WSPC PLAYLIST JANUARY 2017

January 1, 2017
"New Year's Day" performed by U2
"People Have The Power" performed by Patti Smith
"High Hopes" performed by Bruce Springsteen
"Live" performed by Lenny Kravitz
"The Beautiful Struggle" performed by Talib Kweli

"Wild And Loose" performed by The Time
"You Are In My System" performed by Robert Palmer
"Modigliani (Look In Your Eyes)" performed by Book Of Love

Explosions In The Sky LIVE Pitchfork Music Festival Paris 2016-FULL SET

January 2, 2017
"'Heroes'" performed by Andre Cymone-WSPC PREMIERE

"Love In Store" performed by Fleetwood Mac
"Red House" (LIVE-from "Rave Un2 The Year 2000") performed by Prince
"The Secret Life Of Arabia" performed by David Bowie
"I Never Glid Before" (LIVE 1973) performed by Gong
"Dissidents" performed by Thomas Dolby

January 3, 2017
"Back To Life" performed by Sou II Soul
"Rude Boy" performed by Mr. Twin Sister

"If You Don't Love Me" performed by Prefab Sprout
"You Do Or You Don't" performed by Lindsey Buckingham
"You Don't Love Me" performed by Matthew Sweet
"Talking Loud And Clear" performed by Orchestral Maneuvers In The  Dark

January 4, 2017
"Diamond In The Back" performed by Curtis Mayfield
"Across 110th Street" performed by Bobby Womack
"Everlasting Love" performed by Rufus featuring Chaka Khan
"Come Into My Life" performed by Labelle

January 5, 2017
"Find The River" performed by R.E.M.
"No Quarter" (live) performed by Led Zeppelin
"The Crystal Ship" performed by The Doors
"Name For You" performed by The Shins-WSPC PREMIERE

January 6, 2017
"Burning Rope" performed by Genesis
"We A Family" performed by The Flaming Lips-WSPC PREMIERE
"Ride A Black Swan" performed by Zwan
"20th Century Boy" performed by T. Rex
"Bad Reputation" performed by Thin Lizzy

January 7, 2017
"Snowblind" performed by Black Sabbath
"1974" performed by Ryan Adams
"Glamour Boys" performed by Living Colour
"Remember (Walking In The Sand)" performed by Aerosmith
"Carouselambra" performed by Led Zeppelin

DAVID BOWIE

JANUARY 8, 1947-JANUARY 10, 2016

January 8, 2017

"Space Oddity" (January 1969 demo version)

"Helden"

"Teenage Wildlife"

"Andy Warhol"

"The Jean Genie"

"Never Let Me Down"

"Where Are We Now?"

"Station To Station"

January 9, 2017

"Fantastic Voyage"
"Always Crashing In The Same Car"
"If I'm Dreaming My Life"
"Soul Love"
"Sorrow"
"Slow Burn"
"No Plan"-WSPC PREMIERE

January 10, 2017
"Blackstar"
"Stay"
"Be My Wife"
"Starman"
"Life On Mars?"
"Loving The Alien" (live from the Reality Tour)
"Dollar Days"

"Ziggy Stardust"
"Sons Of The Silent Age"
"Fall Dog Bombs The Moon"
"New Killer Star"
"Fascination"
"Ashes To Ashes"
"I Can't Give Everything Away"

January 13, 2017
"Undefined" performed by Modern Mod-live at the Capitol Theater, Madison, WI 1-12-17

"Nidgy Nie" performed by The Flaming Lips-WSPC PREMIERE
"Falling Down" performed by Tears For Fears
"Human Behavior" performed by Bjork
"Why Can't I?" performed by Liz Phair
"Paper Bag" performed by Fiona Apple

"Vampire" performed by Earthman and the Second Impact-WSPC PREMIERE

January 14, 2017
"Snail" (live/acoustic) performed by Billy Corgan
"Another Life" performed by D'Angelo and the Vanguard
"Shangri-La" performed by Electric Light Orchestra
"The 1 U Wanna C" performed by Prince

January 15, 2017
"Island Of Souls" performed by Sting
"Boat On The Charles" performed by Todd Rundgren
"Winedark Open Sea" performed by Paul McCartney
"This Is The Sea" performed by The Waterboys
"Yacht Dance" performed by XTC

January 16, 2017
"Keep On Pushing" performed by The Impressions
"People Get Ready" performed by Aretha Franklin
"Why Am I Treated So Bad" performed by The Staple Singers
"Baltimore" performed by Prince featuring Eryn Allen Kane
"Black Lives Matter" performed by Andre Cymone
"Life Every Voice And Sing" performed by Ray Charles

January 18, 2017
"Glenn Song" performed by Bob Seger-WSPC PREMIERE

"Haven't Got A Clue" performed by The Flaming Lips
"World Leader Pretend" (live from "TOURFILM") performed by R.E.M.
"Fear" performed by Lenny Kravitz
"Don't Worry About The Government" performed by Talking Heads
"State Of The Nation" (live) performed by New Order

January 19, 2017
"Hallelujah Money" performed by Gorillaz-WSPC PREMIERE

"I Give You Power" performed by Arcade Fire featuring Mavis Staples-WSPC PREMIERE
"Built For Love" performed by Angelo Moore and the Brand New Step
"Doomsday" performed by Ryan Adams-WSPC PREMIERE
"Can't You Tell" (live) performed by Aimee Mann

January 20, 2017
"The Beginning Is The End Is The Beginning" performed by The Smashing Pumpkins
"The End" (Peel Sessions 1974) performed by Nico
"Desolation Row" (live 1966) performed by Bob Dylan
"Viceroy's Row" performed by Elvis Costello and the Roots
"The Judge And The Jury" performed by Planet P. Project

"Pigs (Three Different Ones)" (live) performed by Roger Waters

January 21, 2017
"Yes e Can Can" performed by The Pointer Sisters
"We March" performed by Prince
"Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around" performed by The Roots

January 22, 2017
"Coming Up" performed by Paul McCartney

Squarewave-LIVE at the Harmony Bar-January 21, 2017

MAGGIE ROCHE

October 26, 1951-January 21, 2017

Janaury 23, 2017
"My Winter Coat" performed by The Roches
"Come In From The Cold" performed by Joni Mitchell
"Love To Be Loved" performed by Peter Gabriel
Trap Saturn LIVE at the 2016 MAMA Awards

"Pure Comedy" performed by Father John Misty-WSPC PREMIERE

"Sheep" performed by Pink Floyd
"The Great Deceiver" performed by King Crimson
"Take The Time" performed by Ronald Bruner Jr. featuring Thundercat-WSPC PREMIERE


January 25, 2017
"Oh My God" performed by A Tribe Called Quest featuring Busta Rhymes

"Darling" performed by Real Estate-WSPC PREMIERE
"New Town Velocity" performed by Johnny Marr
"Bigmouth Strikes Again" performed by The Smiths
"After The Flood" performed by Mogwai

January 26, 2017
"316" performed by Van Halen
"Future Games" performed by Fleetwood Mac
"Mood For A Day" performed by Yes
"An Echo In" performed by The Sea And Cake
"Ten Years Gone" performed by Led Zeppelin

January 27, 2017
"Maps And Legends" performed by R.E.M.
"The Headmaster Ritual" performed by The Smiths
"Terry" performed by Kirsty MacColl
"Sign Of The Times" performed by The Belle Stars
"Since Yesterday" performed by Strawberry Switchblade
"Crash" performed by The Primitives

January 28, 2017
"Drunken Blue Rooster" performed by Todd Rundgren
"Intriguing Possibilities" performed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
"Medula Oblongata" performed by The Dust Brothers
"Chronozon" performed by Tangerine Dream
"Five Circles" performed by Vangelis

January 29, 2017
"Welcome To The Occupation" performed by R.E.M.
"Wall" performed by Living Colour
"Dublin" performed by Prefab Sprout
"Waiting For The Winter" performed by Planet P. Project
"God Save Us All" performed by Lenny Kravitz

January 30, 2017
"Don't Let Me Down" performed by The Beatles
"Driven To Tears" (live in Essen) performed by The Police
"Karma Police" (live on the BBC) performed by Ryan Adams-WSPC PREMIERE

"Do You Still Love Me?" performed by Ryan Adams
"I Gotta Find Peace Of Mind" performed by Lauryn Hill
"You Saved Me" performed by Gary Clark Jr.

January 31, 2017
"Ball Of  Confusion" performed by The Temptations
"Eve Of Destruction" performed by Barry McGuire
"Two Little Hitlers" performed by Elvis Costello and the Attractions
"Living Through Another Cuba" performed by XTC
"Oh Where Oh Where Is Love?" performed by The Kinks

SAVAGE RADIO PLAYLISTS JANUARY 2017: WVMO 98.7 THE VOICE OF MONONA

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #60 "HAPPY NEW YEAR 2017"-JANUARY 4, 2016
1. "Don't Look Back" performed by Boston
2. "Begin The Begin" performed by R.E.M.
3. "The Loving" performed by XTC
4. "Earth Blues" performed by Jimi Hendrix
5. "Oblivious" performed by Aztec Camera
6. "Diamond Meadows" performed by T. Rex
7-9. "Tenement Funster/Flick Of The Wrist/Lily Of The Valley" performed by Queen
10. "Anytime" performed by My Morning Jacket
11. "Messing With My Head" performed by Tinted Windows
12. "No Reason" performed by Nick Lowe
13. "Secret Separation" performed by The Fixx

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #61: JANUARY 11, 2017

1. "Down And Out" performed by Genesis
2. "Man Made" performed by Gloss Coats
3. "La Villa Strangiato" performed by Rush
4. "The Hollow" performed by A Perfect Circle
5. "Cold" performed by Tears For Fears
6. "Fahrenheit Fair Enough" performed by Telefon Tel Aviv
7. "My Secret Place" performed by Joni Mitchell with Peter Gabriel
8. "Winter Rose/Love Awake" performed by Paul McCartney & Wings
9. "No Plan" performed by David Bowie

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #62 "STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS"-JANUARY 18, 2017
1. "Power To The People" performed by John Lennon
2. "Change Of The Guard" performed by Steely Dan
3. "Money Talks" performed by The Kinks
4. "Ball Of Confusion" performed by Love And Rockets
5. "Know Your Rights" performed by The Clash
6. "One World (Not Three)" performed by The Police
7. "Who's Sorry Now" performed by Todd Rundgren
8. "The Judge And The Jury" performed by Planet P. Project
9. "So Many Millions" performed by Fishbone

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #63 "STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS-PART TWO"-JANUARY 25, 2017
1. "State Of The Nation" performed by New Order
2. "Cult Of Personality" performed by Living Colour
3. "1984" performed by Van Halen
4. "Uprising" performed by Muse
5. "World Leader Pretend" performed by R.E.M.
6. "So Far So Good" performed by Sloan
7. "Fear" performed by Lenny Kravitz
8. "Murrow Turning Over In His Grave" performed by Fleetwood Mac
9. "Just Another Nervous Wreck" performed by Supertramp
10."Zeitgeist" performed by The Smashing Pumpkins
11."Shadow People" performed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

NOW PLAYING IN THE SAVAGE JUKEBOX JANUARY 2017

"AWAKEN, MY LOVE!"
CHILDISH GAMBINO
Released December 2, 2016

"BLOND"
FRANK OCEAN
Released August 20, 2016

"THE EARLY YEARS 1967-1972 CR/EATION"
PINK FLOYD
Released November 11, 2016

"MACHINE GUN: THE FILLMORE EAST FIRST SHOW 12/31/1969"
JIMI HENDRIX
Released September 30, 2016

"LOLA VS. POWERMAN AND THE MONEYGOROUND PART ONE"
THE KINKS
Released November 27, 1970

"COMBAT ROCK"
THE CLASH
Released May 14, 1982

"ANIMALS"
PINK FLOYD
Released January 23, 1977

"BEFORE THE FLOOD"
TRENT REZNOR & ATTICUS ROSS, GUSTAVO SANTAOALLA, MOGWAI
Released October 21, 2016

"PATRIOTS DAY"
TRENT REZNOR & ATTICUS ROSS
Released January 13, 2017

NEWS BULLETIN FROM THE DERANGED: "NOT THE ACTUAL EVENTS" NINE INCH NAILS

"NOT THE ACTUAL EVENTS"
NINE INCH NAILS

NINE INCH NAILS are Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
with
DAVE GROHL: Drums on "The Idea Of You"
MARIQUEEN MAANDIQ: Vocals on "She's Gone Away"
DAVE NAVARRO: Guitar on "Burning Bright (Field On Fire)"

Composed, Produced, Arranged and Performed by Nine Inch Nails

Released December 23, 2016

"It's an unfriendly, fairly impenetrable record that we needed to make. It's an EP because that ended up being the proper length to tell that story."
-Trent Reznor

It has been a very long four years since we last heard from Nine Inch Nails, in this case via the intoxicating and surprisingly inviting "Hesitation Marks" (released September 3, 2013), but mastermind Trent Reznor has been anything but lazy.

 

Continuing his exceedingly fruitful musical partnership with Atticus Ross, the twosome have taken several deep dives into the world of film score composition and performance, including the single "Juno" (released June 30, 2016) in commemoration of NASA's Juno mission, "Before The Flood" (released October 21, 2016), their collaborative film score alongside Gustavo Santaolalla and Mogwai to Director Fisher Stevens and Producer Leonardo DiCaprio's environmental/climate change documentary and "Patriot's Day" (released January 13, 2017), their score to Director Peter Berg's Boston marathon bombing drama.

For both of the latter two scores and soundtrack albums, I have just recently downloaded both of them (I was hoping for physical CD releases but there seems not to be any possibility at this time) and therefore, I have just begun listening. That being said, what I have heard thus far feel very much of a piece to Reznor and Ross's previous and deeply innovative film scores to Director David Fincher's "The Social Network" (released September 28, 2010), "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" (released December 9, 2011) and "Gone Girl" (released September 30, 2014), as they do represent a certain mastery of texture and unsettling moods that intoxicate and greatly as they disturb.

Trent Reznor, for that matter, has exemplified a certain mastery of texture and moody atmospherics throughout the entirety of his career as Nine Inch Nails--even when he displays his music at its most combative, percussive, and at times, even bludgeoning. Now, that his partnership with Atticus Ross has only continued to solidify and blossom to the point where Ross is now listed as the sole official second member of Nine Inch Nails, the future of the band has most certainly opened itself up to a host of new musical possibilities.

And so we arrive with "Not The Actual Events," the first music to arrive under the Nine Inch Nails banner in nearly four years. While this EP runs only 21 minutes in duration, and with the promise of two major NIN projects to arrive later this year, what we have right at this time is a tightly wound and often surprising warning shot for 2017.

Comprising only five selections, "Not the Actual Events" opens with the brief yet urgently pulsating "Branches/Bones," a song that some might easily read as Reznor's self-deprecating remarks to dipping a toe back into the NIN arena again as he sings, "Feels like I've been here before." Yet, what I think is honestly being delivered is an opening of some sort of unspeakable violence as the song describes a dichotomy that is chilling to regard even with the plot holes left vacant.

"Cold and black and infinite, with nothing left to lose
If you try to keep the flies away, the makeup hides the bruise
Her branches are the bones that break, become a perfect line
And no, he won't just be a man who sometimes, he won't just 
be a man who's sometimes..."

Once "Branches/Bones" build upwards in the standard dissonant NIN crescendo, we abruptly segue into the percolating rhythms of "Dear World," where our narrator splinters into two distinct monologues (one in each speaker to a most captivating effect) yet begins and concludes with the unsettling line, "Yes, everyone seems to be asleep."

The EP's third track, "She's Gone Away," is a six minute crawl of creeping doom featuring a new growl in Trent Reznor's vocals that accentuate the grinding turbulence of the insistently booming yet far away sounding drums, the ominous keyboards suggesting a sinister melody and the swirling ambiance which provides the atmosphere of what sounds to be a damaged mind in the throes of a horrific act either real or imagined.

With Dave Grohl's drums at the helm and Reznor's skillful, intensely minimalist piano,merged with the type of buzzsaw/machine gun styled guitars not really heard since the "Broken" EP (released September 22, 1992), "The Idea Of You" blazes the EP into fully adrenalized territory as the narrator releases another breathlessly unhinged monologue of whispered severity.

"Maybe that was somebody else
Maybe I was somebody else
I'm somebody, for what that's worth, if that means anything anymore
I think there's something just wrong with me
I have been wondering, when did you know?
You know, really know?
No no no no, I don't think that's going to happen here
You missed all that on the way out
Remember, I don't want to remember anymore
Maybe I was somebody else?
Just go back to the idea of me
Just go back to the idea of me
Just go back to the idea of me
Just-"

Finally, the splintered psyche unravels completely in the EP's fifth and final track, the guitar feedback wall and Reznor's buried in the mix howling vocals of "Burning Bright (Field On Fire)." 

"I'm going back
Of course I am
As if I ever had a choice
Back to what I always knew I was
On the inside
Back to what I really am
Look at this pathetic place I made
With little bits of sticks and hair
And anything I found along the way
And tell yourself, you know?
You're not what you really know you are
You know?
Of course you do
I think I may have even listened to you
I think I may have even listened to you
At the height of my demise...

I am forgiven
I am free
I am a field on fire..."

And so, "Not The Actual Events" concludes...in ashes...

Nine Inch Nails' "Not The Actual Events" sounds and feels like the treatment or a soundtrack to a David Fincher film not yet even conceived as this surreal, grim tale starring an unreliable narrator trapped within or released from a fractured mental state sounds like a movie that could easily serve as a companion piece to his previous works including "Seven" (1995), "Fight Club" (1999), "Zodiac" (2007) and the aforementioned "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" (2011) and "Gone Girl" (2014). 

To that end, the EP also sounds like the closest thing Nine Inch Nails has released that feels of a similar musical stratosphere as "The Downward Spiral" (released March 8, 1994) and "The Fragile" (released September 21, 1999) as we are again given a figure that struggles with a dense and self-destructive mental illness that plays out in violent fantasies and quite possibly, equally violent realities.

Musically, the album represents a return to the more propulsive side of Nine Inch Nails while also bringing about different multi-layers to give your headphones a superior workout. With that assessment, I do not wish to suggest that Trent Reznor and now with Atticus Ross have delivered something that is uninspired or derivative of Reznor's own past work. It just all feels like a continuation as well as something that may serve as a "Hello" to listeners who may have not been keeping up with Reznor's extracurricular activities with his film scores as well as his work with his other band How To Destroy Angels.

Remember, "Not The Actual Events" is not designed to serve and exist as the full artistic statement. What we have been given is a startling preview and I am already extremely anxious to discover what will undoubtedly arrive later this year.

CURTAIN CALL: "NO PLAN" DAVID BOWIE

"NO PLAN" (EP)

DAVID BOWIE

David Bowie: Vocals, Acoustic Guitar

Donny McCaslin: Saxophone, Flute, Woodwinds

Ben Monder: Guitar

Jason Linder: Piano, Keyboards, Organ

Tim Lefebvre: Bass Guitar

Mark Guiliana: Drums, Percussion

All music and lyrics by David Bowie

Produced by David Bowie and Tony Visconti

Released January 8, 2017

It is still difficult for me to believe that he is truly gone and furthermore, that it has been one full year since his passing.

For whatever inexplicable reasons, the death of David Bowie, just two days after his 69th birthday in 2016, seemed to serve as a dark signal for the emotionally and politically turbulent year that was yet to fully emerge at that time, especially with all of the deaths from a plethora of creative artists and visionaries. Now that we all know that Bowie's final album "Blackstar" (released January 8, 2016), was indeed designed to serve as a farewell statement and gift to his fans and listeners, it has indeed made the album a somewhat difficult listening experience for me to return to throughout 2016, despite the immense artistry, and undeniably fearless creativity that made the album soar to sitting at the very tip-top of my favorite releases of the year. 

When reports arrived that there were in fact three more songs recorded during the "Blackstar" sessions but left off of the actual album, I was certainly excited to hear them but also filled with a trepidaciousness with hearing this voice and vision again, really knowing that I would be hearing--at least in an artistic fashion--his final words. But still, of course, I needed to hear them.

As we also know, as David Bowie was nearing the end of his life, he was deeply within the process of creating a new theatrical work that would essentially play off of the "Blackstar" album to a degree. "Lazarus," a musical designed as a sequel to the Walter Tevis novel The Man Who Fell To Earth, as well as Director Nicolas Roeg's 1976 film adaptation of the same name in which Bowie starred as lonely, isolated extraterrestrial Thomas Newton, would feature a collection of Bowie's songs from his 40 year career including those three aforementioned additional "Blackstar" selections, therefore continuing to blur the lines between reality and fantasy, artistic expression and explicit confessional. 

While I did indeed purchase the official "Lazarus" cast album (released October 21, 2016), which contains a second disc housing Bowie's original recordings of the three additional songs, I somehow could not find it within myself to sit down and listen just yet, as I guess I was just saddened at the thought of the story of David Bowie reaching its full conclusion--even though he had been deceased for most of the year by this point. And so, the "Lazarus" album sat in a pile of CDs upon my kitchen table unheard just because...well...I couldn't quite bear it.

On January 8th of this year, David Bowie would have reached the age of 70. And just as with "Blackstar," fans around the world were greeted with a gift in the form of the "No Plan" EP, the official release of the three bonus songs previously only available upon "Lazarus" and were also unavailable for download. For whatever reason, the arrival of this EP felt to me to exist as somewhat of a signal to not feel so sad as to not appreciate the art David Bowie clearly worked until the very end of his life trying to create and provide for all of us. 

What a disservice it would be for me to place my sadness ahead of his work. So, with that, I pulled out the second disc of the "Lazarus" set and began to listen.

In addition to the track "Lazarus," which plays precisely as it does upon the "Blackstar" album, what has become the "No Plan" EP continues as follows: 

1. "No Plan"-Essentially the EP's title track. Within the context of the "Lazarus" play and musical, the song carries a more traditionally sounding Broadway arrangement and features the vocal of a young woman, effectively and a gain blurring the lines brilliantly between expression and confession as the song could be viewed as existing as part of the overall narrative. Yet, with David Bowie's original version "No Plan" is a wrenching ballad, one that sounds as confessional as it is artistic. On further thought, I am actually quite not sure if I have ever heard Bowie present himself so nakedly before, especially when he was certainly existing at his most vulnerable and perhaps, fragile.

While the "Blackstar" finale "I Can't Give Everything Away" envisioned a sense of travel, the journey from life to infinity, "No Plan" is a song delivered from the imagined hereafter, a song of arrival but where?

"Here...

There is no music here

I'm lost in streams of sound

Here...

Am I nowhere now?

No plan

Wherever I may go

Just where, just there

I am

All of the things that are my life

My desire, my beliefs, my moods

Here is my place without a plan"

"No Plan" is stirring, sobering and certainly, more than a little halting as it is indeed the type of song--and so richly sung--that forces the listener to think about the very things that you may certainly not wish to think about. Yes, David Bowie's mortality is weaved directly into the song but for that matter, so is the mortality of every single person that listeners to this song for what will become of us once the inevitable happens. 

Where do we go, if anywhere? What happens to all of the qualities and characteristics that make each and every one of us the individuals that we are once our bodies fail forever, and for that matter, where did they arrive from in the first place? Is there a soul to depart the shell of our bodies or is there absolutely nothing, a darkness that is endless or even something that we are unable to even conceive of because, we are all only human? 

In under four minutes, David Bowie has taken us upon a journey through life, the universe and everything, so to peak. For me, it's not the easiest song to go through as it does send those chills and inserts a lump in my throat each time I hear it.  

2. "Killing A Little Time"-If the full EP of "No Plan" could be viewed as sot of a musical version of the Kubler-Ross model, more commonly known as the five stages of grief, then this track most certainly sits deeply in the pocket of the "anger" stage, as the band feverishly commits to a more jazz fusion styled arrangement performed with striking velocity with David Bowie front and center, filled with spitting venom. 

"This symphony

This rage in me

I've got a handful of songs to sing

To sting your soul

To fuck you over

This furious reign..."

Bowie opens the song with that passage, a declaration of his artistic raison d'etre as well as a gripping admission of the rapidly flowing time he has remaining to create and deliver, which then leads to the following darkly sardonic section...

"I'm falling, man

I'm choking, man

I'm fading, man

I'm the broken line

I'm falling, man

I'm choking, man

I'm fading, man

I'm killing a little time..."

"Killing A Little Time" affords Bowie to completely engage himself and the listener within another unusually confessional period as the song represents his Dylan Thomas moment, his "dying against the light" as he is obviously and ferociously raging against that eternal "good night." And while the overall effect is viscerally thrilling, it again forces all of us to think of our own impending futures and endings uncomfortably.

3. "When I Met You"-The final selection upon the EP is considerably more inscrutable, leaving us with more questions than answers and I do have the strongest feeling that this is perhaps how Bowie himself may have wanted it for us, especially arriving after two selections that feel to be so open veined.

The pulsing, brooding yet more straightforward rock and roll sounding track has Bowie addressing the unidentified "You" of the title.

"You knew just everything

But nothing at all

Now the moon is dark

Feels like pain again

You could feel my breath

You opened my eyes

For I could not see

When I met you

When I met you (You're feeling again)

I could not speak (You're drowning in pain)

You opened my mouth (You're walking in mist)

You opened my heart (You're living again)

My spirit rose (She tore you down)

The marks and stains (Happens all the time)

Could not exist (You were afraid)

When I met you

Now it's all the same (It's all the same)

It's all the same (It's all the same)

The sun is gone (The sun is gone)

It's all the same..."

So...with that, who is "You"? Could it be Bowie addressing himself, his wife Iman, whom or whatever he perceived God or some sort of supreme entity to be as he was apparently a practicing Buddhist? There is no way to know and yet that ambiguity serves to not derail the song itself but to effectively close the chapter on the musical and artistic life of David Bowie with that elegant and essential levels of mystery that keeps us returning, reviewing, re-living, e-interpreting and re-experiencing the immense legacy he has left behind for us.

"No Plan," the EP of the final recordings of David Bowie, serve as a more than effective footnote to the "Blackstar" experience, as well as Bowie's entire musical odyssey. These are three concise yet broadly conceptual and reaching songs that unveil a quality of existential poignancy that ultimately can assist all of us fans still dealing with Bowie's final transition. For through his entire career, David Bowie taught all of us how to fully live our lives by embracing the strange around and within ourselves, challenging and provoking us to strengthen and elongate our own perceptions to how life can be lived and therefore achieved. 

With "No Plan," David Bowie continued that very same work valiantly while also, quite possibly showing and teaching us the ways we can face death and dying. Certainly not an easy feat and even moreso, certainly not the easiest of listens. But honestly, when did David Bowie ever take the easy route?

And aren't we all the better for him having led the way.

WSPC'S SESSION NOTES JANUARY 2017

FROM THE DJ'S STUDIO DESK:

Happy New Year to all of you and may all of the music keep us bound together throughout 2017!!

I will indeed try to keep this opening message a tad brief but I do wish to tell all of you how deeply I have appreciated your interest in the activities of this blogsite and my personal passions for music itself, which I have chronicled on this space for several years now.

When I began Synesthesia, I truly had no idea of what a site like this could actually be. But in the past year to year and a half, I think I have finally found a certain comfortable groove, so to speak, as this site has truly grown from being so exclusively about me and building it into a much more collective we, regarding increased postings which revolve around various factions of the Madison music community from its bands, to concert venues, local radio stations and DJs and most certainly, the record stores.

For 2017, I pledge to continue upon this same path as I will still feature postings about new album releases and concerts I've seen to the monthly compilations of albums I'm listening to as well as the playlists that conclude each month's activities. Now if any of you are new visitors to Synesthesia, I should do some quick explaining.

What is WSPC? This is the fantasy radio station that exists inside of my head and heart. I "play" songs by simply linking selections from You Tube to my personal Facebook page and I compile and post the entire list by month's end. WSPC is purely unfiltered, where song lengths and in some cases, language have no barriers. I try to make "sets" that last about 5 songs and if I am really inspired, I may post several times in a day. Or there may be times when I am rarely posting at all. But I do try to remain consistent and truth be told, if you wish to gather just how I am feeling, just look at the songs themselves and you'll have an idea.

What is SAVAGE RADIO? This is a 60 minute radio show in the very real world, which is broadcast weekly upon a real world radio station on which I am the host/DJ and all of the music is handpicked by yours truly and from my personal collection. The station is WVMO 98.7 FM-The Voice Of Monona which you can also experience through LIVE STREAMING at mymonona.com or through downloading the TUNE IN APP top your smartphones, if you happen to own one (I still own a flip phone--they're coming back!). I have been so very blessed to have had this show for over the past year, and it has just been a pleasure and a privilege to carve out a small place within the Madison music community, where I can feature local bands and their albums and EPs plus show some love for those aforementioned record stores and local concert venues as well.

I hope whether through fantasy and real world radio and my writings, you feel included within my musical dream world because all of you are so invited to be a part of it with me, whether you are a musicians or listener. I promise to keep Synesthesia a positive space upon the internet for this site is entirely about the celebration of music. No snarky critiques are allowed just honest, passionate conversation where we all try to be as artful as the very art form we are cherishing.

With all of that being said, let the music guide all of us in this new year...and remember to PLAY LOUD!!!!!!!