How Music Works by David Byrne

[King Bob]

This was kind of a hodgepodge. He starts out with a section on how music is shaped by the environment where it's performed (e.g., Gregorian Chant works well with the acoustics of Medieval churches). A section on the history of recording (only so-so, done better and at length in How the Beatles Destroyed Rock and Roll). A section, perhaps the most interesting on how he worked on all his albums, including the Talking Heads ones. A section about the economics of making an album, including different methods of paying for it. I got tired at this point - his style is a bit idiosyncratic - and stopped reading, but he finishes with a discussion of the Golden Section, Music of the Spheres etc.

It was fairly entertaining but certainly not essential. I did learn that nowadays in the studio everyone typically plays along to a click track, so the beat stays the same throughout the song and the resulting music is therefore easier to edit on a computer. No wonder so much contemporary music sucks. It's just a robot rhythm.