David Bowie: Is this the ... comeback?

David Bowie breaks a decade of silence with a tender, poetic song that leaves you yearning to hear more, says Neil McCormick .

After 10 years of reclusive silence, David Bowie has suddenly and dramatically reappeared in the pop firmament. In the small hours of yesterday morning, on his 66th birthday, with no warning, a new Bowie song was released on the internet. Lush, stately, beautifully strange, weaving resonant piano chords, decaying synths and echoing drums around a simple chord progression and a weary, tenderly understated, quietly defiant vocal, the ageing Starman reminisces about days in Berlin, sings of “walking the dead” and wonders “where are we now?”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/9788783/David-Bowie-Is-this-the-perfect-comeback.html

There's old music, there's new music, and there's David Bowie. If you are not jubilant, or at least mildly intrigued, by his return from behind the curtain, you are making your cosmos smaller than it needs to be.

http://thequietus.com/articles/11068-david-bowie-where-are-we-now-the-next-day

And yeah, it's not Bjork in the video.

There was instant speculation about the identity of the woman — with many leaping to the WRONG conclusion that it was eccentric Icelandic singer Bjork.

The woman is Jacqueline Humphries, the wife of director Tony Oursler, and an artist in her own right.

Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/s...z2HUbCwpES

I'm really blown away by this song, it gets me everytime.

Maybe because I lived some years in Berlin, his voice is so full of emotion, happiness and sadness at the same moment.

i'm glad I still can be this touched by a song.

robertlove said:

i'm glad I still can be this touched by a song.

i'm with ya. It doesn't seem to happen that often anymore.

Interesting: Official Charts Company (people behind the UK Singles Chart) initially disqualified Bowie's single out of a technicality, but now they've changed their minds. It enters that chart sunday.

Be interesting to see where it charts.

I'd be happy to have another album as good as Heathen or Reality. When Tony Visconty says that it'll be a "rock" album, I think he just means the album won't be full of melancholic-elegiac songs like the new single. I don't think he means "rock" stylistically, you know, as a Tin Machine kind of thing.

Anyway, Bowie has been doing things his way since the beginning, making unexpected twists frequently, and he will keep doing it until the end.

Folks, whether you are Bowie fans or not, I think we are living historical days. The way he has reemerged, without no one knowing nothing in this internet age, the whole project with the disturbing cover..., man, this is not your usual pop star, this is someone who dares to be groundbreaking even at his age, and who knows how to do it.

Javi said:

I'd be happy to have another album as good as Heathen or Reality. When Tony Visconty says that it'll be a "rock" album, I think he just means the album won't be full of melancholic-elegiac songs like the new single. I don't think he means "rock" stylistically, you know, as a Tin Machine kind of thing.

Anyway, Bowie has been doing things his way since the beginning, making unexpected twists frequently, and he will keep doing it until the end.

Folks, whether you are Bowie fans or not, I think we are living historical days. The way he has reemerged, without no one knowing nothing in this internet age, the whole project with the disturbing cover..., man, this is not your usual pop star, this is someone who dares to be groundbreaking even at his age, and who knows how to do it.

I don't know if it's true. But I read a report online that he won't do interviews or tour or perform on TV. He won't do any press or any support for the album. He's going all Kubrick on us, "the art speaks for me."

I mean Prince is enigmatic and does his own thing, but he still pops up on TV occassionally to hawk albums/singles/tours. That's still his public pipeline.

Good news and really good track, though im not a fan of Pink Floyd this sounds very Floyd like in its progressions. 2013 already is seeming like the older crowd (50 and over) You got Jovi coming, Elton is slated for spring and now Bowie, Prince jump in there already.

It has the same vibe as The Grand Progression; the same meloncholy piano.

album has not been released, but already has big success on ITunes.
happy for David

I finally heard the song. It doesn't blow me away or anything, but sounds like a song that could grow on you, especially if it's well placed on the album.

Sounds like something off of Heathen, production-wise.

I'm glad he is still making music. I never understood why artists would retire.

David Bowie sees back cat...sales jump

Sales of David Bowie's previous albums have surged following the announcement of his new LP.

The singer, who released his first single in ten years - titled 'Where Are We Now?' - yesterday, has seen his hits collection The Best Of Bowie zoom up the download chart to number seven.

His new record The Next Day, which is out on March 12, is currently the top-selling album on iTunes on pre-orders alone. 'Where Are We Now?' is also number one on the singles tally.

"The thing with Bowie, as with any chart icon, is that when people are reminded of the brilliance of his music, they want to listen to it again," HMV's Gennaro Castaldo told The Independent.

"And alongside his original followers still enjoying his albums on CD and vinyl, his songs are now just a download away for a whole new internet generation of potential fans that are out there, so we can expect and explosion of interest in 2013."

The designer of Bowie's new album artwork Jonathan Barnbrook recently explained the unusual cover, adding: "It would have been clearer to many people if we had scribbled all over the cover but that didn't have the detachment of intent necessary to express the melancholy of the songs on the album."

Lady GaGa tweeted:

"Laying in bed high listening to Bowies new song (sic), A moment of bliss I never thought I'd have again. Listening to new Bowie for the first time."

RRA said:

Lady GaGa tweeted:

"Laying in bed high listening to Bowies new song (sic), A moment of bliss I never thought I'd have again. Listening to new Bowie for the first time."

high?

TRON said:

RRA said:

Lady GaGa tweeted:

high?

she has taste when shes high confirmed.

I like the new song, it sounds like it would have fit in with This Is Not America f/ Pat Metheny. I'm sure there will plenty reminders prior to the albums release, looking forward to it.

xperience319 said:

WOOOO so exciting!

I love that the first video posted on this thread is Magic Dance!

That means a lot to me

"crossing their fingers just in case"

goosebumps!

Here's Earl Slick on the whole thing: http://ultimateclassicroc...interview/

Exclusive: Guitarist Earl Slick Reveals New David Bowie Album Details

Matt Kent / Jo Hale, Getty Images

Earl Slick needs no introduction. A killer rhythm guitarist and long-time David Bowie collaborator, the 60-year-old played on John Lennon’s ‘Double Fantasy,’ has recorded with Ian Hunter and played in the post-Stray Cats group Phantom, Rocker & Slick.

In recent years, the Staten Island native toured with the New York Dolls (including the summer 2011 tour with Motley Crue) and started designing a line of hand-painted guitar straps called Slick Straps. He also regularly visits School Of Rock outposts all over the U.S., jamming and speaking with the students.

Slick is already having quite a busy 2013: He has plans to make a record with Austin guitarist Rosie Flores, and he’s in the works of setting up some of his own tour dates sometime before the end of the year—“depending on what happens with the other guy that just put a record out [Tuesday] for the first time in 10 years,” he laughs dryly.

That “other guy,” of course, is Bowie, who released a new single, ‘Where Are We Now?’ and announced a new album, �...xt Day,’ on his birthday, Jan. 8. Slick has played with Bowie off and on for better part of the last 40 years, both on tour (including Bowie’s last round of concerts, in the early ’00s) and on classic albums such as ‘Young Americans’ and ‘Station To Station.’ During a 45-minute interview, Slick was clearly happy to finally be talking about the new Bowie album — for which he recorded parts in summer 2012.

“I’ve had a gag on since last May,” he says. “David got in touch with me out of the blue, and he said, ‘I’m ready to go back in. What are you doing? Are you around? Are you touring?’ I said, ‘No, just get me some dates.’ We started banging dates around — and he was already recording — and I went in and did all my stuff in July. But do you have any idea how many interviews I’ve done since May, with this under my belt, which I couldn’t say anything about? It was horrible!” Slick laughs.

‘The Next Day’ also features contributions from an impressive lineup of musicians in addition to Slick, including familiar Bowie collaborators such as drummers Sterling Campbell and Zachary Alford, guitarists Gerry Leonard and David Torn, and bassist Gail Ann Dorsey. Tony Visconti, who also produced ‘The Next Day,’ contributes bass, as does Tony Levin, who’s known for his work with Peter Gabriel.

Slick gave UCR some insights into ‘The Next Day,’ talking about his contributions and how the rest of the album shaped up.

Were you surprised when Bowie called you to do some recording?

Nothing he ever does surprises me. It doesn’t surprise me when he shows up; it doesn’t surprise me when he disappears. It’s just DB.

I was really impressed by the secrecy. That’s almost unheard of, for no news to leak about something like this.

Oh, I know. And especially because I had the cover for the Christmas issue of ‘Guitar Player’ magazine. That was the hardest one — it’s a double issue and it stays on the stands longer, and they did a 14-page spread on me, and I’m thinking, “Christ, and I can’t even say anything.” Anyway, he appreciated that — and I got a nice thank you for keeping my big mouth shut.

Was the secrecy built in from the start?

Oh yeah, right from the beginning. Because he didn’t know when it was going to be done.

You did all your parts last summer. How much of the record was done when you came in?

It was weird; I’m not really sure, because he had been cutting tracks. And then I went in and I cut three from scratch with me and David and Sterling Campbell on drums, and Tony Visconti playing bass. And then he had other tracks that were already done, that were missing some guitars he needed from me, and I did those.

Do you even know what the entire album sounds like? Have you heard the entire record?

Yes, I have. I don’t want to give too much away, but it’s really, really, really good. And it’s a bit eclectic, so it’s not all like what you heard.

Tony Visconti did an inte... this week, and he said that the single is very different in tone from the rest of the record.

It is. Okay, so he’s let the cat out of the bag a little bit, then — good. It’s rocking. There’s a lot of rockers on there, I can tell you that.

That’s what he said: “It’s quite a rock album, the rest of the songs.”

Yeah, it is. I mean, there’s a few kind of really cool mid-tempo ones in there as well, but I’m the go-to guy for the rock stuff with David. And that’s why I’m always there.

What was your methodology when you were adding your music? How did you motivate the performance you wanted to get? How much direction did you get?

You know, we’ve been doing this since day one, and what we’ll do is, we’ll sit down and we’ll listen to the stuff. And he’ll ask me how it hits me — how does this hit you, how does that hit you? Or he’ll go, “This one you gotta be on.” And we’ll sit down, we’ll listen to the song — well, we’ll sit in the control room with a couple of acoustic guitars and then we just bang ideas around. I’ll go, “What do you think about this?” He goes, “What do you think about that?” It’s not like taking direction as a session player would take direction, because that’s why I don’t do sessions—cause I can’t take direction. [Laughs.]

What he’s done since day one — and still continues to do — is, he knows exactly what it is that I bring to the table, and that’s what he wants. He doesn’t want me to sound like anybody but me. So we just sit there and we just hash through ideas until something hits one of us, and then we record it. It’s real casual — you know, you throw a couple cups of coffee on the table and you pick up a few guitars and we listen through some tracks. And he already knows pretty much what he wants me on, but then I’ll say, “Well, let me play you these and see if these hit you. If they do, let’s work out some parts.” It’s really casual. And that’s why it gets done quickly and efficiently, because it’s all done organically.

The music I really like tends to be the more spontaneous music — not very meticulous. There’s a time and a place for that, but it can sound so airless and stuffy.

It’s really funny, as sophisticated as some of his records sound, he’s not anal about this stuff. And neither am I, and that’s why we get along so well. I’ll do a take that’s really not perfect, but it is perfect, because it feels great. Therein lies the perfection: It lies in what it feels like and what it does to you emotionally, not the exact notes. I can play a note that’s a little bit on the outside — like, “What the hell was that?” — and then we listen back to it and we go, “Wow, that felt really good.” And we just leave it alone. Whereas some guys will sit there and they’ll try to fix a weird note. Those weird notes, to me, is what really makes it happen. Of course—listen to the Stones. Keith Richards is my hero. In my mind, he’s the best guitar player ever. And Keith’s stuff has definitely got some urgency to it, and it’s definitely not perfect. But boy, when it comes to feel, it doesn’t get any more perfect than Keith.

I think the term is “loose.”

It is — it’s loose, and it’s emotional. That’s what it is. And that’s, to me, what rock and roll is supposed to be about. If you want perfection, go see a symphony orchestra.

How was the studio atmosphere? People might be surprised to hear that it might be relaxed.

That’s what it is. It’s just a really relaxed, casual, hanging out… I wouldn’t liken it any different than if we were just sitting in my living room, only there happened to be a recording machine in here. That’s what it feels like.

When you were collaborating, did you get any inkling as to why now finally it was time for Bowie to put out a new record?

You know, I don’t even bother asking. Obviously, it was time.

There are some things you don’t question.

No, you know, you really don’t. I don’t question much of anything like that; it’s not in my nature. I don’t need to know why — I just need to be there, that’s all. [Laughs.]

When you guys were bouncing ideas off of each other, were there any specific influences you wanted to bring? Or any that stood out to you that ended up happening?

Well, I can tell you that there’s a couple of the rock songs…cause, you know, admittedly — and it’s not any big mystery — my rhythm guitar playing is very likened to Keith [Richards]. Because he’s the guy I’ve been listening to — and still do every single day — since I’ve been 12 years old. You’ll be getting some of that on some of the rock tracks from me. He would say, “Do that you-know-what.” [Laughs.] You know somebody that long, and if he says “you-know-what,” you completely get it. [Laughs.] And you know what, not only is it awesome—it’s priceless.

When you’re playing with someone for so long…

Almost 40 years!

How did this experience compare to some of the other times you guys have recorded in the past? Was there anything that stood out to you?

The only thing was is that this one had a lot more secrecy going on. [Laughs.] I mean, one day I went out to have a cigarette in front of the studio, and something felt weird. Cause I would hang out in the doorway, in a little alcove; I didn’t even walk into the street. And something felt weird, and I peered across the street, and there was a guy there with a camera on a tripod. So I put my cigarette out and went back inside. [Laughs.] Cause if they see me, they can put two and two together.

That’s kind of fun to think you’re making a record and nobody knows about it. It’s like you’re on a spy mission or something.

It was fun for a little while, but then when I started doing interviews — and after I got all excited after I finished doing the tracks and I was bursting — it wasn’t fun anymore.

Are there any thematic things that really stand out to you on the album? Everyone has said the lead single is very introspective and inward-looking and looking backward…

It’s not all like that. Some of them, the lyrics are as straight ahead as David can write a lyric — cause he’s not known for writing straight-ahead lyrics. He hadn’t finished the lyrics when we were in there, either. The way he writes is, we’ll get a basic thing down, and he’ll have a basic melody going on, but it’s done so much organically and off-the-cuff, that he will go back later and finish the lyrics. You get an inkling when you’re in there, but you’re not quite sure what it’s going to be until later. There’s a bit of mystery that we even have, because I left the studio thinking…I mean, I played on it, and I’m going, “Boy, I’m curious to hear what this is going to sound like!” [Laughs.]

Is Bowie going to be touring? I think that’s what everyone wants to know.

We don’t know. Obviously, we want him to. But right now, that’s a big if. Like I said before, sometimes he shows up and sometimes he doesn’t. I could get a phone call tomorrow saying, “Hey, you know what? Here’s the setlist.” I don’t know. I can’t speak for him or the organization. Obviously, the band would love to go out. Even if it’s not a huge tour, we would like to go out and do some gigs. But that’s yet to be seen.

Souce: http://ultimateclassicroc...interview/

People have stopped talking about this after less than a week? Really?

TRON said:

People have stopped talking about this after less than a week? Really?

its turned into a bowie vs prince flame war now in another thread

TRON said:

People have stopped talking about this after less than a week? Really?

a) a single is out, not the entire album (March)

b) I think we have said it all about the song (solid mood piece) and the video (weird, artful, moody)

c) and, as some folks have said (rather agressively ) this ain't Bowie.org

I'm still listening to it obsessively, and have been immersing myself in Bowie's back catalog (again). It's gonna be a long wait for the new album! Hope he does some press in the meantime. Would love to get a nice long, candid interview.

NoVideo said:

I'm still listening to it obsessively, and have been immersing myself in Bowie's back catalog (again). It's gonna be a long wait for the new album! Hope he does some press in the meantime. Would love to get a nice long, candid interview.

It's been a fun week! I read an interview with Tony Visconti where he said strait out that Bowie wasnts to release new music, but is absolutely uninterested in doing interviews or touring.

Although he said yesterday that Bowie might be tempted to do ONE SHOW to spport the new album:

http://metro.co.uk/2013/01/13/david-bowie-open-to-doing-a-live-show-says-producer-tony-visconti-3349645/

And how about this?!!!

Visconti claimed that there could be another Bowie album out soon after The Next Day, which is due out in the UK on March 11.

He said: ‘We recorded 29 titles. We have at least four finished songs that could start the next album,” says Tony Visconti happily.

‘If all goes well, we will be back in the studio by the end of the year. He’s back. Bowie has found out what he wants to do: he wants to make records. Nothing else.’

March!

This is such good news. Can't wait to buy this cd.

Prince?? Are you reading this? LOL - I want to buy the cd in a record store!!