MUSIC FOR THE KNEE PLAYS

The liner notes to this album say that this music, written for Robert Wilson's opera "The Civil Wars", was inspired by the music of The Dirty Dozen Brass Band. In a way there is a trace of that band's music here. The Dirty Dozen is a New Orleans brass and percussion group, of the style that you might see marching down the streets during Mardi Gras. The music on this album is based on a similar arrangement of brass and drums. But Byrne somehow manages to miss the excitement around the music of the original band. Even though he has assembled some talented horn players, everything on the album comes across cold and lifeless.

One saving grace. Byrne doesn't sing on the album. He speaks all of the lines, saving us from having to hear his thin, wavering, off-key singing voice.

My advice: go out and get a real Dirty Dozen Brass Band album.