Every magazine on every shelf…
A few little snippets in the September music monthlies…
Next up, in
Stay tuned for some exciting news about Station To Station shortly.
Finally,
Benassi Vs Bowie 8-track Promo Cd Winners
I’ve got believers (kiss kiss) …
OK, this was your chance to win the above 48 minute 8-track Benassi vs Bowie DJ remix promo, ten copies of which were donated by the good folk at Positiva for your contestual delight.
In the original contest (07.19.2009 NEWS: BENASSI vs BOWIE OUT TODAY – WIN 8-TRACK PROMO CD) all you had to do to be in with a chance of winning was to ask nicely for a copy.
Well, in the end, being the polite bunch that you are, pretty well everybody asked very nicely…so I left it up to The Random Generator to pick this lot out of its mechanical hat…
bowieman59
charly
davidkelly
iamadj
ikehatabin
jungtheforeman
maarten
pluto
tonyp
westacot
Don’t forget that you can watch the accompanying video for this remix
Double Cd 40th Anniversary Space Oddity Album Due
An occasional dream of mine…
It is with much pleasure that we can exclusively reveal details of the upcoming 40th anniversary two disc edition of the Space Oddity album.
Disc one contains the full original album that first appeared as David Bowie on the Philips label in November 1969 and as Man Of Words, Man Of Music on Mercury in the US.
Disc two contains fifteen tracks including eight previously unreleased versions.
Here’s the full breakdown…
DAVID BOWIE – Space Oddity 40th Anniversary Edition
CD 1:
01 – Space Oddity (5.14)
02 – Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed (inc. Don’t Sit Down) (6.51)
03 – Letter To Hermione (2.32)
04 – Cygnet Committee (9.31)
05 – Janine (3.21)
06 – An Occasional Dream (2.54)
07 – Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud (4.46)
08 – God Knows I’m Good (3.17)
09 – Memory Of A Free Festival (7.09)
CD 2:
01 – Space Oddity (demo) (5.10) *
02 – An Occasional Dream (demo) (2.49) *
03 – Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud (single B-side with spoken intro) (4.56)
04 – Brian Matthew interviews David/Let Me Sleep Beside You (BBC Radio session D.L.T. Show) (4.45)
05 – Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed (BBC Radio session D.L.T. Show) (3.54) *
06 – Janine (BBC Radio session: D.L.T. Show) (3.02)
07 – London Bye Ta-Ta (stereo version) (3.12)
08 – Prettiest Star (stereo version) (3.12)
09 – Conversation Piece (stereo version) (3.06) *
10 – Memory Of A Free Festival (Part 1) (single A-side) (4.01)
11 – Memory Of A Free Festival (Part 2) (single B-side) (3.30)
12 – Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud (alternate album mix) (4.45) *
13 – Memory Of A Free Festival (alternate album mix) (9.22) *
14 – London Bye Ta-Ta (alternate stereo mix) (2.34) *
15 – Ragazzo Solo, Ragazza Sola (full length stereo version) (5.14) *
* Previously unreleased
Every effort was made to source from original tapes for this project, with close attention to the sound of an original vinyl first pressing for reference.
Don’t Sit Down has been restored to its original place, at the end of Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed, and not listed as a separate track. Also original fade out/in lengths and gaps between tracks have been observed.
I will be going in to more detail regarding the tracks on the bonus disc shortly, suffice to say that all the tracks marked with an asterisk truly are previously unreleased.
This means these versions haven’t even surfaced on bootleg, excepting the DLT show version of Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed…which now completes the official release of that particular BBC session.
The release will be accompanied by extensive sleeve notes with rare pictures and memorabilia pertaining to the original release.
The Space Oddity 40th Anniversary Edition is due for an October release.
More Michael Clark Thank U Ma'am Details
Like the dolphins, Like dolphins can swim…
You may have been following the progress of
Some details have begun to emerge via interviews and reviews a few of which I’ve pasted below. Fist up is an excerpt from a recent interview by Susan Mansfield in
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Clark’s work pits the precision and rigour of classical dance against the anarchic energy of rock, in this case in creating a tribute to the triumvirate of the 1970s: David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed. He was a student at the Royal Ballet School at the time, playing truant to see punk bands in London. Somehow, in the clash of these opposing forces, he found his own alchemical creativity.
To understand the importance of both, you have to put yourself in the dancing shoes of Clark aged 11, growing up on a farm in rural Aberdeenshire a long time before anyone thought of Billy Elliot, watching Bowie on Top of the Pops. “It was like ‘Oh my god, maybe other people are a little bit like I feel, inside’. When he put his arm round Mick Ronson on Top of the Pops, it was like a moment of epiphany, it was something I didn’t see men do where I came from. It wasn’t even a homosexual thing, it was realising there were kindred spirits out there, I just had to find them.”
He found them through dance, and, for all his rebellion, eagerly embraced his classical training. One teacher at the Royal Ballet School said he was the best student they’d ever taught. “I’m a funny mixture. I’m incredibly traditional, there are things I was taught which I know inside out physically, and love. So if I choose to break a rule, it’s a choice, but it’s never done in a way that I know better, because I was very well trained. I embrace a lot of tradition, but I also love the opposite, like Stravinsky, Nijinsky, everything inverted.”
He has just spent three years choreographing Stravinsky in a residency at Barbican. In taking on Stravinsky, he knew he couldn’t avoid pitting himself against the ballet greats with whom he is associated: Balanchine, Nijinsky, the ballerina Bronislava Nijinska. In fact, that’s part of why he did it. “I knew everyone was going to compare mine, probably unfavourably, to the classic versions, but you have to keep challenging yourself. This is a similar trilogy for me, Lou Reed, Bowie and Iggy Pop. I guess Iggy Pop would be Nijinsky, Lou Reed might be Nijinska. Would Bowie be Balanchine? No, I think not. Anyway. It was, you know, that idea. I’m actually wholeheartedly enjoying working with this music, I’m thrilled that I’ve been given permission to.” He adds that he hopes Bowie will see the show. “It’s a dialogue with the music, it always is. Sometimes you fight things, sometimes you go with it.”
Clark makes a brief appearance on stage in Thank U Ma’am. The moment worked well in rehearsals and covers a tricky costume change, he says, as if he needs to make excuses. He dances largely with his back to us, as if deliberately avoiding our gaze, daring us not to pay attention. But he’s still riveting, fluid, dancing mercury.
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You can read the full interview
Other details from the show have been described in the following excerpts, the highlights seeming to be during “Heroes” and The Jean Genie, both represented pictorially on this page.
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In the second and more successful work, Thank U Ma?am, the music is again at the centre of Clark?s creation. This time, however, it is Iggy Pop and David Bowie who receive the homage.
To this soundtrack of 1970s rock excess, the dancers (including Clark himself) create a futuristic world of emotionless clones. Stiff-limbed mannequins are reminiscent of something from movies like Blade Runner or Metropolis. These androgynous aliens are overwhelmed by the power of Bowie?s original performance, however. Particularly when he is projected performing Heroes on the backdrop ? the dancers are almost incidental in the face of the great rock icon?s looming, on-screen presence.
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From the
The second half [Thank U Ma?am] is far better, and that’s related to the quality of the music from Bowie and his collaborators, Iggy Pop and Brian Eno. Michael Clark, who choreographs more than dances these days, later appears, attired in a bizarre soccer outfit.
The costumes and lighting in this part are far more vibrant, and the red Jean Genie leotards and jackets especially lend a great sense of fun and style. However, the decision to flash film images of Bowie onto a background screen is a double-edged sword…it’s difficult to concentrate on the dancers while he’s ‘onstage’.
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The second dance, Thank U Ma?am , was a different story. What that story might have been, I am clueless of, but it was good, old fun. When the first, thrilling bars of David Bowie?s Heroes filled the room, for a few seconds everyone was 17 again. The Thin White Duke appeared in cinematic black and white, wearing his leathers and looking unreasonably glam, while on stage, the dancers went through a dreamy routine in time with the pop classic.
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For the record, at the moment Thank U Ma?am includes: Mass Production from The Idiot, ?Heroes”, The Jean Genie and both Future Legend and Chant Of The Ever-Circling Skeletal Family from Diamond Dogs. These were the only songs mentioned in reviews.
However, I imagine the rest of the songs we mentioned last month, Sense of Doubt, After All and Aladdin Sane, are also utilised somehow. (07.09.2009 NEWS: MICHAEL CLARK’S NEW WORK DETAILS)
No Need To Pay $150 For Cat People Limited Edition Vinyl 45
See these eyes so green…
Despite the rarity of the exclusive limited edition Cat People vinyl 45 7″ that we told you about last month, (05.14.2009 NEWS: BOWIE TRACK ON NEW TARANTINO SOUNDTRACK) there are better ways to try and get the thing without coughing up
However, if you’re just after an unsigned copy of the 45, you can get one when you pre-order either the vinyl or CD of the
HMV in London’s Oxford Street is also offering the record with pre-orders of the CD, as they have been since the day that Mr T was there signing copies. (07.21.2009 NEWS: GET ULTRA RARE CAT PEOPLE SINGLE AT HMV TOMORROW) Go
If you don’t even want to pay a penny for the 45, you may want to try your luck in this
The