This article from five years ago. Just the other night after a long gap, I watched The Song Remains the Same again with a chum who hadn’t seen it before. Even on a first viewing, the in-your-face pomposity of it all, still didn’t detract from the music that steamrollers one into complete submission.
Jan Willem Lindemans’ chapter.
This is the one song aside from Station to Station that has left Bowie commenters the most flummoxed. The most expansive discussion I’ve come across on Quicksand is on Arad Alper’s The Philosophy of Pop blog. While Chris O’Leary is spot-on drawing a contrast between Lennon and Bowie (the ’60s vs. the ’70s) on his excellent Pushing Ahead of the Dame blog, at least in this case, Arad offers a far more nuanced perspective. For good measure, here too is Joshua Scott Hotchkin’s take. It’s well-worth checking out Chris’ thoughts on Station to Station. Speaking of Chris, be sure to check out his soon-to-be released Ashes to Ashes: The Songs of David Bowie, 1976-2016.
Check out this Call for Papers
I’ve just received my review copy of this which will appear as a joint review along with Philo of Alexandria: An Intellectual Biography. This past year has turned out to be a red letter year for Philonic Studies, a book from an “old hand” (Maren Niehoff) which I have already written up and another from a “young gun” (i.e. Jennifer Otto). Once again things look promising in that the doyen of Philonic Studies, David Runia, seems to be well referenced in the latter.
Reissue of Percy’s first novel with an afterword by Paul Elie. (Are there two afterwords? — both Elie and Richard Ford are listed).
Jim Wible’s chapter.
As usual AllMusic gets it. The deeply funky grooves are down to Chaz Jankel, quite possibly the UK’s greatest funkmeister. The Sly influence is palpable and as a consequence this is solid party music to ring in the new year.
There is humor in this music in bushels. But all of that humor points to the heart of a cultural malaise, and at what crap it is to be lonely and brokenhearted and broke in an age of abundance while questioning what that abundance is.
manwithoutqualities 