The breadth and success of David Byrne’s recent curatorship of Southbank Centre’s Meltdown Festival demonstrate how the curiosity and eclecticism of the man once described as a ‘misfit weirdo’ have become mainstream ‘The question is, am I better than an algorithm or am I not?’ asked David Byrne on his 6 Music radio programme, which coincided with his curatorship of this year’s Meltdown Festival at Southbank Centre last month. ‘My place is to give you some things you like and

David Byrne turns 63 today, and yet he still has one of the most energetic and interesting careers of any musician anywhere in the world. What can younger performers and string players learn from him? Today is the birthday of one of my musical heroes, David Byrne. Byrne is truly a great musician, whether he's composing funky beats or beautiful melodies, or writing lyrics that manage to be sardonic, poetic and deeply human all at the same time. Since his wilder days in Talking