On this day 45 years ago there occurred a musical earthquake. Nothing has ever been the quite the same. Yet again, I refer you to the master Bowie analyst Chris O’Leary for his song-by-song commentary. Chris, you are about 10 years younger than me, but given your thoughts on “Moonage Daydream”, how the fuck do you think we…
Well put by George Will in The Washington Post (I’ve said as much in a forthcoming review article (extracts #1 and #2) and earlier (extract #3)) — see also Daryl Hall’s thoughts on the matter. The logic of this reactionary fundamentalism would mean that the biggest and most effective cultural magpie of them all — David Bowie…
Over the past few months I’ve been listening closely to Heathen and haven’t tired of it at all, despite some minor annoyances. Echoing many others, the interesting thing about this album is that Bowie, finally and for once, consistently makes good on closing out the amazing legacy of his golden years (1970-1980). Heathen (see a couple of…
It hasn’t gone unnoticed, at least to me, the similar thematic device deployed both by Percy (Lost in the Cosmos) and David Bowie — i.e. the alienated individual with existential concerns. For Bowie there was the recurrent space traveller — “Space Oddity” to “The Man Who Sold the World” to “Ziggy”, through to revisiting Major Tom (“Ashes to…
Low, released the week Bowie turned thirty, marked a new beginning. After burying himself in white powder in Los Angeles, he fled to Berlin for some personal detox and began his famous “Berlin trilogy.” Side one of Low consists of seven synth-pop fragments; side two consists of four brooding electronic instrumentals. Bowie sings about spiritual…
For those who can’t access BBC player here is (a version?) of the show that has just been broadcast along with a companion piece featuring some of those who worked with him. (For the second time, the first vid has been pulled — just search “Bowie: The Last Five Years” in YouTube and perhaps someone has reposted).…
To mark two close but significant Bowie dates (8th and 10th January) once again check out Chris O’Leary’s terrific Pushing Ahead of the Dame “Tulmudic”-like blog. The particular entry I want to bring to your attention is this one featuring Mishima’s influence on Bowie, two names I’ve long since appreciated totally independently of each other. Chris explicitly vindicates…
