Rabs Posted January 8, 2013 Posted January 8, 2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOyDTy9DtHQ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20943160 Singer David Bowie has released a new single on his 66th birthday, following years of silence and speculation. The glam-rock legend has released the recording Where Are We Now? as a video and download. It will be followed by a new album, The Next Day, in March. Bowie has not performed live since 2006 and has rarely been seen in public since then. The new track was recorded in New York and produced by the singer's long-time collaborator Tony Visconti. Speaking to the BBC, Visconti admitted that keeping the project a secret has been difficult. "People have asked what I've been working on and I've said 'I can't tell you... a mystery project... Project X,' so its such a relief that its out on that level." Visconti continued: "The material is so strong and beautiful - if people are looking for classic Bowie they'll find that on this album, but if they're looking for innovative Bowie, they'll find that on this album too. It's all there." Bowie's long absence from the industry and heart surgery in 2004 had prompted speculation about his health. However, Visconti insisted the singer "is extremely healthy and rosy cheeked." "His stamina is fantastic," he added. The single's appearance online was "a genuine surprise", said John Wilson, presenter of BBC Radio 4's Front Row. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- David Bowie has confounded expectations countless times since he shot into public consciousness with Space Oddity. Now, after a retirement that seemed worryingly permanent, he surprises once more with a new sentiment: Nostalgia. Released on his 66th birthday, his first new song in almost exactly 10 years is filled with imagery of Berlin, the city to which he disappeared in 1976 to record his most enduringly influential albums, including the electronic masterpiece, Low. Where Are We Now reunites Bowie with producer Tony Visconti, a key figure on Low, but where their 70s collaborations were angular, harsh, forward-looking, this new single is reflective, sweeter in tone - yet also haunting and full of doubt. The lyrics directly reference Bowie's Berlin haunts: The KaDeWe department store where he shopped, the Dschungel club where he hung out with wildchild artist Martin Kippenberger, and the apartment on Haupstrasse which he shared with fellow rock'n'roll refugee Iggy Pop. The tone is downbeat, the melody dark, until finally he evokes the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989. This was a barrier few thought could be crossed - now Bowie addresses his own unthinkable barrier, the gulf between the ambitious 30 year old, and the reflective senior citizen. Age, mortality, has certainly mellowed him; the recording is lush, perhaps conventional, reminiscent of Heathen and Reality, albums Bowie recorded with Visconti just before the heart attack which forced him to abandon a world tour in June 2004. The recent flurry of excitement around the re-release of Ziggy Stardust reminded us of Bowie the ambitious young buck, intent on making his mark. Where Are We Now? is a haunting depiction of the doubt that always lay behind that youthful arrogance; today he might be older, damaged, but he has the confidence of a man with nothing to prove. "He's a proper artist. He doesn't release records because it's time for another record. He releases records when there's something for him to say." Where Are We Now? is a simple, unfussy ballad - Bowie singing mournfully over a piano motif that slowly builds to an understated coda. The song includes several references to the city of Berlin, where Bowie and Visconti produced a critically-acclaimed trilogy of albums - Low, Heroes and Lodger - in the 1970s. "If you listen to each of the verses, there are lyrical references to Berlin, to Potsdamer Platz, to Nuremberg Strasse," said Wilson. "Places where he lived when he was making those albums. And there is an elegiac quality. There's a sadness, I think. A weariness to his voice." The artwork for the new album, which has surfaced on iTunes, is an altered version of the cover to Heroes, suggesting a further connection to the Berlin Trilogy.
quapman Posted January 8, 2013 Posted January 8, 2013 Lol,,, Well,, I heard bad things about this song on the radio this morning, so I'm glad to get to see it. As a long time Bowie fan,,,, I liked it... Looks/sounds like classic Bowie to me.
Searcy Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 Against my will I have become a huge Bowie fan over the years. Took me a long time to understand the brilliance at work there... now I can;t ignore it. Looking forward to hearing this. Here's me and my buddy Dave (From Liverpool) doing Ziggy. My link
Rabs Posted January 9, 2013 Author Posted January 9, 2013 Against my will I have become a huge Bowie fan over the years. Took me a long time to understand the brilliance at work there... now I can;t ignore it. Looking forward to hearing this. Here's me and my buddy Dave (From Liverpool) doing Ziggy. My link Nice.... And yeah Bowie is one of those weird artists who you need to put some work into to really "get".. No denying his genius though :) Im more of a fan of the Ziggy era than the later stuff but you gotta respect him....
LarryUK Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 Listening to that, I can see why he's not released anything for years. This is a case of being infatuated with an artist where anything they do is great, even if it's not. If you heard this and it wasn't Bowie, would you even give it a second listen. I think not.
quapman Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 This is a case of being infatuated with an artist where anything they do is great, even if it's not. If you heard this and it wasn't Bowie, would you even give it a second listen. I think not. Lol,, I didn't realize being a fan was an infatuation. But what I would like to know is how do you know what I like or don't like???? Sorry but no infatuation here. Been a fan since Diamond Dogs was released when I was a kid. And he lost me on several albums. Like through the 80's where music took a major nose dive. But that is of course,, just my opinion. Just don't appreciate being categorized.
stein Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 I'm a huge Bowie fan, always have been as long as I can remember. There is lots of different periods, "types" of Bowie. With different appeals. Some I would be into at different times, and some would take me longer to get into. Just, for example, took instanly to the Ziggy periods while not being into the Eno perids. But now I like the Bowie/Eno stuff quite a lot as well. For me, I don't mind this new single, but it sounds weak to me. I'm not hearing it as that good. Maybe I'll "get it" later on, but I'm not hearing anything there to get. Then again, I seem to remember feeling the same about "Serious Moonlight".
LarryUK Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 Just don't appreciate being categorized. I wasn't categorising you. All I meant was, look beyond the artist. Don't like the music, just because of who made it. If Bob Dylan released a truly sh*t album now, It'd be raved over because it was him. But still sh*t.
LT ED Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 Great track,love it,an instant de stresser,plenty of cap doffing to various bowie phases. Apparently the album is lot more upbeat. The rumors have banded about that has become a recluse and in ill health but thats obviously not true he,s just been locked away working on this baby.At 67 he owes us nothing but a tour would be nice,one last time maybe. [thumbup]
kaleb Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 Tastes are subjective, Iashurst. I have friends who love Nickelback and hate Rush. I'm the exact opposite. Anyway, I've never been a big Bowie fan, but it's nice that he comes out with a song like this.
kidblast Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 not a huge Bowie fan, some stuff I've liked most, I've not cared for. I kind of liked this one to be completely honest.
Jeff-7 Posted January 11, 2013 Posted January 11, 2013 I kinda liked it. Big fan of Bowie, has been a part of/started a lot of trends throughout his career and worked with a lot of great artists as well.
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