‘Stop Making Sense’ Is Back, and Talking Heads Have More to Say | Hacker News Reader

‘Stop Making Sense’ Is Back, and Talking Heads Have More to Say

nytimes.com

67 pointskaraokeyoga15 comments

I've gotten to see Stop Making Sense at the local arthouse theater a couple times in the last five years and it has people out of their seats, dancing in the aisles 6 songs in. It's an incredible, ecstatic film.

The band and director agreed that they wanted to see the band having fun, not the audience, and not the band being virtuosic. So there's no close ups of a guitar solo (the camera cuts away to other musicians reacting to the guitar solo) and there's almost no shots of the crowd.

The effect is infectious gotta-move can't-stop-it fun. Probably the most unique movie theater experience I've ever had and I'd recommend it even if you don't know the band.

I've never seen it in a theater, but I used to really enjoy putting the movie on at home (with a good sound system) and playing along with it. I'm thinking about getting myself a copy of the re-release and real big suit to go with it.

I went to Rutgers College 86-90 and this was on hi-fi VCR attached to a TV and a huge stereo at so many house parties the first few years of my schooling. Cool movie, I saw the tour for one of my first concerts. Not many have matched that experience. David Byrne puts on an amazing solo show. Here is a live set he did on a TV show he ran one season in the 90s at the former Studio 54. David Byrne Sessions at West 54, https://youtu.be/DUiUx4c6Imk?si=jbyDiVvuOcwbMbZs

Yes, it used to be a regular at the Penultimate Picture Palace (PPP) and Not The Moulin Rouge in Oxford in the mid-80s. Truly communal and ecstatic.

I was at the pantages theater for one of the shows. There are some clips at the end of the audience and there is a very brief moment where you can see me in the audience with my friend. My 1 second of fame. It was a great show and being able to see the video once in a while over the years has been a real treat

David Byrne's book, "How Music Works", is an incredibly well-written, well-informed book on music. It opened up whole new avenues of music appreciation for me.

Prior to reading it, I had never truly considered things like how the space in which music was consumed needed to be tailored to the type of music that would be played in that venue. For example, the acoustic precision of an opera house or cathedral would be wasted on The Ramones or Black Flag, just as the boxy space of a place like CBGB would be totally wrong for a chamber orchestra. It makes sense in retrospect, of course, but as a non-musician I had never considered it before.

Now I'm reading Ted Gioia's "Music: A Subversive History". While the latter has much more academic research behind it than the former, I get the impression that David Byrne aspires to write at the same level as Gioia. And in my opinion, he's not that far off.

Any other fans of the Byrne film "True Stories"?

I really like Spalding Gray's monologue in that about the breakdown of the work/social distinction.

Spalding Gray is amazing in that

Writing it down, first time I’m hearing of it

yes! I've always wondered why it isn't more popular. very relaxing, great music, perfect atmosphere

One of the best music video recordings I've ever seen. Pure fun and awesomeness

It's really great in surround sound. It's the first disc I play whenever I have make a change in my "home theater" for the past 20 years. I use it as calibration to make sure things are working well.

Unpaywalled: https://archive.ph/hZowM

Also youtube has the full-length video (tho not yet the new edition ref'd in the post)

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