David Byrne and the Rule of Three

And you may find yourself...finally reading the 'Bicycle Diaries' that your ever-cool mother bought you for Christmas...

And you may find yourself...watching the trailer for the new documentary Ride, Rise, Roar

And you may find yourself...at the party and taking the advice of the girl to put your camera down and have a dance with her... they're playing 'Once in a Lifetime' after all.

Girl dancing at The Factory party, Good Friday, 2010

Coincidences, coincidences.

The silver haired soundster seemed to pop up across all sectors of my radar this week. So much so that I'm tempted to name the week 'David Byrne Week' here on Milky Blacks but what with it being Easter and all someone's already stolen the thunder...

Perhaps comparisons with the almighty might going a little bit too far but Byrne's output across so many artforms over so many years is pretty awe inspiring. Be sure to follow his antics and collaborations with the likes of Stefan Sagmeister, Fatboy Slim and Hillman Curtis over on his website.

Eggleston, Album Art, Plagiarism

While loitering in Dublin's Road Records my eye was drawn to the new Spoon record 'Transference'. It was pointed out to me that it was an Eggleston shot on the cover and my brain gave a little smile of recognition that once again the southern master of the mundane had succeeded in catching my attention.

Spoon/Transference. Image: William Eggleston, Sumner, Mississippi, 1970

Eggleston's work is ever popular among musicians for album artwork and just as I thought it would make a interesting post to gather them all here on Milky Blacks, up pops the blogosphere and gazumps me. Shazaam!
This post by Blake Andrews has a run down of all of the Eggleston related artwork that he could dig up and discusses the images used. Kudos to Blake for great minds thinking alike! I'm posting the records he dug up below.

Why do Eggleston pictures affect us so?

They don't tell us what to think I guess...

They just are.


Radio City, Big Star, 1974

Alex Chilton, Like Flies on Sherbert, 1979

Big Star, Live at Missouri University, 1993

Gimmer Nicholson, Christopher Idylls, 1968/1994

Green on Red, Here Come the Snakes, 1989

Primal Scream, Give Out But Don't Give Up, 1994

Primal Scream, Country Girl, 2006

Primal Scream, Dolls, 2006

Robin Holcomb, The Big Time, 2002

Jimmy Eat World, Bleed American, 2001


Paramount Pictures 90th Anniversary Memorable Songs, 2002

The Derek Trucks Band, Soul Serenade, 2003

Chuck Prophet, Age of Miracles, 2004

Silver Jews, Tanglewood Numbers, 2005

Joanna Newsom and the Y Street Bank EP, 2007