfect meeting of two of the 20th century's most interesting musicians.

Brian Eno AND David Byrne?! this is actually incredible!

The coming together of two genius does not disappoint. This album was a perfect blend of David Byrne's idiosyncrasies with Brian Eno's ambient and electronic experiments. It was at times beautiful, disconcerting, but always thoughtful.

Great! Such a cool electric techno sample gasm.

Unique. Interesting. A great soundtrack to my day! The first time through I liked it. But I listened to this more and its appear climbed steadily. Really great!

Groovy. Experimental done well.

Ovo mi je jedan od najdražih albuma ikad

Honestly how have I never heard this before? To be fair, the title is the kind of thing my dad would say "put this on in the car" and I would groan and try to change the subject. When I texted him about it he said "it was my favourite album when I was your age. I played it all the time" When will I start listening to my parents? I thoroughly enjoyed it but will need to give it another listen to fully appreciate it I think. Both Brian Eno and David Byrne are some of my musical heroes and have had profound impact on me. This is a great marriage of their creative abilities. The range of sounds from all over the world and their ability to produce such a seamless album is so impressive. Five Stars.