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My Life in the Bush of Ghosts

Brian Eno - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts Audio CD

A fair review of the Brian Eno "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Brian Eno reviews here, or go back to the Brian Eno tabs.

Band: Brian Eno
Title: My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
Rating:

Release Date: 2006-04-11
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: America Is Waiting 2: Mea Culpa 3: Regiment 4: Help Me Somebody 5: The Jezebel Spirit 6: Very, Very Hungry 7: Moonlight in Glory 8: The Carrier 9: A Secret Life 10: Come with Us 11: Mountain of Needles 12: Pitch to Voltage 13: Two Against Three 14: Vocal Outtakes 15: New Feet 16: Defiant 17: Number 8 Mix 18: Solo Guitar with Tin Foil

The music is good but...
Maybe one song but not most of the songs. I didn't care for all of the repetitive samples of preachers and religious babble all the way through the album. I wish you could get it stripped down to just the music and lyrics that would of been better. It seems dated because of all the sampling anyway, it sounds stuck in the 80's.
This is in no way an essential album. Talking Heads album Remain in Light produced by Eno is an essential album but not this one.

Ironing Music across the Coral Sea
How much is a long time? How many radio evangelists does it take to change a light bulb? Does this iron need more water? And I was suitably transported by the timelessness of this music, how it is as relevant as it ever was and then I made a sandwich. I was ironing while peering out my window across the Coral Sea, thinking about the intervening years between 1989 and 2009.

No extraneous filler
Back in 1981, the original "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" was a revelation that made me ask: How do they do that? Not technically (though that may also be a wonder) but creatively. After almost thirty years, this is still one of the most beautiful and interesting CDs I've heard. What is the source of such original creativity? Then, a few years ago, Eno and Byrne actually improved that original work by remastering and supplementing it with more tracks recorded back in 1981. The result is remarkable, with an added benefit for those of us who listened so many times to the original edition: it was almost like hearing it for the first time again.

This new edition of "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" adds tracks that give space to the overall work (as I consider this not a collection of tracks, but as a whole). The track "Very, Very Hungry" was not on the original, though it was included at the end of an import version of the original. Another new track, "Two against Three," adds a new flavor, reminiscent of works by Bill Nelson. The Track "New Feet" reflects the mood of an original track, "Carrier," songs with a kind of Middle Eastern ceremonial tribal spirit. "Defiant" regenerates toward the end the mood of "America Is Waiting," one of the most poignant tracks on the CD, along with "Help Me Somebody" and "Jezebel Spirit. " The CD ends with the exquisitely spacious piece, "Solo Guitar with Tin Foil. "

If you own the original 1981 CD and liked it, you need this one. In addition to expanding the original (and without resorting to extraneous filler), the sound has been given greater depth and space.

Also check out these two excellent (though quite different) CDs: "Evening Star," by Robert Fripp and Brian Eno (especially "An Index of Metals," which filled side 2 of the original record), and David Byrne's "Catherine Wheel. " If you like a bit more intensity, try Eno's excellent "Nerve Net. ".

Atmospheric masterpiece
The tracks (they're not really songs) are built around radio broadcasts of politicians, evangelists and exorcists or taken from world music recordings which are clothed in Byrne's jerky polyrhythmic beats and Eno's sonic sculptures, and spiced with cleverly chosen samples. On this 1981 collaboration, Byrne & Eno are assisted by eleven musicians on instruments like bass, bodhran, bata sticks, congas, drums, guitars, synths, various percussion and found objects.

This re-release has been enhanced by a video clip and extra tracks that do not add much to what was already a masterpiece of mixing music from around the globe into a cohesive whole. The title is derived from the 1954 novel by Nigerian writer Amos Tutuola, about a young Yoruba boy who runs away from his village and suddenly finds himself in America where he undergoes a series of scary and hilarious experiences before returning home.

Bush Of Ghosts takes some getting used to, but there's such an innovative variety of musical marriages that the album's manifold charms soon engage the listener. Two distinct styles are discernible - the Western and the Ethnic which encompasses both Middle Eastern & gospel sounds from the Sea Islands of the South Atlantic coast of the USA. Funky electronics dominate the hypnotic and spooky America is Waiting whilst Mea Culpa has a multi-track voice with echo effects over a slow beat and ominous vocals.

The dreamy Regiment, the first of the Arabic tracks, is based around the contralto of Lebanese singer Dunya Yusin over a down-tempo beat, creating a mournful ambience. In 1979 the German experimentalist Holger Czukay had released his album Movies whose highlight, Persian Love, is based on the shortwave recording of a romantic Farsi duet between a male & female vocalist. Strictly speaking, Czukay had thus paved the way.

The skittering rhythms of Help Me Somebody carry the passionate voice of a New Orleans preacher. The next, unidentified radio evangelist is downright scary as he performs a blood-curdling exorcism by questioning a young woman and then fiercely tongue-lashing the Jezebel Spirit within her. If that weren't enough, the edgy drums and percussion succeed well in ratcheting up the levels of unease and repressed hysteria.

Even more eerie is Moonlight In Glory with the voices of the Moving Star Hall Singers where it is difficult to determine what the emotion-laden voices are saying. It seems to be an event or passage from the Bible that these artists from Georgia's coast are narrating. Two more Arabic tracks follow, The Carrier which is a rhythmic chant by the aforementioned Dunya Yusin and the brooding A Secret Life, constructed around the vocals of Egyptian singer Samirah Tawfiq.

Lots of bleeps and found sounds characterize Come With Me which also carries the vocoderized voice of a third preacher. More classical-experimental than the rest, Mountain of Needles has the feel of a soundtrack segment and reminds me of Cabaret Voltaire. The glaring omission of the original track number 6, Qur'an, overshadows all the new stuff. It is a haunting piece of Algerian believers chanting verses from their scripture. Why the spineless retreat, one wonders, when DJ Cheb i Sabbah uses a striking mix of Hindu mantra & Muslim prayer on Shri Durga, his 1999 masterpiece? Western artists who practice self-censorship undermine their integrity. For that, one star was deducted.
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Political correctness gone haywire
I own the original album copy, and the first CD release of "My Life. I'm being charitable about giving this three stars, when it deserves only one. . . . " and it remains one of my favorite 80s experimental/avant garde recordings. It was an era when artists weren't afraid to push the limits of expression, and peoples' skins were perhaps a little thicker. Those times sadly, have passed with this re-master.

How else can I characterize the cowardly omission by the record company (or Byrne and Eno) of the song "Qu'ran"? Heaven forbid they offend a minority of rabid fundamentalists, and deprive the majority of sane and non-violent believers a great song. Once again, it is weak willed corporations and cowardly artists bowing to political correctness, and making life just a little less rich and multi-faceted. It seems the only targets that are still acceptable are Christians and white males. I'm sure Eno and Byrne would have no problem bashing the Pope, but having a beautiful, fascinating song like Qu'ran-one that truly glorifies Islam, is wrong. Life just got a little less tolerable, thanks to some religious fundamentalist nuts.

Thankfully, I STILL have my original copies of "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" with "Qu'ran" on them. . . . and I plan to play it LOUD.

You can see a complete list of all Brian Eno discography, or go back to the Brian Eno tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.