David Byrne was on hand last week for Caetano Veloso's first show at the Nokia Theatre in New York, and he's written about the experience in his blog. In this excerpt, he describes how Caetano and his band allayed any concerns about the mix of styles in pairing the new songs in a set with the familiar older favorites. Riding home on his bike after the show, Byrne passed the brand-new home of the New York Times—a towering skyscraper designed by starchitect Renzo Piano—and took the occasion to muse on the state of journalism.

Paula Court, the photographer for the New York performance space The Kitchen, has released New York Noise, a new book of photos from the city's underground art scene in the '70s and '80s. Included in the book are photos of everyone from Madonna and Michael Stipe to Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, and David Byrne. Also in the book are short essays by some of the artists whose portraits are featured inside, including Anderson and Byrne. Read excerpts from their essays here.

David Byrne appeared on BBC Radio 2's The Weekender to discuss the recent reissue of The Knee Plays and play a couple of tracks off the CD. Guest host Jack Docherty let David know how happy he was to have the album on CD, not least because he could finally stop borrowing his dad's car to hear the original version on the car's cassette player. The Houston Press says "the world is richer" for the release of The Knee Plays. The album documents "Byrne at the height of his creative powers, in a constant struggle to define what is interesting, beautiful and ugly about the world."

New York Public Radio station WNYC's Soundcheck staff have released their Picks of the Week. The show's executive producer, Gisele Regatao, points to Youssou N'Dour's Rokku Mi Rokka (Give and Take), and host John Schaefer names David Byrne's The Knee Plays among the "stand-out new albums" worth checking out now.

On this morning's edition of Today, BBC Radio 4's flagship news and current affairs program, David Byrne talked about the inspiration behind The Knee Plays. The piece was originally devised as part of an epic theater piece by director Robert Wilson in 1984 and has just now been released on CD by Nonesuch. Read what he had to say here.

The Criterion Collection has announced that it will release a special four-disc set of the Bernardo Bertolucci masterpiece The Last Emperor on February 26, 2008. The film depicts the tumultuous life of Pu Yi, who came to power in 1908, at the age of three, and became China's last emperor. It garnered nine Academy Awards, winning each of the categories in which it was nominated, including Best Original Score, by Ryuichi Sakomoto, Cong Su, and David Byrne. Among the special-edition DVD's bonus features are audio commentary by Sakamoto and new video interviews with Sakamoto and Byrne.

This week's Bay Windows reviews the new DVD release of Absolute Wilson, the 2006 documentary about visionary theater director Robert Wilson—"a wonderful introduction to Wilson’s fascinating life and work ... and a must-see for theater buffs." Featured in the film are Wilson collaborators David Byrne and Philip Glass, each of whom worked with the director on his 1984 multi-act piece the CIVIL warS. Resulting from that project were Glass's music for its "Rome Section," A Tree Is Best Measured When It Is Down, and Byrne's Knee Plays, which Nonesuch reissued last week on CD. 

David Byrne's artwork graces the cover of the November issue of Poetry magazine. The issue features works by Heather McHugh, Elfriede Jelinek, and, more unexpectedly, powerhouse vocalist Neko Case. The cover art is called "Chairs," 2004–2006.

Seattle radio station KEXP has added to this week's list of featured new releases David Byrne's "In the Future" from the reissue of Knee Plays. The album—on CD for the first time—hit stores yesterday, complete with the original 13 tracks plus seven previously unavailable instrumental tracks. You can hear a clip of "In the Future" on KEXP.org or visit kneeplays.com to hear more from the album and check out site-exclusive bonus materials.

The Washington Post's Going Out Gurus recommend the best spots in DC for taking in some art after the Smithsonian museums close for the night. The best bet for tomorrow night, November 3, is the opening of Furnishing the Self: Upholstering the Soul, featuring works by David Byrne in homage to the common chair. The multimedia exhibit includes "Macaroni," an embroidered piece on upholstery fabric, pictured at right, and runs through December 22 at the Hemphill Fine Arts gallery, 1515 14th Street NW, Washington, DC. The opening reception will be held Saturday, November 3, from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM.

Earlier this month, David Byrne joined Young @ Heart Chorus, a group of "gyrating geriatrics" (according to Time and the choir's own website), at their gig in NYC's Paris Bar. Byrne, by far the youngest person on stage (chorus members range in age from 72 to 88), joined in on the Talking Heads's "Heaven" and a new Byrne-penned tune, "One Fine Day." He reports on his blog that "the hipsters at the Paris Bar were completely won over, I think."