just trying to honour my pledge, look you see. that one i made around about a year ago, when after completing the random bowie posts on all the official (and ones that should be official) albums by him that i probably would not make a post a month on the subject. for me this has been a spectacular, if not qualified, success so far.
the idea of a "new" david bowie album release is an interesting one. as far as anyone is aware, there is little in the way of unreleased material stored away. for as far as anyone knows the only completed album not to have thus far had an (official) release is Toy. but, even then, the whole thing is out in an unofficial capacity (Brian Eno will often "tweet" a link to download it), and select tracks have been on official releases.
what remains, then, seems to be to repackage, "remix" and (re-re-re-re) re-release those albums which already exist. slight variations on well known albums is hardly a new marketing phenomenon. the really interesting part is how it tends to be successful, in particular with precise target markets.
and so it has come to be that i have taken custodianship of, and indeed listened to, the 50th anniversary "remixed and remastered" variation of the album which is most commonly just called space oddity. surely and certainly, this is the record of three names, as it has also been called (and in certain circles remains as referred to) as david bowie and man of words man of music.
in confession, whereas this was a highly appreciated (i chose it) gift of christmas, i was not entirely over enthusiastic about hearing it. the idea of hearing a well heard album how tony visconti now felt it should be played wasn't as exciting as the shiny gold sticker on it indicated. further, i had no quarrel at all with the sound of the original release of it. but, what the hey, a bowie release it is after all, and if nothing else then an excuse to listen to a fine album. albeit one that is probably not in my top ten records by him. well,they can't all be.
pictured above is a work of art i had not seen before. it's called the depth of a circle, and is credited to george underwood. with no other information provided in the sleeve or case, i shall take it as a given that this is the george underwood; he of long term friendship with bowie and the one who famously (or infamously if you like) gifted bowie his iconic different coloured eyes by a precision punch on one of them.
so, the album. actually, a rather pleasant listening experience. it has been around a year (or so) since i last heard it, but it would be agreeably fair to say i am quite familiar with how it sounds. the worst thing this release was going to do was give me an excuse to play a fine album again; instead i seem to have something of a reasonably close to best outcome of a fresh appreciation.
there really isn't all that much one can do when they "remix and remaster" an album. i have mentioned this before, of course, but have also gone right ahead and bought such variations. truly, i have lost count of how many copies of Tommy by The Who and bowie's Station To Station i presently own. here it is a success. parts of the music previously buried are nicely accentuated. the most telling such example is probably the song space oddity itself. much more music is brought to the fore at the track begins, making the record feel a good deal more psychedelic than it did, and perhaps this is how it should always have been.
no, i am not going to do a "track by track" thing. well, kind of not, bearing in mind what i have to write in the next paragraph or so. effectively, this new mix seeks to bring a different dynamic to each song. not a better or improved one, just different. and this it delivers. whereas the album as known was one which, broadly, juggled a triumvirate of folk, psychedelia and hippy in each song, more or less what happens in this new version is that one of the three is more to the fore than it was before. if that makes sense. maybe just pick it up and hear.
has the order of the album been fiddled with, by any chance? yes it has. not necessarily in a bad way, yet does so in a way that evokes a controversy that i have never, ever understood as to why it was so controversial. yes, indeed i am speaking of the south of thirty seconds ditty that is don't sit down.
why in the past people have kicked off over this tune is a mystery. effectively, it's a little bit of a musical jam doodle, with bowie, as you might guess, singing and giggling the line "don't sit down" from time to time. on the original uk lp it was a bit on the end of unwashed and somewhat slightly dazed, on most versions of the album released around the world at the time it was gone, on the 1990 cd issue it was a separate track, on some cd releases since it was included back with unwashed, on some it was gone all together. here, it has gone all together.
i have yet to find any rational or reasonable reason as to why this little ditty may have caused such distress and upset over the years. for those of you who are bereft of a version of the album with it included you are not particularly missing much; if you have the song well what can i say, it is what it is.
a most welcome alteration is the decision to include Conversation Piece as part of the album proper. previously heard as an extra on the 1990 CD release, and then re-recorded by bowie around the time of heathen, here it is again. either this is previously unreleased vocal take, or i have dramatically misunderstood how much difference a "new mix" can make. it sounds so very fresh, crisp (hello, Faye), innocent, clear and beautiful in its woeful melancholy. truthfully, this version of this song along makes purchasing the thing for around £10 worth it alone. but of course that is qualified by my confession of it being one of my all time favourite bowie tunes.
right, that's that for this. are we going to be getting a succession of 50th anniversary releases, i wonder. on the basis of this, it might not be so bad if we are. whereas all of the albums would not need such, neither did space oddity. yes, probably and of course should answer any questions which may be out there as to whether or not i would consider thinking of purchasing any such releases.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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