Month: January 2010

When you rock ‘n roll with me…

The Rockologist is the alter-ego that blogcritics.org music editor, Glen Boyd, uses from time to time and whenever he feels particularly compelled to comment on things that need to be said.

In The Case For Latter Day Bowie On A Reality Tour, (a review of Reality Live and a well-considered overview of David Bowie’s place in music today) Boyd makes some refreshing observations about David Bowie and confirms what we’ve known all along.

You can read the full article over on blogcritics.org, but I’ll leave you with the introduction to give you a flavour of the piece anyway…

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Although David Bowie has been pretty quiet for the last several years, his enduring influence is something which continues to permeate virtually every aspect of pop music today.

From the electronic excursions of bands like Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead ? whose Kid A, Amnesiac, and In Rainbows make up a trilogy not at all unlike Bowie’s seventies “Berlin” albums with Brian Eno ? to the work of modern bands like Arcade Fire (who Bowie himself has enthusiastically and publicly endorsed), Bowie’s stamp remains everywhere, even if the artist himself has been mostly silent in recent years.

So here’s the thing.

David Bowie’s status as an innovator is pretty much beyond reproach. He’s never sold records in quite the same numbers as such contemporaries as the Rolling Stones ? outside of the early eighties Let’s Dance period anyway. But save for maybe Neil Young (which is another discussion entirely), there simply isn’t another artist from the same time period whose influence remains so pervasive in pop music today.

From the textures of electronica to the immediacy of punk (and its nineties bastard child grunge/alternative), most of it can be traced to Bowie’s groundbreaking albums in the seventies. But this is also where the rub comes in…

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Continue reading here.

This time, Eno, we could get it together…

Saucy glam rock short arse*, Brian Eno, has an evening of programmes dedicated to him on BBC Four this evening.

Kicking of with an hour long profile at 21:00 is an Arena special: Brian Eno – Another Green World. I’m sure you all know that Another Green World is not only the title of Eno’s 1975 album, but the title track has also been the theme tune for the Arena programme itself since its inception in October 1975.

You can view the famous Arena titles with Eno’s music on this page and read an interview with director Nicola Roberts about filming the Life of Brian…

Next up is another hour long feature at 22:00, Brian Eno: Hits, Classics and Tracks in which Paul Morley dissects the following Eno-related tracks…

Roxy Music ? Virginia Plain
Roxy Music ? Ladytron
Roxy Music ? Grey Lagoons
Nico ? The End
David Bowie ? “Heroes”
David Bowie ? Boys Keep Swinging
Ultravox ? My Sex
Devo ? Jocko Homo
Talking Heads ? Once in a Lifetime
Brian Eno & David Byrne ? The Jezebel Spirit
U2 ? With or Without You
Passengers ? Miss Sarajevo
Coldplay ? Viva La Vida
David Byrne ? Life is Long

The Roxy Music Story is at 23:00 and if you’re a Roxy fan you will have already seen this, either via the many broadcasts on BBC Four to date, or you may already own the extended DVD. If you haven’t seen it, don’t miss it again.

Finally, For All Mankind is the breathtaking 1989 documentary relating the story of the twenty four men who travelled to the moon with NASA. The film provides eighty minutes of real NASA footage, taken on the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s, with accompanying music by Brian Eno.

Thanx to John at vivaroxymusic.com for the pointer.

* See evidence in photograph…it’s not faked, honest guv!

Johnny is a fan, and he’s bigger than you…

The rather bizarre looking chap above was unveiled to the public at a launch party at the Art of SpongeBob exhibition, at County Hall, in London last night…though UK members may have already seen him on breakfast TV the previous morning.

It’s the work of comedian Johnny Vegas and it’s in aid of the NSPCC/ChildLine charity. Johnny first spoke about his creation in an interview a couple of months ago…

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YOU’RE ALSO INVOLVED WITH A CHARITY PROJECT FOR NICKELODEON AREN’T YOU?
Yeah, they’ve asked me and some other people to design our own five-foot ceramic SpongeBob Squarepants. They’ll be on display at the Animation Gallery on the South Bank in London, and then they’ll be auctioned off to raise money for ChildLine.

WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION FOR YOURS?
Mine is modelled on David Bowie – he’s called BowieBob Flirtpants. It’s from the Ziggy Stardust era. It’s one of those things, you’re sitting there thinking, ‘Who can I do for this?’. It’s so difficult with SpongeBob, they’re that creative on the show, there’s very little they haven’t already done.

HASN’T BOWIE LEANT HIS VOICE TO A SPONGEBOB CHARACTER?
Has he? I’ll have to Google that. I hope you dreamed that! It might have been from that Tin Machine era that everybody tries to forget. Quite honestly, you’re looking at Ziggy Stardust, and there’s almost an animated quality to it. So you put him on SpongeBob, and you think, you know, it works!

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The attention to detail is great…The eyes, the boots, the hair, the suit…well, perhaps not the suit…but who wants to see Spongebob in the woodland creature outfit. Not a pretty sight!

And here’s the description from the NSPCC site, where you can also place bids on the one foot high sculpture.

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BowieBob FlaredPants by Johnny Vegas
Perhaps because David Bowie cited guesting on SpongeBob as “The holy grail of animation gigs”, perhaps because he is a Bowie fan, or perhaps just because he thought it would be massively cool, Johnny was inspired to turn SpongeBob into a glam rock superstar.

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You may have noticed the subtle name change from BowieBob Flirtpants to BowieBob FlaredPants…though perhaps it was just a case of mishearing the first time as Johnny does have a fairly strong northern brogue.

Anyway, Johnny is a Bowie fan, that much we know, and perhaps he even visits BowieNet on occasion…

We first used the above picture in 2006 when David Bowie announced in his journal that he was to have a talking part in the show. (10.05.2006 NEWS: SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS IN NEW BOWIE JOURNAL)

Not accusing Johnny of anything…just saying.

So, onto the more serious aspect of this whole thing. ChildLine is a very worthwhile cause in the UK helping desperate kids who otherwise would have nowhere else to turn, and like all charities, ChildLine needs cash to operate.

Though the site hasn’t been updated yet, I can tell you the bidding currently stands at £650 GBP for BowieBob FlaredPants.

If you’re the type with the kind of cash to join in the bidding, please do so here.

I look at my watch it say 9:25…

We teased you with this one yesterday and here it is, The Signed Ziggy Stardust FDC Slightly Later Bird Contest.

It’s exactly the same idea as the first one, except this time you have four more letters to play with.

If you entered the original ‘early bird’ contest (01.15.2010 NEWS: ROYAL MAIL SIGNED ZIGGY FDC EARLY BIRD CONTEST) and you’re still happy with your answer, then fine, you needn’t do anything more.

If you entered already but are no longer convinced you have the right answer, then you may enter this ‘slightly later bird’ contest. But, as before, if you do, then you will no longer be eligible to enter the final contest as well.

We’ve now increased the allocation of prizes to five of the original ten for this contest and in the event there are more than five correct answers, The Random Selector will choose five from among them. So, as before…

Firstly, if you enter this ‘slightly later bird’ contest you won’t be able to re-enter once the remaining letters of the anagram are posted.
Secondly, this ‘slightly later bird’ contest only runs until midnight on Monday the 25th, NY time.

Again, the advantages of entering now are that it’s unlikely many will go for this, so you probably stand a better chance of winning. Also, it means you won’t have to bother searching for which albums each of the letters came from, as we only need the song title for this ‘slightly later bird’ contest.

So, if you’re pretty sure you already know the song title that will eventually be revealed by the full anagram, send it to me here. If you’re unsure, then don’t risk it as you definitely won’t get another chance, and I mean it this time! };-)

All winners will be announced once the full contest is over.

Usual BowieNet rules apply: Only one entry per BowieNet account and please remember you must enter using your BowieNet e-mail or at least supply your BowieNet user name. If you do neither of these things you won’t be eligible to enter.

Those of you that wish to continue normally can expect the next letter on Tuesday.

Be brave once more kidz!

Battle For Britain (The Letter) Day 9…

Due to a similar legibility issue as yesterday’s letter had, we’ve given the above letter a black outline that doesn’t appear on the original album cover. Either way, if you know your eggs, it’s still pretty easy.

So, nine letters so far…that must have eliminated a few of your initial theories for what the eventual song title will be. How are you early birders doing? Still looking good?

You know what, I think we may have a ‘slightly later bird’ contest tomorrow. Don’t worry if you already entered the first early bird contest, it will still be fair to everyone.

And I say to myself…

Was hoping not to have to mention this one just yet, but I’ve had a few e-mails asking if DB has interviewed himself again or if it’s just a previous Bowie self-interview, following the publication of the above advert in this week’s NME.

Well, I’m afraid it’s neither. There will be a David Bowie feature of sorts, which may include a brief Q&A with David regarding the upcoming A Reality Tour live CD release…but he won’t be talking to himself.

I think this has been a case of crossed wires…or, to be more specific, let’s just blame IPC sub editors…well, Clinic got away with it!

All the young dudes, carry the news…

After the personal disappointment of not being able to see the SRO Bowie tribute, (01.19.2010 NEWS: SRO BOWIE TRIBUTE TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY) here’s another event I would love to witness first hand, but sadly geography doesn’t allow it…not to mention the fact that I’ve got triple science following that! But seriously…

You may remember around this time last year we posted details of a two-day School Of Rock event in LA. (01.24.2009 NEWS: DB TRIBUTE IN LA TONIGHT AND TOMORROW)

Well, this year it’s the turn of the Boston, MA, School Of Rock as they have their own Bowie performances on Friday evening (tomorrow) and Saturday afternoon…

Friday January 22: 7pm at the Cambridge YMCA Theatre
Saturday January 23: 4pm at Johnny D’s

Click on the flyer above for ticket details and check out this article on wickedlocal.com for a few words with Bill Galatis, music director at the School of Rock, and view a great video of the kids rehearsing while you’re there.

The Sonic Shadow Man…

The Telegraph has a four star review by Neil McCormick of the upcoming David Bowie – A Reality Tour Live 2-CD set.

How’s this for an intro: “Where is David Bowie when you need him? Arguably the boldest and most creative solo artist in the history of rock, he seems the ideal icon for these uncertain times, the kind of future pop visionary who might bring the blurred possibilities of a disintegrating music culture into sharp focus. But Bowie has hardly been heard or seen in the past five years, popping up only as a kind of sonic shadow…”

And this for a conclusion: “You just can?t argue with a set that includes All The Young Dudes, Sister Midnight, The Man Who Sold The World, Life On Mars, Fame, Changes, Heroes and Ashes to Ashes. But what is interesting is how well latter-day material slots in with the classics. Songs from the 2003 Reality album, including an outstanding The Loneliest Guy and blistering New Killer Star, demonstrate that, while Bowie may have lost his grip on the pop cultural centre, his creative powers remained very much intact. The album drives you back to the originals and leaves you wondering what Bowie might have done next. Ground control to Major Tom?”

You can read all the bits in-between here.

David Bowie – A Reality Tour Live 2-CD set is released on Monday (Tuesday in the US) and don’t forget to check out our A Reality Tour page for exclusive video and picture content if you’ve not already seen it.

The stars look so special…

The Times has two four star reviews by Pete Paphides for both David Bowie – A Reality Tour Live 2-CD set and the David Bowie Deluxe Edition 2-CD set with the sub heading: Anyone who is seeking to bookend David Bowie?s extensive back catalogue can now buy these two CDs that do just that.

Here’s a bit from it…

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If, in the manner of the Man Who Fell To Earth, you knew nothing about David Bowie, you could just about deduce from listening to A Reality Tour that his tenacity paid off. You could hear the hubbub of disbelief surrounding the opening chords of Ziggy Stardust, the massed-ranks jubilation accompanying Rebel Rebel, and think that this must really have been someone who shaped popular culture. And newer songs would tell you that throughout the myriad personas a single continuing being had just about made it out of the other side unscathed. ?I built a wall of sound to separate us,? he sings on a floor-slamming hurtle through Reality. ?And hid among the junk of wretched highs/I sped from Planet X to Planet Alpha/Struggling for reality.?

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You can read the full thing here. Speaking of four star reviews…

Little metal-faced boy…

Congratulations are in order to Duncan Jones and the rest of the MOON team for their nominations in two categories for the Orange British Academy Film Awards, 2010.

Fingers crossed for these nominations translating into actual awards for this well-deserving film and director.