As a child, I was a huge fan of Talking Heads. I’ve probably seen and heard Stop Making Sense more times than about 80% of the population before I turned 15 and several of their albums — most notably Fear of Music, Remain In Light, Speaking In Tongues and the aforementioned Stop Making Sense have long been mainstays in my regular iTunes rotation. And interestingly enough “This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)” is among a list of some of my favorite Talking Heads songs.
Now, if you’ve been frequenting JOVM for some time, you may be familiar with the critically acclaimed composer, producer, violinist and vocalist K. Ishibashi and his solo production and recording project, Kishi Bashi. Ishibashi first came to attention for stints backing Regina Spektor and Sondre Lerche, and as a co-producer and full-time member of the critically acclaimed Of Montreal. While being involved with those projects, Ishibashi spent time writing, crafting and recording the material that would wind up comprising his critically acclaimed debut effort, 151a.
As a result of the success of 151a, Ishibashi decided that it was time to focus on a solo career, and he began writing and recording the material that wound up comprising his sophomore effort, Lighght, which helped to expanded Ishibashi’s national profile. That album, which was reportedly inspired by the one word, minimalist poem Aram Saroyan, reflects a more nuanced sensibility as some of the material employs decidedly Eastern arrangements and other songs sound as though they were drawing from prog rock — while retaining a playful and swooning Romanticism.
Ishibashi’s third full-length album, String Quartet Live! is slated for a November 14 release through Joyful Noise Recordings and the album features Ishibashi accompanied by three string musicians playing reworked and re-imagined songs from his first two albums. But the album includes this swooning and aching rendition of “This Must Be The Place” that should remind the listener of what a fantastic and timeless song the original is, while re-imagining the song as something a chamber group would have done, circa 1790.
