David Byrne
David Byrne may well be the smartest person in American pop music today, but a lot of good it does him. The man who created the Talking Heads and then demolished them is smart enough to realize that third-world rhythms are one doorway out of rock'n'roll's stuffy room, and he's smart enough to figure out how to squeeze an elephant like rock'n'roll through such a narrow door. He's smart enough to see through every crude manipulation pop music has to offer, and he's smart enough to undermine every such maneuver with his bemused detachment. So why is his this self-titled album much more admirable than pleasurable? Many of the songs on the album offer similar glimpses of an empire in decline set to slow-motion, heavily echoed arrangements and detached, above-the-fray vocals.--Geoffrey Himes