Maps of Music

Everything That Happens Will Happen Today (2008)

Where the lyrics of Everything That Happens Will Happen Today take you, and where it was really made.

The album was self-released through the artists' own website and did not chart until it was physically released.

Key places

Drums recorded at Harder Sound (2008)

Recording site Record Plant Studios — Robert Harder recorded drums here for four tracks, including My Big Nurse and Life Is Long. The point sits at the New York City centre, not at the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Leo Abrahams' London home studio (2008)

Recording site Wild Bunch Studios (London) — Leo Abrahams played guitar, percussion and piano for the album in his London home studio. He and Rochford kept working on the tracks in his studio through May 2008. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Second collaborative album by David Byrne and Brian Eno
• Released 18 August 2008 by Byrne's vanity label Todo Mundo
• Blends electronic and gospel music
• Explores humanity versus technology and optimism despite bleak circumstances
• First joint effort since My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (1981)

Background

• December 2007: Byrne announced on BBC Radio that he was working with Eno on a new album of proper songs
• Byrne described it as completely different from the experimental My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
• Eno suggested adding lyrics and vocals to some of his unfinished songs, some eight years old
• The duo did not plan a full album at first, but later felt ready to finish a complete set
• Byrne spent about a year writing lyrics to Eno's demos
• By June 2008, 14 songs had been recorded

Recording

• Byrne and Eno worked on the tracks in their home studios throughout 2007 and early 2008
• They sent digital copies of recordings to each other by email
• Seb Rochford was recruited to play drums with Byrne in New York City by March 2008
• Leo Abrahams played guitar, percussion and piano in his London home studio
• Mixing continued through June 2008 in New York at Kampo Studios
• Mastering was done by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound

Cover

• Packaging and graphics designed by Stefan Sagmeister
• Artwork shows an urban scene of a house by a roadside, inspired by the song Home
• Deluxe edition packaging included a three-dimensional model of the house in a tin

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Born May 14, 1952 in Dumbarton, Scotland; family moved to Canada and then Arbutus, Maryland, USA.
• Co-founded Talking Heads in New York City in 1975 as founding member, principal songwriter, lead vocalist and guitarist.

Members

• Byrne was the youngest member of Talking Heads; Jerry Harrison joined in 1977.

Career

• Talking Heads released eight studio albums, seven of them certified gold or platinum, and disbanded in 1991; inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.
• Solo career began in 1981 with My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (with Brian Eno), with solo work accelerating after Talking Heads' hiatus in 1988.
• Worked across film, theatre, opera, fiction and non-fiction; won an Academy Award, a Grammy, a Special Tony Award and a Golden Globe.
• Collaborators include Brian Eno, Fatboy Slim, Ryuichi Sakamoto, St. Vincent and X-Press 2.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Metacritic: generally favorable reviews, weighted average score of 75 out of 100 from 24 critic scores
• Billboard: called it exceedingly pleasant
• Tucson Weekly: called it vibrant
• BBC, Chris Jones: said it breaks no musical boundaries but offers music that is intriguingly and sometimes maddeningly infectious
• The Observer, Kitty Empire: labelled it conservative
• The Quietus, John Doran: called it less exciting than the earlier album
• Chicago Sun-Times, Jim DeRogatis: called it a much more accessible, enjoyable and arguably better album than My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, at least for conventional pop/rock songcraft
• Chicago Tribune, Greg Kot: wrote that it features one of the strongest vocal performances of Byrne's career
• The Village Voice: declared it more expansive and adventurous than anything Byrne had released in decades

Reappraisal

• Several songs placed in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop singles poll for 2008: Strange Overtones at 60, Life Is Long at 337, My Big Nurse at 350, Everything That Happens at 748, I Feel My Stuff at 942
• Included on several year-end lists of the best releases of 2008
• The Fader's 2008 review named it among the top twelve albums expected to have a bigger impact, and later declared it career-defining
• The Fader dedicated its 2009 annual icon issue to Byrne, partly due to this album's success

Records

• Three Grammy nominations on 2 December 2008: Best Alternative Music Album, Best Recording Package, Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package
• Sagmeister won Best Recording Package at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards on 8 February 2009
• Billboard 200 debut on the week of 17 January 2009 at number 182 with 4,008 copies sold, peak at 174 the following week
• Independent Albums chart for 10 weeks, peak at 18
• Reached number one on the College Music Journal AAA chart in the first week of December 2008
• Byrne's 2012 book claims 160,000 copies sold, a little over $300,000 in sales

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Strange Overtones was downloaded more than 40,000 times within the first three days it was available as a free single.
• Italian Wikipedia says Steve Jones, guitarist of the Sex Pistols, plays on several tracks.
• A Japanese edition added a bonus track, Poor Boy (Eno & Leo Abrahams Remix), in November 2008.
• The album's deluxe packaging was given a bronze medal by the Art Directors Club of New York.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org

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