Speaking in Tongues

Arcade Fire is releasing a new DVD version of its acclaimed Suburbs album, and also including a couple of new cuts. One is a title you might recognize from the 1983 Talking Heads album. Listen for David Byrne helping out a bit:

Arcade Fire - Speaking in Tongues (feat. David Byrne) by MergeRecords

Btw, if you are an audiophile who loves the Talking Heads, you may know about the remastering about five years ago of the Speaking in Tongues album, as it included 24-bit, 96KHz versions, and is well worth seeking out, if you can still find it.

And here is the other new cut from Arcade Fire, Culture Wars:

Arcade Fire - Culture War by MergeRecords

Saturday Night with Maria Joao

Just spent an i-n-c-r-e-d-i-b-l-e couple of hours experiencing a 1999 performance by the stunning Maria Joao Quartet, another terrific discovery on Roku's ClassicalTV channel (also available at www.classicaltv.com).

Here is a quote from ClassicalTV on this thing:

This recording was made when Portuguese singer Maria João appeared at the Bayerischer Hof night club in Munich with Marcio Doctor (percussion), Miroslav Tadic (guitar) and her long-standing partner, the brilliant pianist Mario Laginha. In this intimate venue, Joao's vocally and physically dynamic performance created an electric atmosphere.

And that's putting it mildly ...

Now I must get back to scouring the Internet for anything more I can hear/see of her tonight. YouTube has dozens of clips, showing her extraordinary range of abilities, but none I have seen so far bring together what the Munich night club performance does. Two I have seen so far stand out, however: one is a live improv piece with Bobby McFerrin, and another has Joao collaborating with legendary jazz pianist Aki Takase. Not to mention her amazing covers of music from Bjork to Tom Waits to Lerner & Loewe. And the dancing! Maybe that has something to do with her mother who came from Mozambique. It's ... well ... all good.