David Bowie - The Next Day

I'm kinda surprised that he's still associated with the major label, or affiliate or whatever it is, that he hooked up with in the early 2000s…I would have thought until earlier this morning that one reason for his sabbatical is that he wanted to sit a contract out…

I interviewed him as he was finishing Reality: I was terrified, but he couldn't have been more friendly. Thought he would be sporting an avant garde japanese suit, but was wearing a rugby shirt and khakis…

The new single is currently number two on the UK itunes chart inbetween Will.i.am and Taylor Swift, have to say I'm pretty shocked by that.

Bit of a dreary song, sorry David.

song is boring, but it's no surprise

I don't like the song very much, but I'm very happy it has come out because there had been a lot of rumors around that he was very ill. Hopefully the song/album disproves that.

Please say there will be a vinyl release of this.

all together now..

I've liked the lead singles from his albums for a good long while so I don't put a lot of stock in how much I like this - which is "a good bit"; I wish it had no "as long as there's me/as long as there's you" climax, the meandering vibe is stronger. Is this a song about when he was making Heroes/Low/Lodger or about the fall of the Berlin wall? I think get bent is otm, it sounds quickly written, and I think that's good - old men working on music seem to dither until there's nothing interesting left, I don't think the digital age has done any favors for aging musicians in this regard. he's singing well to my ears but there's also lots of treatment on the voice, no idea what besides compression but it's a little offputting to me.

I dream of this being a really interesting record.

You're right, 66th--speaking of old people losing their memory, who went and changed the calendar on me?

he's singing well to my ears

Definitely still in good (and highly distinctive) voice.

it's a mysterious achievement that Bowie and co. succeed in keeping the recording process so secretly till now.

on another point of interest, can you imagine the secrecy clauses that folks have had to sign in order to be involved - i mean, in the last 12 months there has been a lot of pressure/interest re new material, and not a word has leaked out from anyone involved in this.

Yeah, lame humblebrag but: I had just heard a few weeks ago that almost certainly something was going to be announced on his birthday, and that he had been busy recording this past year, but was keeping quiet since that news would have blown up pretty quickly, obviously. In fact just before the news broke I was texting my source going "Hey, any further word on that?" And lo and behold...

SO WHY DID YOU KEEP IT TO YOURSELF?

This is actually supposed to be the cover art for the album!

http://new.assets.thequietus.com/images/articles/11057/the_next_day_1357633247_crop_550x550.jpg

(If that doesn't work, check out http://thequietus.com/articles/11057-david-bowie-where-are-we-now

xpost -- One source, close friend. Not about to torch that for the sake of a fucking exclusive!

I actually kind of like this, I have to say.

Please say there will be a vinyl release of this.

A post here says there will be.

yeah, but who reads ilx anyway..and i'm sure you trust us not to tell..
xxpost

if we knew, we'd have told you, ned.

boring tracklist, too:

01. The Next Day 3:51
02. Dirty Boys 2:58
03. The Stars (Are Out Tonight) 3:56
04. Love Is Lost 3:57
05. Where Are We Now? 4:08
06. Valentine's Day 3:01
07. If You Can See Me 3:16
08. I'd Rather Be High 3:53
09. Boss Of Me 4:09
10. Dancing Out In Space 3:24
11. How Does The Grass Grow 4:33
12. (You Will) Set The World On Fire 3:30
13. You Feel So Lonely You Could Die 4:41
14. Heat 4:25

covering They Might Be Giants is a curveball tbf

some of those title sound like rejected Deram-era songs

pretty excited for "I'd Rather Be High"

1) I also think this sounds a bit like Robert Wyatt, or could have used a touch of Wyatt

2) It also sounds more than a little like his "Silly Little Fat Man" song from Extras, in terms of vive and cadence.

09. Boss Of Me 4:09

I hope this a cover of the Malcolm in the Middle theme tune.

can't believe chap killfiled me :(

Man, what a beautiful vocal performance.

can't believe chap killfiled me :(

― die bis scum (DJ Mencap)

Ha, was just so excited at my joke that I forgot to check if anyone else had made it.

some of those title sound like rejected Deram-era songs

My eyes combined "If you can see me" and "I'd rather be high" into "I'd rather be me"

Yeah, lame humblebrag but: I had just heard a few weeks ago that almost certainly something was going to be announced on his birthday, and that he had been busy recording this past year, but was keeping quiet since that news would have blown up pretty quickly, obviously. In fact just before the news broke I was texting my source going "Hey, any further word on that?" And lo and behold...

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 8 January 2013 13:34 (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

mm, so howcome I heard something of this ilk as well? I don't think Ned texts/twits in his sleep...

My bud is a longtime pal of Tony Visconti, who I guess had intimated something was up a while back.

But, like, all these guys are always up to something.

I'm all for the pleasant surprise and glad everyone involved kept their work secret.

Are there/there must be other artists that have reused their own album cover artwork?

Neu!

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41X-r8Ai-nL._SL500_AA300_.jpg ?

I strongly suspect the cover artwork will change. The image currently on his website look like it would make a great cover: http://www.davidbowie.com/the-next-day

Are there/there must be other artists that have reused their own album cover artwork?

the dead c literally reused their own album cover artwork, when they pasted photocopies over surplus copies of their previous cd sleeve for their next rec

So many aspects of this reflect my suspicions that he might be either uncertain about returning to the music world after his heart attack (and alleged depression) or he is only prepared to perform the barest minimum of actual exposure required to do the partial comeback thing.

Remains to be seen if he'll go on Alan Carr; Chatty Man etc.

I think uncertainty would be a virtue at this point - a vein worth mining. Better than doing it Rolling Stones style and pretending it's just a guy making music like he always did

What, he should do the Scott Walker method?

would love to see the instrumental credits on this single: is that Garson on piano or Bowie himself, for example.

Are there/there must be other artists that have reused their own album cover artwork?

Good question, this is the only one I can think of off the top of my head:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f3/Bluemask.jpg

XP - I'm not suggesting he do anything specifically and I don't mean to sound dramatic, but I sort of wonder if he is still ailing health-wise.

I'm not too impressed with the track on first listen (sounds like something from Hours...) but yeah, given some of the health rumours I'd heard I'm happy he's still been making music. Wouldn't begrudge him not doing any promo stuff whatsoever and it is really cool that he's managed to keep the veil of secrecy around the whole thing.

But, like, all these guys are always up to something.

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, January 8, 2013 9:52 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah if you're Bowie or someone in his inner circle, i imagine it'd be pretty easy to go off to the studio regularly and just tell people around you that there's some new archival project in the works, nothing new or major

other artists that have reused their own album cover artwork?

Should this be its own thread? There's also this monstrosity:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/7f/Facecover.jpg/220px-Facecover.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/83/Supermancover.jpg/220px-Supermancover.jpg

This song is pretty dreary. I was hoping for an experiment in post-dubstep or something.

As for that cover

http://virusfonts.com/news/2013/01/david-bowie-the-next-day-that-album-cover-design/

Yeah, I like "Valentine's Day" too. I kind of like the video too - Bowie's still a good pantomime.

I also like Valentine’s Day. Feel you could comfortably snip tracks 8-12 and have a much much better album though.

Would be on the short side but still an album (I think somewhere between 33 or 34 minutes)

Definitely too long and uneven, but I think the album is OK, albeit nothing special. Blackstar is special and I could hear that even in the few days I had listening to it before his death changed its meaning.

I think the problem with The Next Day is that he'd been so long out of the game that he was probably worried whether he could pull it off, and so he consciously made a 'Bowie album', in the neoclassical rock mode of Heathen and Reality. It's of a piece with those two (although not as good as Heathen), whereas Blackstar is a new direction right at the end.

It's definitely another album that tries to reconsolidate his strengths rather than breaking new ground, but I thought it was better than Heathen and Reality. Those previous two weren't bad albums, but they weren't all that consistent either and I remember thinking they were overhyped. (Jim DeRogatis, who was always a bit skeptical of Bowie, gushed on the radio over Reality, saying "I never thought I'd recommend a Bowie album again.") I was very skeptical and dismissed the lead-up to The Next Day as more marketing hype, but to my surprise I enjoyed it quite a bit and I didn't think anything was terrible on it either - it was the first Bowie album since you-know-what where I didn't have to skip anything, I was fine letting the lesser parts play through. I thought that was the best I could ever hope for from Bowie, but Blackstar proved me wrong, and the weekend before he died, I played the shit out of it. It really sent my hopes though the roof, like we'd be getting more great albums going forward.

I thought it was better than Heathen and Reality. Those previous two weren't bad albums, but they weren't all that consistent either and I remember thinking they were overhyped

The Next Day for me

I think it's fascinating that it ends with "Heat" which really does point the way to "Blackstar".