Month: October 2013

“Halloween Jack is a real cool cat”

This is the news we’ve been teasing you with. We have moved the online premiere of David Bowie’s latest visual back a day from November 1st as it has a “strangely moving gothic inflected storyline perfect for Halloween”.

The video received its world premiere at last night’s Barclaycard Mercury Prize but the full thing is now yours for the viewing here at DavidBowie.com   (If you’re having trouble viewing where you are, try this link) 

The stills on this page were taken by Jimmy King, who was also the cameraman shooting what has to be one of the world’s most cheaply produced music videos at a mere $12.99!

See the press release below for the full story.

BOWIE’S $12.99 HOMEMADE VIDEO

‘LOVE IS LOST’ (HELLO STEVE REICH MIX EDIT BY JAMES MURPHY FOR THE DFA) 

Last week David Bowie had an idea. His new single, ‘LOVE IS LOST’, was to be released this week and a video clip was needed. 

Eschewing both celebrity guests and splashy production, Bowie picked up his domestic camera from home, rescued a couple of puppets from his legendary archive and wrote, shot and edited the entire video over this last weekend in the darkened corridor of his office in Manhattan, New York. 

With his assistant Jimmy King on camera and best friend Coco Schwab handling everything from continuity to sandwiches they worked through the evenings finishing on Monday morning, sending it out to the rest of the world.

The result of this speedy production is a strangely moving gothic inflected storyline perfect for Halloween. And the cost? Just $12.99 for the thumb drive to download the finished video on.

The video received its world premiere at last night’s Barclaycard Mercury Prize and is now online at: http://smarturl.it/LoveIsLostVideo

The video features the edited James Murphy mix of LOVE IS LOST which due to overwhelming demand was made available earlier this week: http://smarturl.it/LoveIsLostRemix

The full James Murphy remix of LOVE IS LOST along with five brand new studio tracks are to be released as part of a three disc collectors set/download THE NEXT DAY EXTRA on November the 5th. (4th UK)

THE NEXT DAY EXTRA will feature the original 14 song album, a 10 track companion album with five unheard songs/two remixes and a DVD featuring four videos from THE NEXT DAY, a 7-track digital EP bundle will also be available.

LOVE IS LOST (HELLO STEVE REICH MIX EDIT BY JAMES MURPHY FOR THE DFA) http://smarturl.it/LoveIsLostRemix

THE NEXT DAY EXTRA (digital) http://smarturl.it/TNDE

THE NEXT DAY EXTRA (physical) http://smarturl.it/TNDEamz

“Let’s get this show on the road”

A few days ahead of its release next week (UK Nov 4/US Nov 5), we’re delighted to be able to let you have a look inside The Next Day Extra box set via this 2:12 minute Unboxing The Next Day clip. 

As if that wasn’t exciting enough, you can also listen to over half of new track Atomica while you watch the unboxing.

Barnbrook has triumphed again with this package and we can’t wait to see what you decide to do with You!

“Keep your ‘lectric eye on me babe”

Good news coming.

“It’s happening now”

Here is the latest press release for upcoming TND Extra associated TV and radio broadcasts. Please bear in mind that the PR is UK-centric.

The Love Is Lost edit will be made available at some point today, but isn’t live as we post in a weather-battered Britain this morning.

DAVID BOWIE ‘LOVE IS LOST’ (HELLO STEVE REICH MIX EDIT BY JAMES MURPHY FOR THE DFA) 

WORLD PREMIERE VISUAL ON THE BARCLAYCARD MERCURY PRIZE 30/10 ON MORE 4 AT 9.30pm

BRAND NEW TRACKS TO PREMIERE 30/10 ON BBC 6 MUSIC, BBC RADIO 2 AND ABSOLUTE RADIO

Taken from THE NEXT DAY the Barclaycard Mercury Prize nominated album, LOVE IS LOST has been remixed by LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy into a critically acclaimed ten minute version entitled ‘HELLO STEVE REICH MIX BY JAMES MURPHY FOR THE DFA’. 

Due to overwhelming demand a special edit of the mix will be made available digitally today and the visual for it will have its world premiere as part of More 4’s Barclaycard Mercury Prize broadcast at 9.30pm 30th of October.

The visual will then be posted November 1st on www.davidbowie.com Vevo and YouTube.

ATOMICA, BORN IN A UFO and LIKE A ROCKET MAN three of the five brand new studio tracks from THE NEXT DAY EXTRA will debut on the 30th October on BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 2 and Absolute Radio. 

10.50am – BBC 6 Music, Lauren Laverne will play ‘ATOMICA’.

6.45pm – Absolute Radio, Geoff Lloyd will play ‘LIKE A ROCKET MAN’.

All five of the new tracks as well as the full James Murphy remix of LOVE IS LOST are to be released as part of a three disc collectors set/download THE NEXT DAY EXTRA on November the 4th.

These new songs as well as the full James Murphy remix of LOVE IS LOST are to be released as part of a three disc collectors set/download THE NEXT DAY EXTRA on November the 4th.

THE NEXT DAY EXTRA is released on November 4th and will feature the original 14 song album, a 10 track companion album with five unheard songs/two remixes and a DVD featuring four videos from THE NEXT DAY, a 7-track digital EP bundle will also be available.

LOVE IS LOST (HELLO STEVE REICH MIX EDIT BY JAMES MURPHY FOR THE DFA) 

http://smarturl.it/LoveIsLostRemix

THE NEXT DAY EXTRA (digital) http://smarturl.it/TNDE

THE NEXT DAY EXTRA (physical) http://smarturl.it/TNDEamz

It is with great sadness that we report the death of Lou Reed, who died today aged 71. (March 2, 1942 – October 27, 2013)

David Bowie said of his old friend: “He was a master.”

“Under the spotlight, the Sirius spotlight”

Here’s the main body of the press release from the American SiriusXM Internet Radio station. 

The David Bowie Channel will launch on Wednesday, October 30 at 12:00 pm ET and will run through Tuesday, November 12, via satellite on channel 111. The David Bowie Channel will be available as a 24/7 channel online and through the SiriusXM Internet Radio App for smartphones and mobile devices beginning Wednesday, October 30 for an extended period.

 

The limited-run channel will feature music from the vast body of artistry from Bowie’s entire career, from his earliest recordings through 2013’s The Next Day. The David Bowie Channel will also exclusively premiere the five unheard songs from Bowie’s The Next Day Extra, the 3 disc collectors edition; the songs will only be heard on The David Bowie Channel until November 5, the day The Next Day Extra is released. Listeners will hear rare tracks and demo versions of some of Bowie’s greatest songs as well as artists including Beck, Annie Lennox,  Nirvana, Tears For Fears, Barbra Streisand, The Wallflowers, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Duran Duran, Scott Weiland and Dinosaur Jr. interpreting Bowie’s music.

 

“‘Icon’ gets thrown around a lot, but for David Bowie, one of pop and rock music’s greatest, most unconventional artists, it’s textbook accurate. We can’t wait to bring to our listeners a full-time channel that offers an expertly curated deep dive into his artistic genius. From Major Tom to Ziggy Stardust to the Thin White Duke through his latest work, The Next Day, the channel will bring together every phase of his pioneering music, and all will hear this enduring body of work, which is as relevant today as it was at each and every phase of David’s storied career,” said Scott Greenstein, President and Chief Content Officer, SiriusXM.

 

David Bowie’s extensive, legendary catalog is one of the most revered in popular culture, and includes all-time great million selling albums and artistic landmarks such as The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust  And The Spiders From Mars, Aladdin Sane, Young Americans, Low, Heroes, Scary Monsters, Let’s Dance, The Buddha of Suburbia and more. Within the featured catalog are Top 30 Billboard hit singles including Space Oddity, Young Americans, Fame, Golden Years, Let’s Dance, China Girl and Blue Jean.

 

The David Bowie Channel is an example of SiriusXM channels created with iconic and leading artists, including Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Radio, Ozzy Osbourne’s Ozzy’s Boneyard, Pearl Jam Radio, Eminem’s Shade 45, Willie Nelson’s Willie’s Roadhouse, The Pink Floyd Channel, B.B. King’s Bluesville, Elvis Radio, Jimmy Buffett’s Radio Margaritaville, Siriusly Sinatra, Tiesto’s Club Life Radio and Neil Diamond Radio.

Read the full thing here.

“Never thought I’d need, so many albums”

The latest issue of NME magazine (October 26th), has a cover feature titled: The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time.

The item is introduced thus:

The album is an artform by which any act worth caring about wants to be judged. Inside this week’s NME, we grant them that pleasure as we rank of the 500 greatest records of all time. Let the arguments begin… 

David Bowie’s contributions to the world of popular music are represented by an impressive list of 10 albums (more than any other artist in the list), with a further four he had a major hand in the creation of, aside from mixing duties only on Raw Power.

SPOILER WARNING: Here’s the list with positions.

447 Diamond Dogs – David Bowie

381 Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) – David Bowie

329 “Heroes” – David Bowie

296 Let’s Dance – David Bowie

230 Aladdin Sane – David Bowie

175 Young Americans – David Bowie

53 Station To Station – David Bowie

23 The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars – David Bowie

14 Low – David Bowie

3 Hunky Dory – David Bowie

 

Related

467 The Idiot – Iggy Pop

217 Lust For Life – Iggy Pop

80 Raw Power – Iggy and The Stooges

72 Transformer – Lou Reed

There are comments throughout the article on the majority of the albums therein, with a whole page devoted to Hunky Dory.

If you want to read those comments you’ll be pleased to know that the new-look NME is available now in printed and digital formats. 

“Commencing countdown…”

The Next Day Extra – November 4 2013 – Regional release date variations apply.

The Next Day Extra (digital) 

The Next Day Extra (physical) 

Read more here.

#TheNextDayExtra

“Singing old songs we loved”

We recently told you about the The David Bowie Pin Ups Radio Show being made available on Spotify from October 28th. 

Well now you can have a sneak preview ahead of that via BBC Radio 6 Music from 9:30am UK time tomorrow. (Wednesday October 23rd)

Here’s the press release with a transcript of Bowie’s fascinating between track chat.

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BBC Radio 6 Music given world exclusive access to previously unheard David Bowie ‘Radio Show’

Marking 40 years since the release of Pin Ups, David Bowie’s album of cover versions, BBC Radio 6 Music has been given exclusive access to a previously unheard promotional radio programme for the album which will be broadcast on the network and at bbc.co.uk/6music on Wednesday 23 October.

The multi-talented, multi-faceted Bowie turns DJ in the 15 minute mock radio show. It was produced in 1973 as a promo tool for the release of the album, but never made it to the airwaves. It was produced by Bowie himself and Ken Scott (who produced Bowie’s albums from Hunky Dory through to Pin Ups).

It features five tracks from the album (The Pretty Things’ Rosalyn, Them’s Here Comes the Night, The Yardbirds’ I Wish You Would, The Merseys’ Sorrow and The Who’s I Can’t Explain) interspersed with Bowie’s own musings and insights into the London music scene back then.

It was unearthed by Nigel Reeve who oversees Bowie’s back catalogue. He said, “I discovered it during some research several years ago. It was in an old tape vault on 1/4″ tape with simply the words ‘Radio Show’ written on it. This is such a rare find. No one knew of its existence, apart from David and Ken. To play it for the first time was quite simply a jaw dropping moment.”

Forty years on, on Wednesday 23 October it will be given its first ever broadcast in shows across the day on BBC Radio 6 Music. And will be available to listen to till midnight on Sunday 27 October at bbc.co.uk/6music. 6 Music’s Breakfast Show presenter Shaun Keaveny will play the first part of the promo at 9.30am, followed by further clips through the day in Lauren Laverne, Radcliffe & Maconie and Steve Lamacq’s shows, with the final part airing on Marc Riley’s programme in the evening.

Presenter Shaun Keaveny said: “It’s beyond exciting for 6 Music to be showcasing the first ever airing of this historic recording, in a year that has been all about the Bowie comeback.”

James Stirling, Editor 6 Music, said: “This exclusive is a fantastic coup for 6 Music. As a network showcasing music of alternative spirit, David Bowie is at our core, and it’s fantastic that our listeners will have the opportunity to hear this radio show for the first time ever.”

6 Music will also use the Pin Ups radio show to celebrate a day of cover versions. Listeners will be asked to nominate their favourite covers, culminating in Gideon Coe’s show (9pm-midnight) which will feature in its entirety suggestions from the listeners. 

Here are the songs played in the short recording and a transcript of Bowie’s chat between the tracks. Known for his many alter egos, his delivery is in the style of born and bred Londoner David Jones, the music loving, club going man about town:

* Rosalyn (The Pretty Things)

 

“I’d already been up Ealing Broadway to see Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated, and that’s when he had a killer line up with Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, Cyril Davies and Spike Heatley on bass, Graham Bond on organ and alto with of course John Baldry on vocals. I think most London art school students found themselves carted up there some time or other. Viv Andrews and Dick Taylor for sure. Dick was at Sidcup forming The Pretty Things with Phil after he got chucked out of the Stones. Phil was pretty electric and cleared most halls in about 15 minutes.”

 

* Here Comes the Night (Them)

 

“Anyway, there was lots to choose from – up the Windmill or the Elephant, get blocked and bussed over to Richmond. Brian had cancer and was going to drop any day, Mick never washed. How could this new lot replace the Stones? Yardbirds? Any wallop, they blasted out the old solos.”

 

* I Wish You Would (The Yardbirds)

 

“The Liddypool [Liverpool] thing didn’t mean a light up Richmond. It affected one band who dropped the ‘beat’ bit and became The Merseys. Never saw ’em play but they hung about a lot.”

 

* Sorrow (The Merseys)

 

“So there you were, you had the Prettys, Yardbirds and, if you ventured down The Marquee on a Sunday night, the Floyd with dear old Syd, or The Animals down Windmill Street at the Scene Club, Eel Pie Island Ricky Tick Club for The Creation or Reg’s mob The Action. But the biggest buzz was back at The Marquee. They dressed weeks out of date, but they did all the right stuff – Martha and Vandellas and all that. A lot of action on a night. They were our band, The Who.”

 

* I Can’t Explain (The Who)