Yahoo! Music Album Review

Released on 11/3/06
Label: Virgin

It sounds like a great idea for idling rock millionaires - and it was. To make a record that sounded like it came from an imaginary culture, that used instruments and - most importantly - the human voice in a new way, via 'found vocals' or samples, of ethnic recordings that existed in the late '70s. The record would be 'discovered' and released to the world as proof of this other music and culture. Nobody would know that it was actually made by Talking Head David Byrne and producer Brian Eno…unless they read the song writing credits, of course. That hoax release never materialised but the album caused a stir nonetheless.

"My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts" was a remarkable record back in 1981 when it was originally released. In these more sophisticated days of sampling and readily available world music, this collection of instrumentals, extended mixes and ethnic Lebanese and Arabic vocals now sounds cosily familiar. But "My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts" isn't an ethnic record as such. Conventional instrumentation - mostly bass, electric guitar and electronic drums - is laid down as a hypnotic groove with Byrne and Eno's samples mixed in 'live' to create the finished track.

When it works best, as on 'Help Me Somebody", the African pop backing and crazed preacher samples combine immaculately to create something new and compelling. Similarly, "The Jezebel Spirit" boasts a conventional David Byrne funky guitar track which propels a disarmingly cheerful recording of an exorcism along its insistent groove before the album's experimentation takes over. Then, the likes of "A Secret Life" - sinister mummy backing music and the plain daft "Come With Us" - leave you scratching your head. Byrne says they sound like "transmissions from a desperate planet". Inevitably, it's not a planet you'd want to visit too often.

Fans of the original release will head straight for the seven bonus tracks included in this reissue, but even Byrne damns them with faint praise: "They hold up pretty well" he says in the sleevenotes. Hmm. Appearing to be mostly sketches of ideas rather than fully realised tracks, 'Vocal Outtakes' is the sound of a UFO with a dog barking at it, while it's hard to believe that the naked "Solo Guitar With Tin Foil" wasn't originally mixed in with other instruments. Weird, all round.

"My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts" claim to fame is that, in its original form, it was the first of its kind, a seminal, sampling record and an early introduction to African and other voices. That much is true, but as such it has been surpassed both musically and vocally by many others since. Fans of musical experimentation, and Eno / Byrne completists, will no doubt want to add this set to their list, but for the uninitiated, you might be better off spending an hour or two browsing the World Music department of your nearest record shop than grappling with this quaintly outmoded collection.

    by Andy Strickland