Month: September 2010

Read ’em pal and grin…

Florence Welch, off of Florence And The Machine, (above) has been expressing her love for the straightforward approach of another Machine…David Bowie’s Tin one!

Back in November last year she said this in her online blog: “Ps?.I have been wearing, a tin machine t shirt, that say?s ?fuck you I heart tin machine? ..x”

She recently reiterated how impressed she is with the T-shirt’s sentiment in an interview with Autostraddle. Here’s the relevant bit…

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I talked to Welch while she was in New York City prepping for the MTV Music Video Awards ? about death, David Bowie and how much she loves hip-hop, among other topics.

Corey: What is the story behind the name Florence and The Machine?

Florence: What I like about the name is that I didn?t want it to just be a name. I didn?t want it to be a band name. I wanted it to be something that was ambiguous. As if it were me versus the machine or just me against my enemies with many different interpretations. The name itself came from a private joke between me and my friend, Isabella. We used to go to her studio and make music together and she was always on her MPC while I was just singing. The name originated from that collaboration.

It used to be much longer but it was shortened to just Florence and The Machine. When I first started out I would make up band names all the time, I went through many like Team Perfect, The Fat Kid. And this was the one that just stuck. It is industrial. It?s not pretty or girly and I like it. It?s like a silver machine. David Bowie had one, that band, Tin Machine. Do you know about David Bowie and Tin Machine?

Corey: No, I don?t. Was that one of his earlier bands?

Florence: It was a side project of his called Tin Machine. I was actually in this vintage store in New York City and found a t-shirt with David Bowie on it that said ?I heart Tin Machine?. I thought that was incredible. (laughs)

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Of course, the Tin Machine T-shirt you couldn’t get for love nor money was the one modelled by the band’s singer, below.

Finally, if you’re reading this, Flo, get in touch and the actual real life sticker below is yours…you can stick it on your machine if you so desire!

FOOTNOTE: Members are welcome to print out the sticker and utilise it how they wish…this offer is not open to non-members who we’re trusting not to print it out.

I’d like to be a gallery…

David Bowie has loaned three paintings from his collection to Tate St Ives for an upcoming Peter Lanyon retrospective.

The three pieces on loan are all pictured above, and in an anti-clockwise fashion from top left, this is what they are…

Inshore Fishing, 1952. Oil on board. 42 x 29. Collection David Bowie
Trevalgan, 1951. Oil on board. 48 x 45. Collection David Bowie
Witness, 1961. Oil on canvas. 72 x 48. Collection David Bowie

All of the works can be found in Chris Stephens‘ fine book, PETER LANYON: At the edge of landscape, which was produced by Bowie’s 21 Publishing company in 2000.

The text by David Bowie in the montage at the top of this piece is taken from the back cover of the book.

Here’s the blurb about the exhibition from Tate St Ives…

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Peter Lanyon has come increasingly to be seen as one of the most important innovative figures in twentieth century British art. Nevertheless, this will be the first thorough retrospective for almost forty years.

Lanyon was the leading exponent of abstract expressionism in Britain in the 1950s. In tandem with contemporaries in America and Europe he developed a new language for painting with his unmatched formal and technical experimentation. Though his roots were in the Constructivism of Naum Gabo, he saw himself as remaking the tradition of landscape painting, using landscape and places to express ideas about states of being and the human condition.

Studies and displays of Lanyon’s art have often focused on the places and experiences from which he said his works derived. This exhibition will seek also to throw light upon the technical qualities of the work, to emphasise his technical innovation and progression. His sculpture will feature alongside his paintings.

The show will be curated by Chris Stephens, Head of Displays and Curator of Modern British Art at Tate Britain.

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The Peter Lanyon retrospective will run at Tate St Ives in Cornwall from October 9th through to David’s 64th birthday on January 8th, 2011. Go here for further details.

And I’m busting up my brains for the words…

Had a few disgruntleds write in complaining about this one, and understandably so. It’s an iPhone application called David Bowie Lyric Studio and despite appearances, it’s not official.

Sadly it seems there are generally many more bad apps on iTunes than good, and the unofficial Bowie ones are no exception. (08.16.2010 NEWS: LATEST BOWIE-RELATED iPHONE APP IS TOILET)

This app is actually on v2 now (at least) and I’m not sure what improvements have been made over the first version.

As you can see from the ‘Features’ blurb above, this app apparently features “official authorized song lyrics” and “corresponding videos as they become available on YouTube”.

Well, both those claims are pushing it, to put it mildly. This product certainly isn’t officially licensed and going by the songs I’ve checked so far, the majority of tracks aren’t even linked to official videos on YouTube.

It was clear things weren’t going to be quite as described when I tried to check out the first video in the list, which is supposedly for 1984. It actually plays Billy Idol‘s Dancing With Myself!

Things don’t get any better, Afraid linked to the video for New Killer Star and most tracks were linked to the wrong album…and sometimes official studio recordings were assigned to bootlegs!

I could go on, but I already feel bad about giving this much space to this item as it is. As a general rule, if it’s an official app it will get a mention on BowieNet…usually ahead of release.

David Bowie Lyric Studio is fifty nine pence to buy, which is around fifty eight pence too much…possibly more.

Wild Boys Keep Swinging…

As promised a few days ago, (09.01.2010 NEWS: MANIMAL WAR CHILD BOWIE TRIBUTE FEATURED IN NME) we can now exclusively reveal the next limited edition 7″ 45 release from Manimal’s tribute to David Bowie: We Were So Turned On.

The single will feature Duran Duran‘s version of Boys Keep Swinging and Carla Bruni‘s rendition of Absolute Beginners. The record is due on October 15th.

Meanwhile, Duran’s Nick Rhodes has been talking about the band’s contribution to the Bowie tribute via a brief video snippet which you can view here on YouTube.

As we told you in our previous story, We Were So Turned On is available physically and digitally worldwide from today, (September 6th) aside from in Europe where the double CD isn’t released until October 11th.

We’ll be giving away ten copies of the CD long before that European release date though, so stay tuned for that.

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While we’re on the subject of We Were So Turned On…Sophia Knapp of Lights (NYC) gave an interview some time ago in which she talked about the band’s version of As The World Falls Down.

I’m sure you don’t need reminding that the song was originally recorded by Bowie for the 1986 Labyrinth soundtrack.

Here’s the relevant bit…

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I wanted to ask you a little about glam. I see you have a song (“World Falls Down”) on a David Bowie tribute album coming out. I thought it was interesting because you take a song from Labyrinth, and even though everyone likes Labyrinth, people tend to think it wasn?t the coolest part of Bowie?s career. But you were obviously really smitten with the music. What draws you to it?

Well, it?s my favorite movie from my childhood. I?m a huge Bowie fan, and seeing that movie was my first encounter with him. I think I was six years old when I saw it and it just made a huge impression on me. In a way it?s some of Bowie?s music that has the most meaning for me. The way it?s recorded is pretty cheesy, but there?s some really beautiful songs on that soundtrack, actually. The song we?re doing is a really classic love song. And David Bowie?s character in that film is just incredible. He?s just so good at being evil.

He really is.

And the hair, of course.

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Seems there are Labby fans everywhere.

While we’re on the subject of As The World Falls Down covers…Girl In A Coma finally release their superb version of the track on CD next month.

Released back in April as part of their Adventures in Coverland series of three 45’s, the song was issued as the second in the series coupled with the girl’s version of Joy Division‘s Transmission.

Now Girl In A Coma have collected together the seven songs released across the 45’s, added three new tracks and will release all ten tracks on CD on October 19th.

The tracks are also available to purchase as downloads, but, if you don’t like buying stuff you can listen to all seven original covers on the Adventures in Coverland site.

Aside from the Bowie rendition, it’s really worth checking out their other covers too, not to mention their original compositions. They put me in mind of the likes of Throwing Muses, Belly and The Breeders…and all those other 4AD crazy ladies.

We’re painting our faces…

We first told you about this film and the Bowie content on the soundtrack back in March. (03.01.2010 NEWS: TWO BOWIE SONGS ON RUNAWAYS SOUNDTRACK PLUS CC TALKS DB & 03.16.2010 NEWS: BOWIE PAYS TRIBUTE TO FLORIA SIGISMONDI IN NY TIMES)

Well, The Runaways finally hits UK screens this coming Friday (10th) and Digital Spy has a short teaser clip of Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie Bowiefying herself prior to her performance of Lady Grinning Soul at a school talent contest.

Check it out here.

Really Quietus paradise…

David Bowie is the subject of the regular feature Beyond The Hits on The Quietus today. Entitled: David Bowie: Fantastic Voyages From Beyond The Hits, here’s the introduction to this very cool item…

God knows he’s good… and so does The Quietus. Our writers plunder his back catalogue to unearth the finest Bowie tracks that weren’t hit singles. You could release countless Bowie anthologies and never quite capture how special the Thin White Duke really is. Here, Chris Roberts, Nix Lowery, Joe Stannard, Frances Morgan, Petra Davis, Wyndham Wallace and John Doran reveal their favourite Bowie tunes which weren’t smash-hit singles.

Here’s the first one from the list of twenty five songs to whet your appetite…

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‘Can You Hear Me?’ from Young Americans (1975)

One of the highlights of Young Americans (the album which single-handedly switched a generation of white boys on to soul music), Bowie’s “plastic soul” is more soulful than most others’ “authentic” soul. He originally drafted this for Lulu, but the way he sings it here could surely never be bettered by man, woman or beast. It’s a love song which seems to be completely shorn of irony. Even if his singing is that of a consummate actor, it doesn’t matter: trust the result, not the process.

There’s a mature credibility to the lyrics too: while the protagonist admits the relationship in question has been imperfect, and “there’s been many others, so many times”, the key line is: “I want love so badly/ I want you most of all”. This is no prettified ‘Lady Grinning Soul’ but half a dialogue between grown-ups. There’s a gorgeous gospel-tinged call-and-response at the denouement. I can’t really reduce this song with verbiage, as everything about its tone, sound, core and sheen possess a hotline to my unconscious and move me like a tsunami’s caress. Chris Roberts

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No doubt this feature will kick off a few heated debates, but either way you have to admit there are some particularly fine selections here…

‘Can You Hear Me?’ from Young Americans (1975)
‘The Loneliest Guy’ from Reality (2003)
‘Art Decade’ from Low (1977)
‘Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed’ from Space Oddity (1969)
‘Win’ from Young Americans (1975)
‘We Are The Dead’ from Diamond Dogs (1974)
‘It’s Gonna Be Me’ from Young Americans Reissue (1991)
‘That’s Motivation’ from Absolute Beginners: The Official Soundtrack (1986)
‘Subterraneans’ from Low (1977)
‘Sweet Thing/Candidate’ from Diamond Dogs (1974)
‘V-2 Schneider’ from “Heroes” (1977)
‘Lady Grinning Soul’ from Aladdin Sane (1973)
‘Something In The Air’ from “Hours…” (1999)
‘I’m Deranged’ from Lost Highway: Official Soundtrack (1997)
‘God Knows I’m Good’ from Space Oddity (1969)
‘Without You’ from Let’s Dance (1983)
‘All Saints’ from All Saints: Collected Instrumentals 1977-1999 (2000)
‘Warszawa’ from Low (1977)
‘After All’ from The Man Who Sold The World (1970)
‘Always Crashing In The Same Car’ from Low (1977)
‘Be My Wife’ from Low (1977)
‘Fantastic Voyage’ from Lodger (1979)
‘Queen Bitch’ from Hunky Dory (1971)
‘All The Madmen’ from The Man Who Sold The World (1970)
‘Red Sails’ from Lodger (1979)

Go here to read the full thing and why not Listen to the David Bowie Beyond The Hits Spotify Playlist here while you’re about it.

The Word On A Wing…

The October issue of The Word has a full-page review of Station To Station by Stuart Maconie.

The Word doesn’t use any method of star rating for their reviews, so you’ll just have to take my word for it when I say that I reckon Stuart would have awarded five stars if they did. Well, four and a half at least, probably.

I’ll leave you with the first paragraph of the review to give you a sniff of it…

PS – There’s also a great eight-page Ferry/Roxy interview/feature that’s well worth a look.

Among the twilight and stars, Like a rocket to…

Congratulations to Duncan Jones and team MOON for yet another prestigious award.

The 2010 Hugo Awards have just taken place at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in Australia, and MOON has won the Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Category.

This was some achievement considering the impressive list of fellow nominees that MOON had to beat: Avatar, District 9, Star Trek and Up.

Here’s Duncan’s reaction to the news via Twitter: “Holy shnikey! A Bafta and a Hugo in the same year! I really CAN only go down-hill from here!! ;?)”

Read more about the event and the design of the beautiful Hugo award itself over at Man Made Movies, where it has also been revealed that Source Code is due on March 11th next year.

Finally, if you didn’t manage to get along to the screening of MOON at the NFT for the Q&A with Duncan on August 31st, (08.17.2010 NEWS: DUNCAN JONES INTERVIEW AND UPDATES ON MAN MADE MOVIES) you can view some pretty decent audience footage of the proceedings here.

If you’re a fan of MOON it’s really worth taking a look as there is some very interesting information revealed about what inspired the creative process and how those ambitions were realised by Duncan and his team.

Thanx to Unkle Rupert at Man Made Movies for the pointers to all of this stuff.

She?s a Total Blam Blam ?

Total Blam Blam clocks up fifty years on the planet today, and we wish him a very Happy Birthday! This also seems like a great opportunity to give praise and thanks for the decade or so he has been serving us as BowieNet?s News Editor.

His influence has been felt at all corners of everything Bowie related. As well as writing and editing the news page with humour, flair and attention to every detail, he has also had significant input into Bowie projects outside of BowieNet over the years, such as sleevenotes and even his own Bowie fanzine back in the early eighties.

His knowledge and love of David Bowie?s opus is widely acknowledged to be second to none, and this has informed his ability to handle anything BowieNet has thrown at him. A Bowie collector since the age of eleven, his archive is legendary and is often referenced for reissue projects and the like.

And then there are his Bowie photographs. Time after time we have been treated to stunningly beautiful, candid and revealing shots of David Bowie both at the height of his powers as an international rock god and also during quieter, more contemplative moments.

There have been one or two highlights along the way for Blam himself?

when I live my dream?

Perhaps most notable is his visit to a 2002 rehearsal which included a personal face to face chat with Bowie ?and I couldn’t help thinking the whole time that I was looking at the most interesting and beautiful rock ‘n roll face of all time?.

This was followed by a personal performance of The Bewlay Brothers and several other songs from that sensational Hammersmith setlist ?Apart from the obvious things, like the birth of my children, that is one of the most memorable moments of my life?.

Blam also got the chance to sing lead vocal on Suffragette City backed by Bowie?s own band and with Bowie himself playing the role of the audience! ?David danced in the stalls like a demented fan, just before he invaded the stage and hugged me in the most bizarre role reversal I have ever experienced… absolutely surreal!??

Read the full incredible story in this BowieNet News item – 09.17.2002 NEWS: BLAMMO REPORTS FROM BOWIE REHEARSALS.

And, like all of us, Blam was keen to have an appropriately serious and reverent photograph of himself with the great man:

Music (Week picture) is sublime…

Many of Blam?s pictures of David have now been used in newspapers and magazines throughout the world, as well as in the artwork for many of Bowie?s CD and DVD releases, not to mention tour merchandise and posters.

Most recently he had a full page picture of David published in NME back in January, 01.27.2010 NEWS: NME IN SEARCH OF DAVID BOWIE PLUS DB A-Z PHOTO GALLERY and several in the A Reality Live double CD 01.25.2010 NEWS: A REALITY LIVE AND DERAM DELUXE RELEASED TODAY.

You can see his first successes in the image above and read the accompanying article here – 10.15.2002 NEWS: BOWIENETTERS MAKE GOOD (PART 236)

Here?s another one from The Independent in 2003:

Full story here – 02.02.2003 NEWS: BLAMMO PIC OF MARK, LARD AND DB IN THE INDEPENDENT

I could go on about all the fantastic times we?ve had at Bowie events over the years ? the 1999 Bowie Ball thrown by Leeza in New York, Darkness and Disgrace and the Ziggy phone box in London in 2000 – but I think the best place for that is probably the message boards (be fearful M!).

Please feel free to post your greetings, memories and also your favourite Blammo shots of Bowie in THIS message board thread.

I think I speak for us all when I say that BowieNet would have been a very different place without Blammo at the helm ? so have one for all of us tonight mate. Thanks so much for all the good times! I leave you with this shot from another famous Bowie photographer, but this time she had a different subject?

Like a valuable loved one…

Paul Morley has written a lengthy piece regarding Station To Station for the LIFE & ARTS section of today’s Financial Times in the UK. Here’s a brief excerpt from it…

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Station To Station is a mesmerising album, one of Bowie?s best, which is saying something, as he made many, most of them during the 1970s, that were sold as entertainment but contained the moving detail and mysterious, transformative depth of art.

It may well be one of rock?s very greatest, as a comment both on where the smart, neurotic artist who made it was, psychologically, creatively and commercially, but also where rock music itself was, on its compelling journey from Sinatra, Presley and the Beatles to Prince, Jay-Z and Gaga, from the Velvet Underground, the Kinks and Kraftwerk to Madonna, Nirvana and Nine Inch Nails. It is one of those Bowie albums, like Hunky Dory (1971), or Ziggy Stardust (1972), or Low (1977), or Lodger (1979), that are at times my favourite of his, because they demonstrate with such elan what a sparkling, mischievous mind he had, and what ambition, and what a stupendous ego, and how dangerously charming he was.

His impact as a musician, as a brand, as a sign of the times, has been as great as Dylan and the Beatles, his influence as an otherworldly pop star actually greater, and if you just want one example of what he got up to as this erudite pop combination of shaman, singer, thinker and shameless self-promoter, then Station to Station is as good a place as any.

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You can read the full thing online here: The importance of David Bowie.