David Byrne - Music for The Knee Plays on CD?

paulgj · February-13th-2007, 03:28 AM

Hello,

does anyone know if David Byrne's Music For The Knee Plays will ever be released on CD by ECM? I have the original LP and am resigned to manually creating digital copies of the record.

Thanks!
-Paul

bluenoter · February-13th-2007, 04:04 AM

Hi, Paul--

I don't know, but meantime, would this help?

waveformula · February-21st-2007, 02:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluenoter

...meantime, would this help?

It's brimstone and treacle, hearing it again is wonderful and makes me want it all the more, but it's torture since the clips are so short and there's no CD or download! I bought this album as a fan of David Byrne, and remember it so fondly even all these years later - it's an amazing sonic singularity, nothing like it. It's a funny coincidence that I should look it up out of nostalgia within a week of the first post in this thread. There's another thread called ECM not yet on CD - I'll put my two cents in there too.

- Josh

bluenoter · February-21st-2007, 04:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by waveformula

it's torture since the clips are so short and there's no CD or download!

- Josh

I don't know jack about such websites, but I'm pretty sure that one can listen to each whole track, not just the preview clip, and I'm somewhat sure that one can download. Take a good look at the various instructions on the site.

It wasn't my intention to torture anybody!

Ron Thorne · February-21st-2007, 04:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluenoter

It wasn't my intention to torture anybody!

Yeah, right.

bluenoter · February-21st-2007, 04:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron Thorne

Yeah, right.

Yo, wiseguy, do you feel like looking at the website to which I linked above and seeing if you can figure out whether I'm correct, at least about listening to each whole track?

I'm a complete Luddite when it comes to sites like that.

Ron Thorne · February-21st-2007, 04:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluenoter

Yo, wiseguy, do you feel like looking at the website to which I linked above and seeing if you can figure out whether I'm correct, at least about listening to each whole track?

Sure.

Ron Thorne · February-21st-2007, 04:56 AM

I'm here to tell you that there's only a very brief (:10-:15sec.) sound clip for each tune.

Sorry, Rita and David.

-Wiseguy

bluenoter · February-21st-2007, 05:00 AM

Thanks, Ron.

Simon Fay · February-23rd-2007, 09:06 AM

I have come across a complete rip recently online if it's any help (given this date's oop status, it doesn't seem terribly unethical to pass on such info).

This disc is the only original material I know of that was issued on ECM in N America but not Europe. For years I thought I was reading typos associated with it. Dunno who issued it over here.

Korowa · April-11th-2008, 03:34 AM

I had never heard of this album until I read this thread. I'm sure paulgj must have been happy when Nonesuch/Warner rereleased this album on CD last year.
http://www.amazon.com/Knee-Plays-Dav.../dp/B000VEA320

Eric Harvey (Pitchfork):

Quote:

Originally envisioning a Japanese drum ensemble, Byrne instead opted for music more in the vein of New Orleans' Dirty Dozen Brass Band-- a perfect fit for a play inspired by the Civil War and scored by Byrne, at this point seemingly fascinated by all art with strong cultural resonances. From the opening track, "Tree (Today Is an Important Occasion)" to the quintessentially Byrnian spoken-word closer "In the Future", the music is variously light, dramatic, authoritative, and empathetic. Byrne's ethnomusicological streak in full force, several sections of his score were adapted from traditional music: "In the Upper Room", "Social Studies (The Gift of Sound)", and "Things to Do (I've Tried)" are faithful gospel adaptations, and "Theadora Is Dozing" comes from the Bulgarian folk tradition. . .

. . .Extracted from its theatrical roots, Byrne's score holds up remarkably well, a testament to his unique vision at the time of its composition-- coming at the end of one of pop music's most fascinating creative streaks.

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/articl...the-knee-plays

For comprehensive details
http://www.kneeplays.com/album/index.shtml

According to trovar.com, the original US Lp was released on the ECM label by Warner.
And, Allmusic states that the Lp was released in the UK on the Regal Zonophone label by EMI.

As for David Byrne's work, I like his album with Brian Eno — My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts.