My bleeding heart bleeding to the beat

Thursday music corner: American musician, author and producer Jeff Tweedy (b. Illinois, 1967) achieved success with alt country bands Uncle Tupelo (1987-94) and Wilco (1994-present). He has released five solo albums on the Chiacgo-based and Wilco-founded dBpm Records label since 2017, plus a soundtrack album for the 2001 film Chelsea Walls, which was actor Ethan Hawke's directorial debut. He has written four books, including How to Write One Song (2020) and its follow-up, World Within a Song (2025).

Lou Reed Was My Babysitter was the sixth and final single from the 2025 Tweedy triple album Twilight Override. It was released in September 2025, shortly before the album's release.

Jeff Tweedy - Lou Reed Was My Babysitter (live, 2025)

See also:

Music: Uncle Tupelo - Give Back the Key to My Heart (1993)

Music: Wilco - Handshake Drugs (2004)

Music: Jeff Tweedy - I Know What It's Like (2018)

Transmit the message to the receiver, hope for an answer someday

Thursday music corner: Scottish-born, American-raised musician David Byrne (b. Dumbarton, 1952) came to prominence through the hugely influential group Talking Heads, and his reputation has only grown following his long solo career. His touring shows for albums American Utopia and Who Is The Sky? have been gaining him legions of new, younger fans thanks to their warmth and optimism, and the way they successfully integrate musical and dance performances using unplugged instruments.

Byrne has released 11 solo albums since 1981, including two with Brian Eno (My Life in the Bush of Ghosts from 1981, and Everything That Happens Will Happen Today in 2008), and one each with St Vincent and the Ghost Train Orchestra. This April 2026 performance of Life During Wartime is part of Byrne's Who Is The Sky? tour show, and was recorded at the Coachella music festival in California on 11 April. The track originally appeared on the third Talking Heads album Fear of Music in 1979, and was the album's first single.

David Byrne - Life During Wartime (live, 2026) 

See also:

Music: David Byrne - Everybody Laughs (2025)

Music: David Byrne & Brian Eno - Strange Overtones (2008)

Music: David Byrne - Dance on Vaseline (1997)

Karori pioneers

The first hardy settlers who came into the Karori Valley by way of the Maori path faced difficulties in identifying the sections of their title and initially many camped in the bush together whilst they made their way around the valley.

The first settler into the valley is given to be a Mr J[ohn] Yule who had arrived in Port Nicholson with his family in March of 1840 aboard the Bengal Merchant. Later, Yule was reported by Heaphy in his writings regarding settlement to be clearing about 20 acres of heavily timbered forest in the Karori Valley and to have built a house there within 6 months. He mentions further that Yule was unaided in his occupation except for a Maori assistant and Yule's brother, Alexander. The Yules were referred to as being "two young Scotsmen".

The Chief Justice at the time, H. S. Chapman had also taken up land in the area and by 1846 had erected the first Homewood residence.

By the late 1840s a building had been erected to serve both as a chapel and school, and a shop had been opened. In 1852 church services were being held at Mr S. Lancaster's residence and a small hall had been built on land given by a Mr Haire. This hall apparently stood on the site of the old Council Chambers. Church services were held in the hall and according to a Mr J. Eagle, an early resident in the district, some three people named Collins, Brodie and Kelt were interred on the site. (When excavations were carried out in the 1930s it appears some 6-8 people had been buried there.)

Karori and Makara have always had a close association and it is interesting to recall a selection of early pioneers who came to the district in those first years of settlement, who built homes from out of the bush and thus prepared the way for further development. Names such as Yule, Chapman, Lancaster, Shotter, Haire, Campbell, Lewer, Cook, McKelvie, Kilmister, Spiers, Barnes, Cole, Richmond, Eagle, Monk, Donald and Monaghan can all be put down as early pioneers to the district.

- Joseph & Betty Kenneally, Karori Then, Wellington, 1980, p.5

See also:
Blog: What's on at the Regal, 27 August 2023
Blog: Karori Lunatic Asylum, 15 February 2022

Blog: The old route to Karori, 16 August 2020

This, what I thought I knew

Thursday music corner: Widely-revered English experimental music pioneer Brian Eno (b. Suffolk, 1948) first attained widespread attention as a founding member of glam rock trailblazers Roxy Music from 1971. He appeared on Roxy's first two albums, Roxy Music (1972) and For Your Pleasure (1973), before branching out as a solo artist in 1973. 

Eno has released dozens of albums, both solo and collaborative efforts. Four of his solo albums entered the UK top 40: his debut Here Come The Warm Jets (1974), Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks (1983), The Ship (2016), and ForeverAndEverNoMore (2022). Two notable collaborative albums include My Life in the Bush of Ghosts with David Byrne (1981) and Original Soundtracks 1 with U2 (1995). As a highly-respected record producer he helmed a wide range of albums, including David Bowie's "Berlin Trilogy" Low, Heroes and Lodger, plus 1995's Outside; Talking Heads' Fear of Music and Remain in Light; and six albums by U2. He was the subject of the 2024 'AI-generated edit' documentary Eno by Gary Hustwit.

'This' was the opening track on Eno's 2005 album Another Day on Earth. Its lyrics were informed by random computer-generated cut-up processes.   

Brian Eno - This (2005)

See also:

Music: Fripp & Eno - The Heavenly Music Corporation Pt.1 (1973)

Music: Brian Eno - Needles in the Camel's Eye (1974)

Music: Brian Eno - And Then So Clear (2005)

Kelburn 7.20am

 

I was feeling insecure, you might not love me anymore

Thursday music corner: Donny Hathaway (1945-79) was a Chicago-born soul singer-songwriter who released music solo and with long-time collaborator Roberta Flack. He released four studio albums from 1970 to 1973 - three on the Atco label, and the most successful, 1972's Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway, on Atlantic. In 1972 he also released a live album and a soundtrack for crime comedy film Come Back, Charleston Blue. He had four US pop top 40 singles: the solo hit This Christmas in 1970, plus three with Flack - the Carole King cover You've Got a Friend (1971), Where Is The Love (1972), and The Closer I Get to You (1978), with the latter the most successful, reaching number two on the US charts and topping the US R&B charts. Amy Winehouse called Hathaway her favourite artist of all time, and referred to "Mr Hathaway" in her song Rehab.

Hathaway's soul cover of John Lennon's Jealous Guy appears on his gold-certified 1972 Live album, which was recorded in 1971 at the Troubadour in Los Angeles and the Bitter End in New York. Live is often cited as one of the greatest live soul albums ever recorded, and is the cornerstone of Hathaway's modern reputation.    

Donny Hathaway - Jealous Guy (live, 1971)

See also:

Music: Donny Hathaway - Voices Inside (Everything Is Everything) (live, 1971)

Music: Donny Hathaway & Roberta Flack - You've Got a Friend (1972)

Music: Donny Hathaway - Come Back, Charleston Blue (1972)