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Highly enjoyable, well-informed and fluently written account of how music works on us and through us. Byrne considers the history, reception, and making of music from his perspective as a practicing musician. Whether you like his music or not (and I do), this book will increase your knowledge and awareness of what music does and how it achieves its effects. Byrne is thoughtful and scholarly in his approach without being obscure or needlessly lofty. I listen better now and enjoy music, any kind of music, more thoroughly.
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22 of 24 people found the following review helpful
...the title flatters to deceive. "How Music Works for Me" would have been a more accurate description. This is really no more than a loose collection of David Byrne's musings on the music biz with a little bit of pseudo-science thrown into the mix.
As it is, it is an entertaining, but sometimes loose-knit and rambly selection that could have done with some serious editing. Unfortunately, Byrne draws no distinction between drawing on his own experiences (which is interesting), and drawing on accepted knowledge (which is infuriating). For example, admitting that he has next to no knowledge of Western Classical music does not stop him from comparing its performing tradition unfavourably with his own brand of "music for the people" based purely on the (supposed) demographic of its audience.
I have always enjoyed David Byrne and Talking Heads' recorded music and rate "Stop Making Sense" as one of the very best music films ever made - but he is less than honest about his aims in this book - which makes it a frustrating read. Had he done a bit more research, and relied less on received opinions in some areas, it could have been a much more interesting read.
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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
By
Peter LeeTOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on 4 Dec. 2012
Format: Kindle Edition
Verified Purchase
What exactly is this book trying to be? In places it seems to be an autobiography of David Byrne's recording career both with Talking Heads and as a solo artist, but then it is an analysis of the record industry in general plus an essay on different types of concert venue and the structure of classical music. It is almost always interesting but not being a musician I did struggle with some of the technical bits on musical constructs, and found some sections a little heavy going, but the parts about Talking Heads made me want to watch "Stop Making Sense" again. Did it tell me how music worked? Not really, but it was for the most part an enjoyable read.
Incidentally, a few irritations for Kindle readers: The book is fairly heavily illustrated, but the illustrations (in the text rather than a separate section) often appear a fair way on from their mentions rather than after the paragraph concerned, and there are numerous typos where words run together.
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So, bearing in mind David Byrne's "Psycho Egghead" reputation, should we be surprised that this is a well thought-out and put together piece of work, with a somewhat of centre perspective? Not at all; however, there was always the possibility that this might be too intellectual an exercise; thankfully, Byrne avoids trying to be too bookish and instead adopts more of a personal approach that largely takes in his own experience. Nevertheless, this is not to such an extent that people who aren't fans of his music will automatically dislike the book. He tends to be quite objective about his past and never adopts an authoritarian approach of "I've done all this so I know what I'm saying"; in fact, his personal references are quite understated.
Well worth a read.
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David Byrne’s How Music Works couldn’t be more different to the last music-related book I read, which was Morrissey’s Autobiography…actually, that’s wrong, if that last sentence was true Byrne’s book would have to be an iceberg or a classification system for light aircraft or a herbal treatment for verrucas, whereas it is, like Mozzer’s, largely an account of the late 20th century music business written by the former singer of an original, literate, musically accomplished and critically adored band. But you get my point. Morrissey’s effort (or at least the second half of it) is a hilarious and highly subjective broadside against the massed incompetent and grasping industry forces that he perceives to have been responsible for sabotaging his career and indeed life over the last quarter century. Byrne’s on the other hand is perky, user-friendly and downright educational, consisting as it does of a series of self-contained chapters that each address one aspect of how music is made, appreciated and marketed. You can imagine these units starting life as a lecture series, to be delivered alongside audio-visual material organised via Powerpoint – there are even helpful, referenced, illustrations of the type typical of this sort of presentation included in the book.
Despite its preppy, slightly earnest approach though How Music Works turns out to be an excellent read, putting forward some genuinely revealing and valuable insights into what makes musical performances and recordings really live and hacking efficiently through some of the mysteries and contradictions of record company practices.Read more ›
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