DAVID BYRNE
When: 8 p.m. today
Where: Vogue Nightclub, Indianapolis
How much: Tickets are $19.

Byrne might be best known for his quirky career guiding the Talking Heads into one of the most popular bands of its era. But the performer has done quite a bit since the band broke up in 1988 after a string of hits that included "Burning Down The House," "Psycho Killer" and "Once in a Lifetime."

Since then, Byrne has won an Academy Award for his soundtrack to "The Last Emperor," exhibited a number of collections of his photos, started his own Luaka Bop record label (home to Cornershop and a number of international acts) and taken musical forays into the worlds of Latin, orchestral and electronic music.

His latest effort, this summer's Feelings, embraces many of these styles of music while returning to the melodic territory he roamed while leading the Talking Heads to stardom. The album finds Byrne trying salsa ("Miss America"), Beatle-like classicism ("Finite Alright") and trip-hop ("Dance on Vaseline") with equal success.

Feelings was recorded with a number of musicians, including members of Devo, the Black Cat Orchestra and Morcheeba.

Byrne explained in a press release he wanted to work with a number of different styles and musicians to reflect the sounds he was hearing in his head when he wrote the album's songs.

"There is a subconscious cut-and-paste going on in our heads that doesn't seem strange at all," he said. "It seems like the most natural thing in the world. It's the way we live now. It's certainly what things look like and increasingly what they sound like."

The album's title reflects this and Byrne's assertion that he's not just the odd man in the over-sized suit dancing around during "Stop Making Sense."

"People think I'm a really cold weirdo," Byrne told the Indianapolis Star Monday. "I'm a living, breathing human being, and I have more facets than that, but I'm aware that that's some of the perception."

For Talking Heads fans, Byrne's show tonight might be as close as you'll ever get to the real thing these days. Byrne told the Star he still plays Talking Heads material, but don't count on a reunion tour anytime soon (the remaining three members of the band toured last year as The Heads and released an uninspiring album with a rotating band of lead singers).

"I always liked the Talking Heads material; I just don't get along with the people anymore," he said.