According to David Bowie's website, his new track 'Tis A Pity She's A Whore "acknowledges the shocking rawness of the First World War". I just like the song.
'Tis A Pity She's A Whore
Sue (Or In The Season Of Crime)
Day-In Day-Out
Tin Machine - Under the God
I think Bowie and Daryl Hall shared the same hair at this point in time, no?
Time Will Crawl
Do you think Bowie was riding his own coattails at this period in time?
Underground
Loving the Alien
Please Mr. Gravedigger
The Laughing Gnome
Bowie followed that gem up many moons later with the vastly superior Requiem for the Laughing Gnome.
A while back I was cleaning up some CDs I had lying around and the live double-disc set from DavidBowie's Reality jumped into my hand. Had to give it a listen, it had been a while. I realised how much I missed hearing his music, his penchant for reinvention, his confidence in doing whatever the heck he wanted. Only Neil Young has come close to Bowie's against-the-grain decisions, which I always appreciated, even if the albums were uneven. Everybody's Rockin'? Tin Machine II (they covered Roxy Music! Need I say more?)? Trans? Killing off Ziggy? Landing on Water? Actually, maybe Young was more nuts for more consecutive years, but in his early years, Bowie created gems like The Laughing Gnome and Please Mr, Gravedigger, so they might still be even.
Anyway, I had decided to post the Reality Live version of Heroes as soon as I got a chance, with a little lament for an artist I really missed. And before I got to doing that, Bowie surprised us all, again, this time with
the new song and album announcement.
And then Momus puts out his cover version 14 minutes later. Whoosh.
For your holiday pleasure, Robyn Hitchcock has made a whack of covers available for streaming on his website. A bunch of Bowie songs (recorded live at the annual Medecins sans Frontieres benefit show, Changes is my favorite Bowie cover ever), Bill Monroe's Blue Moon of Kentucky featuring Nick Lowe, and much more. None of the tracks below are included in Hitchcock's stream, it's just a weird hodgepodge of old and new Hitchcock and Lowe, old Bowie (because there IS no new Bowie), or some amusing covers, because I'm still in a giving mood.
The song below translates as The Sound of Breaking Glass (from the original Swedish). It doesn't sound like a cover of the Nick Lowe tune, so I don't know what it is, I'm hoping one of you can enlighten me.
Thanks to Matt Jordan at You Ain't No Picasso, I've been re-introducing myself to the brilliance of Adrian Belew. The two commercials below are odd mostly because of the weird looks on Belew's face - like he can't believe he's doing it, can't believe he's getting paid for it, or maybe just wants to laugh but isn't allowed.
It's not so surprising Belew was commisssioned to show off his animal sound mimicry: Belew has released about a thousand critter-related songs such as Young Lions, The Lone Rhinoceros, Big Electric Cat, Animal Grace, Tango Zebra, Cruelty to Animals, Monkey With a Bow and Drum, Sexy Rhino, Fish Head...you get the picture. The guy's creature-obsessed.
But like the monkey covering his ears in that second commercial, a lot of people have somehow failed to realize the man's versatility. Aside from lengthy sideman roles for Zappa, Talking Heads, David Bowie, and Nine Inch Nails, Belew has played on records by Paul Simon, Tori Amos, Crash Test Dummies, Michael Oldfield, Cyndi Lauper, and even William Shatner (!), among others. He's also released umpteen solo records showcasing his guitar virtuosity, unique worldview, vocal dexterity, offbeat sense of humour, multi-faceted approach to songcraft - the guy can do just about anything. He also really liked the Beatles, check out his version of I'm Down:
Belew's love for the Fab Four has shined through a fair amount on Belew's under-appreciated power pop band The Bears:
Another from The Bears - Trust:
Belew also managed to bring a pop sensibility to that most proggy of bands, King Crimson. Is it possible to make progressive music accessible to non-musicians like Scruffy the Yak? Yes, if you're A.B.
Even the somewhat challenging, eccentric side of King Crimson slowly became necessary listening thanks to Scruffy's brother Clean-cut Yak:
For a brief overview of Adrian's career in his own words, check out this video Adrian's Life in a Nutshell:
For further info go to Belew's site, he'll even give you some free downloads if you go here.
mp3s will be posted for a limited time and are for promotional purposes only. If you like it, buy the albums, go to the shows, buy the t-shirts - support the artist so they can keep on keepin' on. Artists - if you would like an mp3 or video removed, please contact me directly at chrisyakchart@hotmail.com.
If you've got something Scruffy should hear, same email. Snail mail is cool too.
Scruffy the Yak 34 Allenby Cres Winnipeg Mb R2C 3J4
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