HuffPost Reviews: David Byrne and Fatboy Slim
The Huffington Post [Link]
By Mike Ragogna
5 April 2010

Never has a woman with an obsession for shoes been so thoroughly obsessed over. This is either genius or a pathology, so we'll go with both since we're talking about David Byrne and Fatboy Slim's latest, Here Lies Love, a tongue-in-chic, two CD nod to the Philippines' amazingly self-indulgent Imelda Marcos (you're not tripping, it's true). It works so well and so strangely--especially with guests like Steve Earle in the role of Ferdinand Marcos--that you'll wonder why it's never been done before. Well, no you won't, but actually, it was. This disco party that never hit the clubs was Byrne's would-be theater piece that kind of previewed at New York City's Carnegie Hall (and Australia) in 2006. And although at times it's a smidge too close to Evita, it avoids Webber clichés as it explores alleged pathos without insulting the South Pacific.

But why disco? What, you don't remember? Not surprisingly, Imelda was fascinated with the beats, couldn't get enough, even having a disco installed in the palace, complete with a mirrorball and, reportedly, hundreds of dancing diplomats when they arrived to the country on missions. Fatboy Norman Cook's dance beats combined with Byrne's latin of late are a set of satin sheets that all participating artists should have been honored to sing over or be sampled on. And pushing the artsy, Imelda's own words are used throughout.

The talent gathered here was spot-on, check out some of the rest of this party's gate list: Kate Pierson, Sharon Jones, Cyndi Lauper, Sia, Tori Amos, Allison Moorer, and St. Vincent and My Brightest Diamond who might shine the best of all, though Byrne's vocal on "American Troglodyte" (on which he plays America) happily takes one back to the days of the Talking Heads. Regardless of everything mentioned, two great reasons to buy this double disc beyond its Phantom Of The Paradise kitsch: Steve Earle and Martha Wainwright. (Sorry, no mention of the shoe collection included.)

Start Here: "American Troglodyte," "A Perfect Hand," "Here Lies Love," and "Order 1081"

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