David Bowie R.I.P

10 years ago today since "Where Are We Now?" and I'll always have happy memories of how big an event The Next Day seemed to be. And these days it's treated (imo) more as a footnote to Blackstar/his death.

What Alfred says rings true -- I regard the three days (Friday/Saturday/Sunday) covering the album's release and Bowie's death as this wonderful suspended in air moment where he'd come up with something remarkable and widely enjoyed but no sense that time was about to call.

Yep, absolutely this. The anticipation was high and me and my friend spent pretty much all of those three days discussing the album as we absorbed it further. I remember thinking it would end up in the future as a late-period deep cut that was a genuine work of brilliance for those who cared to hear it.

Has anyone encountered the reaction "Blackstar is the only Bowie record I like, because it's a real life-or-death scenario and not the usual theatricality"? Maybe some young people might think that?

No. But I could well imagine a certain stripe of jazzbo reacting that way.

Blackstar was the record that made me dig into his back catalog beyond the hits.

As for other artists issuing final statements, Cathal Coughlan (Microdosney, Fatima Mansions) put out an album before and after his death last year under the name Telefis reflecting on his life and times growing up in Ireland. It doesn't have the gravitas of Blackstar, it's more of a celebration and retrospective.

unperson has said it's Bowie's best (I can't remember his reasons, though). It's certainly in my top five.

My um... second maybe?

I think it's his best (studio) album for several reasons: the actual sound and instrumentation appeals to me more than most of his other records, yeah, but there's also the fact that there's no filler on it — no songs that feel like they just needed one more, no ill-conceived covers — and no attempts at a hit single.

I'd put it in top five.

Yeah there is zero fat, and he reaches harder and more creatively than any time since the 70s. As “an album” it’s in his top 3 depending on the day. In context and as a response to imminent mortality it’s breathtakingly peerless. When I listen, and especially watching the Lazarus video, I’m overwhelmed by the sense of him brushing aside the haze and the blinders to reach a new level of his art, just before it’s snatched away. I feel lucky to have experienced that kind of gift.

Don't think it's his best, but do think it's the only post-70s album Bowie did that can stand alongside Station To Station/Low/Heroes/Lodger/Scary Monsters. I recommend the book on Blackstar by Leah Kardos: https://www.bloomsbury.com/au/blackstar-theory-9781501365379/

I finally saw Moonage Daydream the other day & loved it, especially all of the terrific live footage

Noticeable this time for me: while yes v attractive in every decade it’s really not until Let’s Dance that he actually looks yknow ”well” & not made of amphetamines

This is a weird note & may seem overly picky. But it did feel a ~little~ bit deified, like if a Dead fan made a movie abt Jerry, literally every thing out of Bowie’s mouth is the most inspirational thing ever

Hm. I thought it undercut Bowie's mythos often in that I watched it and felt nothing so much as wanting to kill him.

To love Bowie is to wish him dead as an influence, i.e. each man kills the thing he loves.

you say tomato etc

I'd put it in top five.

― “Cheeky cheeky!” she trills, nearly demolishing a roadside post (forksclovetofu), Sunday, January 8, 2023 1:15 PM

cosign

To love Bowie is to wish him dead as an influence, i.e. each man kills the thing he loves.

― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, January 8, 2023 7:08 PM

I don't understand

Today is Davey’s birthday, so…

I don't understand

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown)

He's such an influence I want to destroy it. You know -- like Sith apprentices do their masters, etc. And the thing with Bowie is that he encouraged independence and omnivorousness such that it's the natural step.

kill yr idols iirc

And your darlings too, while you’re at it, all of them.

I liked the movie as well. If you already know his history, it's pretty great. If I went into it blind it would be confusing because it doesn't really explain things, no talking heads that I remember or a narrative laying everything out.

I've been listening to his albums chronologically with my kids on the way to school, we're up to the Heroes tour (Welcome to the Blackout). They watched the movie with me and dug it. It's certainly not a warts and all movie, but I didn't get the sense that they were polishing him too much.

the music collages in Moonage were a+ too btw obv

I saw the film in IMAX, stoned, and it was amazing, but it's less a documentary than a vision/acid trip of Bowie--expanding on what Cow_Art said, the film doesn't even mention album titles or, often, what year it is; the viewer just floats on, doubles back, etc. That suited me fine, as I figure most people seeing a film like this don't need the FAQ or fiftieth recitation of a Ziggy-era anecdote. I can see why it'd be annoying to some, though, who expected more of an examination. Personally, I wish more groups received this kind of impressionistic treatment.

I found it intensely thought-provoking, almost overwhelmingly so at times… and it did that without imposing a narrative agenda, instead giving you space to think your own thoughts.

This thread next to the Jeff Beck thread reminds of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwnmVialMI4

"According to legend, Beck would not sign off on the footage because he didn’t like the pants he wore onstage, although that story may be apocryphal." LOL

https://preview.redd.it/ydxz2nmbgtd91.png?auto=webp&s=feb318245192bc59c707323ae61017b050a06001

"Celebrities you'd expect together..."

Nacho just uploaded a nice cleaned-up version of the Hammersmith footage with Beck

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nip7vnkdoOA

Beck looks sober and washed xpost

Man, Bowie really looks like Michael Gira in that pic

I think Blackstar is his best record too. I admit it's an easy one to overrate, given the context (and of course incredible comebacks after decades of shaky albums are very easy to get rapturous about), but even when I'm listening passively I'm still very impressed by it. like if I'm gonna listen to any Bowie record it's that one.

"overwhelming" is otm. its so good i almost cant listen to it

the isolated vocal tracks from under pressure are great

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMQb9LCNGxs

used to great effect in aftersun (2022) by charlotte wells

we could do a line by line lyrics poll

ee do ba be vs. it's the terror of knowing what this world is about

That'll do.

https://www.cnn.com/style/article/david-bowie-exhibition-gbr-scli-intl/index.html

i would like all 80K personal items in an online format please, with high resolution images for everything. and i would like to be paid to be the person to put that together over the next 5 to 10 years, please

The V&A have a really great Youtube channel, so I'm certain some of the items will feature there, eventually.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCmaflrfppK

Sorry, copied the wrong link somehow.

http://www.youtube.com/@vamuseum/

Blackstar was the record that made me dig into his back catalog beyond the hits.

Well, speaking of learning about Bowie in strange ways, I really first learned about him from the video game Omikron. Have some affection for the Hours songs because of that

Of course not, but I hadn't explored his albums until then, I was just a casual fan of his hits.

After he died, I got into his work with Eno, and from there the first two solo Iggy albums. And then Eno's work with Jon Hassell, Cluster and Byrne. And then I dug deeper into Bowie's late work. It's all a great tapestry.

quite enjoyed this https://easystarallstars.bandcamp.com/album/ziggy-stardub

Ah it’s fun indeed ! Particularly « Soul Love ».

No Ziggy Marley though?

Longtime fan of Big Bend Tribe's Heroes, but only recently discovered this italo-disco version of Starman, which is excellent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Uo2rWp0Moc

Fun to see they incorporated the sleng teng casio thing into "Hang on to yourself". Full circle.

Full Midnight Special Edition of The 1980 Floor Show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjC7j8cNQ2k

BTW, almost every week I hear of a new "jazz musicians interpret David Bowie" project or "dance troupe interprets David Bowie" event or "cocktail bar inspired by David Bowie." I know Bowie himself would probably approve, but part of me just thinks, come on, create your own ideas, stop letting this person's iconic work do the heavy lifting.

It’s impossible to get people to listen to jazz or frankly any new music so if that’s what it takes all power to them imo

OTM

Plus at least some of those cats genuinely dig Bowie.