Ch-ch-changes
Keeping in line with the Weekly Geek tradition of reporting on everything Bowie, here is a fun mashup of the various political candidates and Bowie's "Changes".
[link via You Ain't No Picasso] thanks, Nathan!
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Results tagged “David Bowie” from The Weekly Geek
Your Personal Soundtrack: David Bowie - Suffragette City
After playing David Bowie's Suffragette City Friday on a Rock Band demo unit in a Best Buy that had a hopelessly busted controller, a coworker confessed to me that he spent the whole weekend humming this song to himself. But because he didn't know the words he had to make up your own. "Don't lean on me man 'cause you ain't my kind of chicken." I like that better.
The Thin White Duke Gets Busted
Over at The Smoking Gun (always a source of random, web-surfy fun) a huge amount of celebrity mugshots have recently been acquired, including this one of David Bowie circa 1976. Bowie was 29 at the time and was arrested by Rochester, NY police on pot possession charges. This was taken not at the time of his arrest, which is probably why he looks so put-together. Though, I always imagine Bowie as this incredibly well-dressed man at all times. At the grocery store, around the house, in mugshots...
Link via The Smoking Gun
Introducing: The Weekly Geek's Amazon MP3 Store Widget!
A few weeks ago I mentioned Amazon's download service. With their high quality files and drm-free, affordable albums, they should rival iTunes if they can expand their selection. Well, now you can support Amazon and give us up to a 20% kickback when you buy music there. We'll be making a widget every now and then with our musical suggestions from recent reviews: it's a great way to check out some new grooves and support the podcast you love.
Wear The Eye Patch, Bret
This, my friends, is comedy gold: Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords impersonating Ziggy Stardust-era David Bowie. It might just be me listening to Diamond Dogs today that triggered this post, but I couldn't get this episode out of my head if I had a brutal lobotomy.
Music Review: St. Vincent – Marry Me
Nobody is this direct on a debut. We hardly know her and she’s already popping the question. I wouldn’t say we hardly know her – she’s been a touring band member for a few of my favorites, Sufjan Stevens and The Polyphonic Spree. Annie Clark sets out on her own here, under the name St. Vincent, and makes a lasting impression within the first few minutes of Marry Me. She introduces herself by telling us what she’s not:
“(I’m not) your mother’s favorite dog, (I’m not) the carpet you walk on, (I’m not) the pawn to your king, (I’m not) your world on a string.”
With such a tactful, pointed opening, Clark is then free to slowly reveal who she is. Turns out she’s as imperfect as the rest of us (“Jesus Saves, I Spend”), in touch with her humanity (“All My Stars Aligned”), and searching for love as we all do (“Marry Me”). Yet, all these ordinary messages are nested in such extraordinary music.
Music Review: Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Geeky CD Review: "Neon Bible" Arcade Fire
Generally I'm not a huge fan of the track-by-track album review. However, when you're dealing with Arcade Fire's new record (arguably the most anticipated release of the last 3 years), properly dissecting every electric page of the upcoming Neon Bible would be the most prudent course of action.
After 2004's Funeral, Neon Bible strays away from the previous quaint, loveable vignettes about the neighborhood in favor of heaping sociopolitical commentaries and anti-commercial religion cries. Although this development may not be favorable for people like me, who believe the Bush/Right Wing-bashing subject more than a bit played out to be entertaining, the music is strong enough on this LP to keep Arcade Fire high up the charts and deep in the hearts of their earnest followers until the next set of songs.
Opinions on each track after the jump...
Music Review: TV On The Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
Geeky CD Review: “Return to Cookie Mountain” by TV on the Radio
If it’s truly as singer Tunde Adebimpe croons and “love is a province of the brave,” then Return to Cookie Mountain is proof of that claim. TV on the Radio have created a masterpiece both ambient and rocking, beautiful and ugly, passionate and hollow. This record, unfortunately, didn’t get the tout it deserved in my Top 10 albums of the year, but it does take a certain amount of bravery to love it. Return to Cookie Mountain is jam packed with discordant layered sounds, avoiding melodic instrument phrasings at all costs, with drums constantly grooving hard beneath the calculated mess.
Beginning track “I Was a Lover” is a great snapshot of the 11 track deluge, with its sitar drones, reverse synth pads, and hard hitting drum machines, the focus is clearly on TV on the Radio’s octave vocal swells that permeate the album. Even guest vocalists Katrina Ford and David Bowie seem to chameleon themselves into the singing mesh on their respective cameo tracks.
Clear standouts in the fray here are Bowie spotlighted “Province”, punk-influenced single “Wolf Like Me”, voodoo-like reggae romp “Let the Devil In”, and brutally earnest “Blues From Down Here.” All of these songs carry the constant ambience and rhythmic attack, but never do they sacrifice the believability and accessibility of the vocal current.
With lyrical topics ranging from heroin binges to animalistic pleasure seeking, the dirty rock and African drum influences help to carry the messages and feeling of the songs they drive. The urban wasteland environment fashioned in their tunes make you feel at once in the gutter and at a penthouse champagne party. I’ll leave you with some lyrics from 2006’s most disturbingly enjoyable album:
“There's a purple pain strangling yesterday/ there’s a purple stain spattered on interstates/ it’s an awkward stage grasping at anything/ ‘cause it's lost the page/ can’t find a word to say/ there is hardly a method you know…”
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