WSPC'S SESSION NOTES FOR MARCH 2016: READY FOR THE NEW

FROM THE DJ'S STUDIO DESK:

The previous two months have truly been mournful ones, dear readers and listeners. I certainly do not have to recount all of the losses. While this has indeed proven itself to be a process, it has been a most necessary one and truthfully, it has been a process that has only continued to reveal to me just how brilliant and beautiful of an experience David Bowie's "Blackstar" truly is and I am thankful for the time I have needed to live with the release and experience all emotions with it, from joy to sadness to awestruck. But now, I am ready for the new. The newness of the seasons and the newness of the music that will accompany the rising warmth in the air and the longer hours of light.

From witnessing the end of Madison's very own Modern Mod back in January, I found some new musical beginnings for me to explore courtesy of Guitarist Henry Stoehr. Through this musician and Modern Mod's farewell concert, I am now finding myself very intrigued and excited with the music of two more young Madison bands, Trophy Dad and Barbara Hans (pictured above courtesy of SCOTIFY).

This month, I am hoping to give you the much needed scoop on recent releases from both bands and with new releases from Esperanza Spalding and a posthumous new release from Jeff Buckley on the horizon, my musical spirit is anxious awaiting for a new freshness to hit my senses. I am also excited to see the band Tortoise in concert for the very first time in about a week. And adding in my activities with Savage Radio upon WVMO-The Voice Of Monona 98.7 FM, things are mighty exciting indeed!

Stay tuned and turned on to Synesthesia and remember that for whatever you are listening to and/or creating, always...

...PLAY LOUD!!!!!!!!

WSPC PLAYLIST FEBRUARY 2016

February 1, 2016
"What Does It Mean Now?" performed by World Party
"When I Change My Life" performed by Pretenders
"Sweet Louise" performed by The Belle Brigade
"Blue Letter" performed by Fleetwood Mac
"Cycle/Morning" performed by Beck

"Anywhere You Want To Go" performed by Santana-WSPC PREMIERE

"Ox Duke" performed by Tortoise-WSPC PREMIERE
"Mea Culpa" performed by David Byrne and Brian Eno
"Gong Rock" performed by Stewart Copeland

February 2, 2016
"Robbery, Assault and Battery" performed by Genesis
"Sole Survivor" performed by Asia
"Sunspots" performed by Nine Inch Nails
"February Stars" performed by Foo Fighters
"Cold Weather Blues" performed by Muddy Waters

February 4, 2016
"Desperate People" performed by Living Colour
"Circle Of The Noose" performed by Red Hot Chili Peppers

MAURICE WHITE
December 19, 1941-February 3, 2016

all songs performed by Earth, Wind & Fire
"Evil"

"Devotion"

"Imagination"

"Would You Mind"

"Reasons"

"That's The Way Of The World"

February 6, 2016

"After The Love Has  Gone" performed by Earth, Wind &  Fire

"The Girl Gets Around" performed by Sammy Hagar

"Dear Rosemary" performed by Foo Fighters

"D'yer Mak'er" performed by Led Zeppelin

"Exodus' performed by Bob marley and the Wailers

"Ricochet" performed by David Bowie

"Sirens" performed by Pearl Jam

February 7, 2016
"Heaven Sent" performed by INXS
"Chinatown" performed by Van Halen
"Whole Lotta Love" performed by Led Zeppelin
"You Can See Me" performed by Supergrass
"Watch That Man" performed by David Bowie

"Life" performed by J Dilla

February 9, 2016

"Thrill You, Kill You" performed by Prince-WSPC PREMIERE

"Ooh Baby Baby" performed by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
"This Old Heart Of Mine" performed by The Isley Brothers
"Only A Fool Breaks His Own Heart" performed by Nick Lowe
"Bizarre Love Triangle" performed by Frente!
"Luna" performed by The Smashing Pumpkins

February 10, 2015
"Love Plus One" performed by Haircut 100
"Doors Of Your Heart" performed by The English Beat
"Kiss Me" performed by Sixpence None The Richer
"Kiss Them For Me" performed by Siouxsie and the Banshees
"All Night Long" performed by Keely Smith

 February 12, 2016
"Instant Karma" performed by John Lennon
"I Know It's Over" performed by Jeff Buckley-WSPC PREMIERE
"Please Don't Ask" performed by Genesis
"Hope I'm Around" performed by Todd Rundgren
"You Were So Warm" performed by The  Dwight Twilley Band

"Red Barchetta" performed by Rush
"Tesseract" performed by Tortoise-WSPC PREMIERE
"Forced To Love" performed by Broken Social Scene
"Turtle Dove" performed by Lo Marie-WSPC PREMIERE
"It's All In The Game" performed by Tommy Edwards

February 13, 2016
"That Voice Again" performed by Peter Gabriel
"Lady's Baby" performed by The Monkees
"Knots" performed by Lisa Hannigan
"Quiet Heart" performed by The Go-Betweens
"Ace Of Wands" performed by Steve Hackett

"Genghis Khan" performed by Ace Frehley
"Get In The Ring" performed by Guns N' Roses
"Mama Said Knock You Out" performed by LL Cool J
"Blue Black Jack" performed by Mos Def
"Right Off" performed by Miles Davis

February 14, 2016
"All The World Loves Lovers" performed by Prefab Sprout
"Love My Way" performed by The Psychedelic Furs
"La La Means I Love You" performed by The Delfonics
"More Today Than Yesterday" performed by Spiral Staircase
"Harvest" performed by Neil Young

"Woodstock" performed by Matthew's Southern Comfort
"Crazy On You" performed by Heart
"Love Is All Around" performed by Sloan
"Valentine's Day" performed by David Bowie
"I Hate Love" performed by Garbage

February 15, 2016
"Roadhouse Blues" performed by The Doors
"Church" performed by Gary Clark Jr.
"Lover Boy" performed by Supertramp
"Mr. Big Man" performed by The Kinks
"I Really Don't Care" performed by Bilal

February 16, 2016
"Under The Milky Way" performed by The Church
"Stand Or Fall" performed by The Fixx
"Communication" performed by Power Station
"Midnight Sun" performed by Badfinger
"'Tis A Pity She Was A Whore" performed by David Bowie-WSPC PREMIERE

February 18, 2016
"Power To The People" performed by John Lennon
"One World (Not Three)" performed by The Police
"One World" performed by Utopia
"Cancion Protesta" performed by Aterciopelados
"Wake Up" performed by Rage Against The Machine

February 19, 2016
"Yesterday Once More" performed by Aimee Mann-WSPC PREMIERE
"Out Of Control" performed by Lush-WSPC PREMIERE
"For Phoebe Still A Baby"  performed by Cocteau Twins
"Firth Of  Fifth" performed by Genesis
"Xanadu" performed by The Ghost Of A Saber Tooth Tiger
"Nightbirds" performed by Ryan Adams
"Mobity Mosely Months" from "Roosevelt Franklin"

February 20, 2016
"Les Paul (Love Is Love)" performed by Sananda Maitreya
"Black Comedy" performed by Miles Davis
"Sookie Sookie" performed by Grant Green
"You're My Chocolate" performed by Savages
"Fallin'" performed by Madlib

February 21, 2016
"Get On The Right Thing" performed by Paul McCartney and Wings
"Just Like A Baby" performed by Sly and the Family Stone
"Grey Seal" performed by Elton John
"Flash" performed by Lenny Kravitz
"Far Away Eyes" performed by The Rolling Stones
"A Song For You" performed by Gram Parsons
"Reelin' In The Years" performed by Steely Dan
"I Want To Be Free" performed by The Ohio Players
"Footsteps In The Dark" performed by The Isley Brothers

"Fast Future" (live) performed by Donny McCaslin

February 22, 2016
"It's Too Late To Change The Time" performed by The Jackson 5
"Better By The Pound" performed by Meshell Ndegeocello
"I'll Stay With You" performed by New Order
"Haunted When The Minutes Drag" performed by Love And Rockets
"Out My Mind, Just In Time" performed by Erykah Badu

February 23, 2016
"The Prisoner" performed by Howard Jones
"Come To Your Rescue" performed by Thinkman
"Fascination" performed by David Bowie
"Are You Leading Me On?" performed by General Public
"No Promises" performed by Icehouse
"Spy Of Love" performed by INXS
"Straight To My Heart" performed by Sting
"Facing The Wind" performed by The Fixx
"The Devil's Eye" performed by The Go-Betweens
"Heartbeat" performed by King Crimson

February 24, 2016
"In The Light" performed by Led Zeppelin
"The Night The Carousel Burnt Down" performed by Todd Rundgren
"Song For Sharon" performed by Joni Mitchell
"Disappearing" performed by The War On Drugs
"Vanishing" performed by A Perfect Circle

February 25, 2016
"Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)" performed by George Harrison

"Enjoy The Silence" performed by Vernon Reid & Masque
"Pigs (Three Different Ones)" performed by Pink Floyd
"Jacob's Ladder" performed by Rush

 David Bowie Tribute 2016 BRIT Awards featuring Lorde performing "Life On Mars?"

February 27, 2016
"Body And Soul" performed by Dexter Gordon
"Fall In Love (Your Funeral)" performed by Erykah Badu
"Black Is The  Color Of My True Love's Hair" performed by Ms. Lauryn Hill
"Sinnerman" performed by Nina Simone
"Hat And Beard" performed by Eric Dolphy

HAPPY 30TH ANNIVERSARY TO "PRETTY IN PINK"
"Round, Round" performed by Belouis Some
"Whisper Touch" performed by  Code Blue
"Rudy" performed by Talkback
"Positively Lost Me" performed by The Rave Ups
"Try A Little Tenderness" (live 1967 Monterey Pop Festival) performed by Otis Redding

February 28, 2016
"Act Naturally" performed by The Beatles
"Celluloid Heroes" performed by The Kinks
"Everyone's Gone To The Movies" performed by Steely Dan
"(My Name Is) Michael Caine" performed by Madness
"Clark Gable" performed by The Postal Service
"Filmstar" performed by The London Suede
"Bad Little Actress" performed by Utopia
"Cracked Actor" performed by David Bowie

February 29, 2016
"Jumpin' Jack Flash" performed by The Rolling Stones
"Devil's Jump" performed by John Lee Hooker
"Jump, Jive An' Wail" performed by Louis Prima
"Jump In The Air And Stay There" performed by Erykah Badu
"Jump" performed by Van Halen

SAVAGE RADIO PLAYLISTS FEBRUARY 2016-WVMO THE VOICE OF MONONA 98.7 FM

SAVAGE RADIO-EPISODE #13: "MUSIC FOR A WINTER'S NIGHT"-FEBRUARY 3, 2016
1. "Roscoe" performed by Midlake
2. "To Who Knows Where" performed by James Iha
3. "Lotus" performed by R.E.M.
4. "Live Wire" performed by Tony Carey
5. "Streets Of Your Town" performed by The Go-Betweens
6. "Valley Winter Song" performed by Fountains Of Wayne
7. "50 Words For Snow" performed by Kate Bush
8. "Comeback (Light Therapy)" performed by Josh Rouse
9. "Under Cover" performed by Ducktails
10. "Icicles" performed by Badfinger

SAVAGE RADIO-EPISODE #14: "VALENTINE'S DAY" FEBRUARY 10, 2016-PLAYLIST
1. "I Love You" performed by The Steve Miller Band
2. "I've Been Waiting" performed by Matthew Sweet
3. "I Can't Take It" performed by Cheap Trick
4. "Say Yeah" performed by Utopia
5. "Crazy (Keep On Fallin')" performed by The John Hall Band
6. "I'm In Love With A Girl" performed by Big Star
7. "They Don't Know" performed by Kirsty MacColl
8. "From Now On (We're One)" performed by Wendy & Lisa
9. "Ruin My Day" performed by Jon Brion
10."This Broken Heart" performed by Funkadelic
11."Last Time In Love" performed by Sloan
12."Wanders To You" performed by Howard Jones
13."Instant Crush" performed by Daft Punk

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #15: "HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN HUGHES & MOLLY RINGWALD"
FEBRUARY 17, 2016 PLAYLIST
1. "Sixteen Candles" performed by The Stray Cats
2. "If You Leave" performed by Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark
3. "Kajagoogoo" performed by Kajagoogoo
4. "Miss Amanda Jones" performed by The March Violets
5. "Beat City" performed by The Flowerpot Men
6. "Whistle Down The Wind" performed by Nick Heyward
7. "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want" (vocal version) performed by The Dream Academy
8. "The Circle" performed by Max Carl
9. "It's All In The Game" performed by Carmel
10."Fire In The Twilight" performed by Wang Chung
11."She Loves Me" performed by Stephen Duffy
12. "Danke Schoen" performed by Wayne Newton

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #16: "BLACK HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATION"
FEBRUARY 24, 2016-PLAYLIST
1. "Say It Loud-I'm Black And I'm Proud" performed by JAMES BROWN
2. "CP Time" performed by Vernon Reid
3. "Getting Up" performed by Q-Tip
4. "Consumerism" performed by Ms. Lauryn Hill
5. "At The Club" performed by Ray Charles
6. "Strange Fruit" performed by Billie Holiday
7. "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" performed by Cannonball Adderley Quintet
8. "Change" performed by Fishbone
9. "I Wanna Breathe" performed by Sananda Maitreya
10. "Black Man" performed by Stevie Wonder
11. "Without You" performed by Lucy Pearl

NOW PLAYING IN THE SAVAGE JUKEBOX FEBRUARY 2016

"THE CATASTROPHIST"
TORTOISE
Released January 22, 2016
NEW 2016 MUSIC: Admittedly, this month has almost entirely been about Bowie but I did make a little time for the latest album from Chicago's Tortoise, their first new material to be released in seven long years. I currently hold a ticket to see the band perform live in early March, so I will definitely be spinning this album more often as the evening approaches, as well as thereafter.

"OUTSIDE"
DAVID BOWIE
Released September 26, 1995

"...HOURS"
DAVID BOWIE
Released October 4, 1999

"ST. CATHERINE"
DUCKTAILS
Released July 24, 2015

"ADRIAN YOUNGE PRESENTS VENICE DAWN: SOMETHING ABOUT APRIL"
ADRIAN YOUNGE
Released January 6, 2012

"FLUX: VOLUME ONE"
ADRIAN BELEW
NEW 2016 MUSIC: It has been 10 long years since I have last heard of any new material from Adrian Belew, and now, it has finally arrived with this new release, which is essentially a small nugget of what he has truly indulged himself with. With "Flux," Belew has invented an app in which the music contained here, from mere sonic snippets to full songs, can be re-contextualized into a myriad of listening configurations, thus ensuring the listening experience can be different every single time. For this CD, however, and unless one is to place it into a shuffle mode, it is a start to finish affair that only reconfirms that Belew is unquestionably one of our most musically frisky, proficient and relentlessly inventive minds.

"JESUS WEPT"
P.M. DAWN
Released October 3, 1995

STATION TO STATION: "BLACKSTAR" DAVID BOWIE

"BLACKSTAR"
DAVID BOWIE

MUSICIANS:
David Bowie: Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Fender Guitar on "Lazarus," String Arrangements
Donny McCaslin: Flute, Saxophone, Woodwinds
Ben Monder: Guitar
Jason Lindner: Piano, Organ, Keyboards
Tim Lefebvre: Bass Guitar
Mark Guiliana: Drums and Percussion
James Murphy: Percussion on "Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime)" and "Girl Loves Me"

All music and lyrics by David Bowie
except "Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime)" 
music and lyrics by David Bowie, Maria Schneider, Paul Bateman and Bob Bharma 

Produced by David Bowie and Tony Visconti
Released January 8, 2016

How do I even begin...

It has been a little over one month since the release of what is now sadly David Bowie's final album and of course, the beloved artist's passing from an 18 month fight with liver cancer on January 10th, just two days after reaching his 69th birthday, therefore making the tenor of this specific album review/exploration change considerably as the music itself and my response to it has changed as well. In fact, I should tell you that within this month, I have only heard the album in full only one time, the weekend of its release. I haven't listened to it since, partially because I have been pouring over Bowie's discography and even more truthfully, I was just feeling too sad to hear what longtime Producer, friend and colleague Tony Visconti has expressed was Bowie's "farewell gift" to his fans all over again just yet.

Mourning over David Bowie has proven itself to be utilizing its own time table as the grief has shown considerable endurance. Just days after his death and driving in the early morning January hours to work while listening to the song "Station To Station," I found myself spontaneously overcome with sadness and tears despite the insistence of that track's propulsive grooves. I guess Bowie just felt to be a creature possessing a certain immortality, and seeing that he was just a man, his mortality maybe shed light upon my own or something. I do not know. I just know that my friend was gone and I missed him terribly, saddened to know that I would never hear from him again.

As I have been travelling through past material and music, I have been simultaneously amazed all over again with the creativity, innovation and sheer breadth and diversity of the albums while also hearing the songs in completely new ways. Take his breakthrough 1969 single of "Space Oddity." What has always been a straightforward narrative about a lonely astronaut finding himself lost in space, has now revealed itself to me as maybe also working as a metaphor for life and death itself. Lines of Major Tom "stepping through the door" while "floating in a most peculiar way" as he travels past 100 thousand miles yet feels very still inside of his "tin can" (a coffin, perhaps) with farewell messages of love to his wife just transformed what was already a melancholy song into something even more poignant to my ears. Maybe I'm reading too much into things but isn't that what art is for?

But let's get back to the album at hand...

In a mere span of four short days, between January 8th and January 11th, I experienced the wildly swinging emotions from high flying celebration to the aforementioned tear stained mourning. The media events leading up to the release of the album were intriguing to say the least. Articles proclaiming that Bowie's latest musical project would lean more towards jazz arrangements and performances, as well as citing both D'Angelo and the Vanguard's "Black Messiah" (released December 15, 2014) and Kendrick Lamar's "To Pimp A Butterfly" (released March 15, 2015) as two of the albums Bowie was listening to and served as some of the creative influences over the recording proceedings was exciting enough. But, it was the release of two short film music videos, one for the nearly 10 minute title track and the other for "Lazarus" and both directed by Johan Renck, that gave me the most sense of an anticipatory pregnant pause.

In both videos, which are darkly surreal, more than a bit creepy and fully transfixing, I simply could not believe that I was viewing. There he was, David Bowie, adopting a new persona as some sort of blind prophet (now confirmed to have been christened "Button Eyes"--a blindfolded figure with buttons for eyes) surrounded by images of what looks to be some sort of exorcism, a woman with a tail carrying a jewel encrusted skull and most oddly, a trio of writhing, sexually gyrating yet crucified scarecrows. The sight of the remains of a dead astronaut should have been more than telling, but it all just went past me in a wash, where I was significantly disturbed yet also found myself laughing to myself feeling that Bowie was just being Bowie in ways he had not been in a long time.

The "Lazarus" film now plays as an open declaration of Bowie's then impending mortality. But again, I was distracted and disturbed by the Button Eyes character, now laying in repose in a hospital bed, at times levitating, juxtaposed with Bowie adorned in his "Station To Station" costume, prancing and performing in herky jerky movements conveying a restlessly creative spirit at work only to slow, shuffle and finally disappear inside of an armoire (again, is it a coffin?), Yet, at the time I first saw the video, I was dumbfounded, stupefied and enormously intrigued and fully unaware of the deeper layers at work.

January 8th arrived and it was finally time to hear "Blackstar" in its entirety. Once I purchased the album and gave it my initial listen, remember, David Bowie was still alive and therefore, my experience was one of celebration, even exaltation as it was a rigorously thrilling album from start to finish, perhaps the strongest release of his later period of album releases and most certainly, a stellar companion album to "Station To Station," an album which would reach its 40th anniversary on January 23rd. In fact, when I was first planning to write about the album, here is what I wrote on the afternoon of January 9th:

"Dear readers and listeners, the year is just a hair over one week old and we now already have one of the best albums of 2016! "Blackstar," the 25th album from David Bowie--remarkable strength, vitality and restless creativity and an imagination that is as lustrous as it is often macabre."

My first listen to "Blackstar" was a fully invigorating experience. The melodies stuck like glue, the songs connected instantly while not for any stretch making themselves easily accessible or remotely commercialized, and what struck me so powerfully was the man himself. David Bowie just sounded as if he was creatively on fire! His voice was as strong and as expressive as ever. His collaboration with Tony Visconti remained fervently fruitful and the musicians he handpicked to record with him were superbly fluid, progressive and not only able to keep up with Bowie but at times seemed to even push him to extend to even greater heights. 

On first listen, "Blackstar" revealed itself to be an album of restless inventiveness, palpable tension and intensity, and although not all of the lyrics leaped out at me (I tend to connect with the music first), I could detect some themes of mortality contained within the album's seven songs. But again, the signs were not obvious to me as I was so swept away. I figured that it would be more than logical for Bowie to muse over life's end, especially as Bowie has already done so in the past and would certainly seem to be prevalent as he was closer to the end of life than the beginning due to his age. It just never occurred to me that he was sending arcane and clear messages to the listener. I was so astounded by the album that I was already wondering to myself just where could David Bowie head next?

And then, January 10th arrived and as U2's Bono tweeted so perfectly, and solely utilizing Bowie's own lyrics, "Planet Earth is blue." 

Three years ago, when David Bowie returned to the public eye after a ten year absence with the release of the terrific, vibrant "The Next Day" (released March 8, 2013) as well as the retrospective touring exhibition "David Bowie Is...," his activity felt as if he was greeting us with a "Hello" after a lengthy spell away. With "Blackstar," and how his death has newly informed the music itself, we now realize that with its ocean of turbulence giving way to release by album's end, David Bowie has given us a work that serves as an epitaph, an elegy and a deeply moving "Goodbye."

"Blackstar" opens with the aforementioned, nearly ten minute title track that initially moves at the pace of a dirge yet is augmented by Donny McCaslin's serpentine saxophone, Tim Lefebvre's insistent, sinister bass guitar playing and Mark Guiliana's skittering drums which recall the electronic drum and bass textures of Bowie's "Earthling" (released February 3, 1997) combined with the hip-hop drumming styles of figures like Questlove and Chris "Daddy" Dave.

With Bowie's arrival in the song, he paints a surreal audio painting of a scene set within the "villa of Ormen" where "a solitary candle" sits "at the centre of it all" offering light to an execution where "only women kneel and smile." Bowie's multi-tracked vocals carry the sound of what felt to be a collective of sad monks moaning in endless mourning and yet the effect is intoxicating. Even moreso, is when the song shifts focus near its midsection as "Blackstar" phases into what feels to be the saddest soul music recorded yet with a bit of a swaggering shuffle (just listen to the drums, the horns and especially, the bass--it's as if even on the edge of oblivion, Bowie is still inviting us to dance).

Now, after several listens, the lyrics of this section do indeed leap outwards:

"Something happened on the day he died
Spirit rose a meter and stepped aside
Somebody else took his place and bravely cried
'I'm a blackstar! I'm a blackstar'

How many times does an angel fall?
How many people lie instead of talking tall
He trod on sacred ground, he cried loud into the crowd
'I'm a blackstar! I'm a blackstar! I'm not a gangstar"

OK...how do I even begin with this?

Performing a little bit of research, I discovered that Ormen is indeed a location in Norway. I have also seen that "Ormen" is supposedly the plural of the word "Orm," which also supposedly means "worm, grub or maggot," clear themes of death and decay. Yet, other internet searches show no such findings. Or, is Bowie just playing with language (a tactic that occurs throughout the album) where "Orman" is in fact " all men"?

Maybe the first stanza is reflecting upon mortality with the spiritual idea that when one soul leaves the material world, it is making room for a new spirit to enter. Maybe he is reflecting upon mortality through the lens of pop culture and the role he has played within shaping that culture, especially as he and the late Elvis Presley shared the same birthday, for instance. Bowie was an avid Elvis Presley fan and Presley also performed a song entitled "Black Star" for the film in which he starred entitled "Flaming Star" (1960), and whose opening lyrics proclaim, "Every man has a black star/A black star over his shoulder/And when a man sees his black star/He knows his time, his time has come."

Delving deeper, who have we the public perceived a figure like Elvis Presley or now David Bowie to have been ("David Bowie Is..."), especially as he rigidly separated his private and public lives so powerfully? And therefore, how did Bowie ever perceive himself, perhaps as referenced through the repeated refrains of "I'm not a film star/I'm a star's star/I'm not a white star/I'm not a porn star/I'm not a wandering star/I'm a blackstar."

And then, all of the questions the song poses seem to be answered, to a degree, by the spiritual world itself, and rather cheekily:

"I can't answer why
Just go with me
I'm-a take you home
Take your passport and shoes
And your sedatives, boo
You're a flash in the pan
I'm the Great I AM"

"Flash in the pan." In matters of the nature of existence itself, that is indeed true. We are all mere flashes in the pan... 

By the time the two sections of the song merge into one and flows to its ominous, foreboding conclusion, David Bowie has already exquisitely set the stage for a demanding, dizzying listening experience.

As with the music video, once the album's third song "Lazarus" arrives, it now sounds like a (mostly) clear declaration of Bowie's state of being at the time of the album's making as well as the off Broadway play of the same name that Bowie envisioned as a quasi sequel to his celebrated art film, Director Nicholas Roeg's "The Man Who Fell To Earth" (1976). Here, the language is plain and stark as he comments upon himself, his declining health, his past, the effects of medication as well as the nature of his role within the pop culture lexicon and what will occur once he passes away.

"Look up here, I'm in Heaven
I've got scars that can't be seen
I've got drama, can't be stolen
Everybody knows me now

Look up here, man, I'm in danger
I've got nothing left to lose
I'm so high, it makes my brain whirl
Dropped my cell phone down below
Ain't that just like me?"

Musically, the song is equally stark and stunning, with the dry, fat sound of Guiliana's drums serving as Bowie's slowly ticking life clock while McCaslin's melodically mournful horns and the guitars of both Bowie and Ben Monder providing a clear menace. The cold specter of death is certainly close but somehow the presentation also contains a certain warmth with its open vulnerability.

I realize that by this point David Bowie's "Blackstar" may be sounding as if it is an interminable and painful listening experience. Trust me, dear readers and listeners, it is anything but. While these songs may sound to be filled with more than their fair share of doom, the album in full is filled not only with dangerous dark alleys but sections of pure grace and light and even humor (I especially loved hearing his frequent usages of street vernacular--"I was looking for your ass"-- yet filtered through an exaggerated, theatrical English voice).

As bookends to "Lazarus," we have the album's second and fourth tracks,"'Tis A Pity She's A Whore" and "Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime)," both re-recordings of two selections Bowie included in the compilation album "Nothing Has Changed" (released November 17, 2014) and each based upon the the 17th century tragic play entitled "Tis Pity She's A Whore" written by John Ford. Both selections provide the album with tremendous scope, agility and musical fury as Bowie and his musicians are all given ample opportunities to go for broke to outstanding effect as the former, with its aggressive bob and weave groove, plays upon Bowie's classic themes of sexual ambiguity ("Man, she punched me like a dude!") while the latter is a cacophony of murder, violence and madness, essentially the destruction of the body and the spirit.

"Girl Loves Me" is the album most head scratching track as the bizarre lyrical content fully serves the relentless stomp of the music. Utilizing the invented language of author Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange (1962), itself a work Bowie had long admired, we are treated to a barrage of gobbeldy-gok that is occasionally punctuated by the pointed, enraged question, "Where the fuck did Monday go?" Whether serving as yet another song of madness either through insanity or through the ravages of the mind as the body begins to fail and time itself feels to blur. And therefore, perhaps the title refers to his 24 year marriage to Iman, where despite his illness and impending death, she has indeed loved him to the very end.

It is within the album's final two tracks where all of the tension from before begins to calm and culminate in a sense of release. "Dollar Days" feels like Bowie is acknowledging his fate yet even still, he is flowing alternately through all five stages of grief, with regrets, accomplishments and visions of the places he wishes to see and experience, either in the material world or wherever he feels that he is heading.

"Cash girls suffer me, I've got no enemies
I'm walking down
It's nothing to me
It's nothing to see

If I'll never see the English evergreens I'm running to
It's nothing to me 
It's nothing to see

I'm dying to
Push their backs against the grain 
And fool them all again and again
I'm trying to"

Again, and ever the trickster, Bowie continuously plays with language as the repeated refrains of "I'm dying to" could easily be heard as "I'm dying, too." of course, ever mysterious, we will never fully know which version he intended.

"I Can't Give Everything Away," the album's finale opens with the music of movement, a groove that sounds like travel and is augmented by the very harmonica sounds that accompanied the track "A New Career In A New Town" from the album "Low" (released January 14, 1977). This is the song where David Bowie bids us all farewell, as he travels from this life towards wherever, in his trademark enigmatic fashion.

"I know something is very wrong
The pulse returns the prodigal son
The blackout hearts, the flowered news
With skull designs upon my shoes

I can't give everything away
I can't give everything
AWAY...

Seeing more and feeling less
Saying no but meaning yes
This is all I ever meant
That's the message that I sent

I can't give everything
AWAY..."

And as the music reaches its final crescendo, with cymbal crashes blasting apart, all sounds fading into nothingness, "Blackstar" and David Bowie himself reach their respective ends.

Contrary to the earliest reports, David Bowie's "Blackstar" is not really jazz music and furthermore, it's not really rock music either. "Blackstar" is nothing else but David Bowie music, the very type that transcends any and all other musical genres but somehow exists within all of them in order to create a completely individualistic musical language and universe where David Bowie sits at its epicenter. And therefore, it is a musical universe that has folded in upon itself in conclusion, never to be heard from again but can always be re-experienced anytime we listen to his music of the past.

While artists from the likes of Johnny Cash, Warren Zevon, Glen Campbell and George Harrison among others have all created musical works with the full knowledge of their impending mortality, there is something about  David Bowie's "Blacksar" that feels especially stirring. Like J Dilla's masterpiece "Donuts" (released February 7, 2006), which was largely created from Dilla's hospital bed, released upon his 32nd birthday and only to pass away three days afterwards, David Bowie proved himself to undoubtedly be an artist to the very end, boldly weaving his own mortality into the art itself while forever retaining his mystery, which still makes his death feel so impossible. Again, he just seemed to be so otherworldly, so beyond any of us mere mortals and maybe that is a somewhat nice way to dull the ache--perhaps David Bowie just returned to where he came from, his time with us and his job for us completely finished and fully realized. Even so, it will take time for this exquisite ache to lessen its sting.

It seems to be especially fitting that "Blackstar" has arrived so closely to the 40th anniversary of "Station To Station" as the music, lyrics and imagery seems to play off of that specific period while also commenting upon Bowie's final days. For that matter, even pay attention to the album's packaging which prints lyrics and credits in black lettering upon a black background, only being able to be read by shining some light upon it, jointly acknowledging the labyrinthine nature of the material and the artistic nature of Bowie's mortality as his life was indeed fading to black. "Blackstar" is entirely about moving from a variety of stations to new stations, from beginnings to endings, life to death, and death to infinity. In total, David Bowie, with his artistic output now complete, has encapsulated not only what it means to live, but what it means to die and thrillingly, uncompromisingly and unrepentantly so.

What a gift he has been to us for so long and for so many and what a gift he has left for us with "Blackstar."

WSPC'S SESSION NOTES FOR FEBRUARY 2016: A MONTH OF GOODBYES

FROM THE DJ'S STUDIO DESK:

The Grim Reaper has been merciless lately.

After enduring the losses of David Bowie, Kevin Junior, Scott Weiland, Lemmy, Natalie Cole, Glenn Frey, The Specials' drummer John Bradbury and Mott The Hoople's drummer Dale Griffin, the month of January 2016 concluded with two more seismic losses to the musical community: Signe Anderson and Paul Kantner, the original lead singer for Jefferson Airplane, and Jefferson Airplane co-founder respectively, both passed away on the same day of January 28th. They were both 74 years old.

PAUL KANTNER

March 17, 1941-January 28, 2016

I know and realize greatly that so many of my musical heroes are reaching into a certain advanced age where mortality is more imminent. I understand and yet it is so difficult to accept. In my mind, these individuals performed the impossible; the taking of the ephemeral, inspiration itself, and somehow harnessing its power to create transformative music, share it with the world, and in many cases, completely pushing the art medium forwards to varying degrees. These figures just feel to be so immortal even though I know better. Regardless, I wish that it were so.

I am hoping that the fates will go easier during the month of February, allowing us time to fully heal and process and to hold onto the living that much tighter and for a little bit longer. But for those who have departed, let us not allow their gifts to have been made in vain for it is our duty to ensure that their music is passed onwards and downwards to the next generation and hopefully, they will carry their torches as well.

Keep listening and playing and sharing and feeling. All of these dearly departed artists have meant the world to us and now, would argue, they just may mean even more and their visions may touch us even deeper. I am still planning on writing about David Bowie's final album for you, as well as myself, and I am hoping to have that out to you this coming month. But to do so, I have to re-listen, something I have been somewhat avoiding as I am so stricken by his loss that the process of hearing his farewell may prove to be overwhelming.

But, maybe that is precisely what I need...

However, we do choose to celebrate, honor and remember, to always...

...PLAY LOUD!!!!

WSPC PLAYLIST JANUARY 2016

January 1, 2016
"New Year's Day" performed by U2

"The Right Thing Right" performed by Johnny Marr
"The Only One I Know" performed by The Charlatans UK
"San Francisco" performed by Foxygen
"Just A Little" performed by The Beau Brummels
"Near Wild Heaven" performed by R.E.M.

"Floating On Air" performed by Dam-Funk
"Burning Bar" performed by Tangerine Dream
"Does It Really Happen?" performed by Yes
"The Little Blue Frog" performed by Miles Davis
"E=MC2" performed by J  Dilla

January 2, 2016
"The Captain And Me" performed by The Doobie Brothers
"Dust" performed by Steve Winwood
"Pinball Wizard" performed by The Who
"It Is Not Meant To Be" performed by Tame Impala
"Tour De World" performed by Northside

January 3, 2016
"Back To The World" performed by Curtis Mayfield
"Feeding Off The Love Of The Land" performed by Stevie Wonder
"I'm Dying Of Thirst" performed by Robert Glasper

January 4, 2016
"5 a.m." performed by David Gilmour
"Back 2 Life (A Capella)/Jazzie's Groove" performed by Soul II Soul
"It's Working" performed by MGMT
"Catch Me I'm Falling" performed by Real Life
"Welcome To The Working Week" performed by Elvis Costello

"Killin' The Vibe" performed by Ducktails
"A Place You Return To In A Dream" performed by Field Mouse
"Living My Life" performed by Deerhunter

"Crush With Eyeliner" performed by R.E.M.
"Hellbent" performed by New Order
"Life's What You Make It" performed by Talk Talk
"Crushed" performed by Cocteau Twins

January 5, 2016
"Man In A Suitcase" (live) performed by The Police
"Suitcase" performed by Badfinger
"The Suitcase Song" performed by Sam & Ruby
"Suitcase" performed by Keb' Mo'
"I Live In A Suitcase" performed by Thomas Dolby

January 6, 2016
"Debaser" performed by Pixies
"Kundalini Express" performed by Love And Rockets
"Fool In The Rain" performed by Led Zeppelin
"Loving Cup" performed by The Rolling Stones
"Rocket's Tail" performed by Kate Bush

Janaury 7, 2016
PRINCE 2005 NAACP AWARDS PERFORMANCE

Janaury 8, 2016
"Hang On Sloopy" performed by The McCoys
"Friday On My Mind" performed by The Easybeats
"A Girl Like You" performed by Edwyn Collins
"The In Crowd" performed by The Ramsey Lewis Trio
"Lazarus" performed by David Bowie

"Untitled #2" (live on "Jimmy Fallon") performed by Kendrick Lamar-WSPC PREMIERE

"Space Oddity" (live in Oslo 2012) performed by D'Angelo and the Vanguard
"The Man Who Sold The World" (live MTV Unplugged) performed by Nirvana
"O Astronauta de Marmore (Starman)" performed by Seu Jorge
"Letter To Hermione" (live) performed by The Robert Glasper Experiment featuring Bilal
"Ashes To Ashes" performed by Tears For Fears
"'Heroes'" performed by TV On The Radio

January 9, 2016
"Good Lava" performed by Esperanza Spalding-WSPC PREMIERE

"Drop Dead Legs" performed by Van Halen
"In The Evening" performed by Led Zeppelin

"Under Cover" performed by Ducktails
"Numbers" performed by Ryan Adams and the Cardinals
"American Wife" performed by Rilo Kiley
"One Less Bell To Answer" performed by The Fifth Dimension
"Embuscade" performed by Phoenix

January 11, 2016

DAVID BOWIE  JANUARY 8, 1947-JANUARY 10, 2016
"Loving The Alien" (live 2003)
"Bring Me The Disco King"
"5:15 The Angels Have Gone"
"If I'm Dreaming My Life"
"Seven Years In Tibet"
"Subterraneans"
"Word On A Wing"
"Soul Love"
"I Can't Give Everything Away"-WSPC PREMIERE

January 12, 2016
"Rebel Rebel" (live) performed by Todd Rundgren-WSPC PREMIERE

"The Loneliest Guy"
"Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud"
"Quicksand"
"Cat People"
"John, I'm Only Dancing Again"

"Moonage Daydream" (live) performed by Modern Mod

January 16, 2016
"King Of The World" performed by Weezer-WSPC PREMIERE
"Kingdom Come" performed by David Bowie
"Life On Mars?" performed by David Bowie
"Cindy Tells Me" performed by Brian Eno
"Sad American" performed by Kaki King
"The Headmaster Ritual" (live) performed by Johnny Marr
"Just Like A Woman" performed by Jeff Buckley-WSPC PREMIERE

January 18, 2016

KEVIN JUNIOR DECEMBER 26, 1969-JANUARY 15, 2016
All songs performed by The Chamber Strings
"Baby It's You"
"Let Me Live My Own Life"
"Flashing Star"
"Telegram"
"Last Lovers" (acoustic version)

January 21, 2016
"Pretty Thing" performed by Bo Diddley
"Planet Earth" performed by Duran Duran
"I'm Designer" performed by Queens Of The Stone Age
"Outlaw Man" performed by Eagles
"Papercuts" performed by Modern Mod

January 23, 2016
"High Roller" performed by Cheap Trick
"Jailbreak" performed by Thin Lizzy
"Bandoliers" performed by Them Crooked Vultures
"Secrets" performed by Van Halen
"Armenia City In The Sky" performed by The Who

January 24, 2016
"Maggot Brain" performed by Funkadelic
"Before The Beginning" performed by John Frusciante
"Thousand Knives" performed by Ryuichi Sakamoto
"Kiev Mission" performed by Tangerine Dream
"Birds Of Fire" performed by Mahavishnu Orchestra

"Bowie By Request" (live 2002)

January 25, 2016
"Find The River" performed by R.E.M.
"Thur These Walls" performed by Phil Collins
"Playa Playa" performed by D'Angelo
"I Wanna Breathe" performed by Sananda Maitreya
"Save Me" performed by Queen

January 26, 2016

HAPPY 61ST BIRTHDAY TO EDDIE VAN HALEN
all songs performed by Van Halen
"I'll Wait"
"Don't Tell Me What Love Can Do"
"Mean Street"
"Year To The Day"
"Intruder/Pretty Woman"

"High Flying Bird" performed by Elton John
"Letter Of Intent" performed by Ducktails
"Take Care" performed by Deerhunter
"Trichotillomania" performed by Trophy Dad
"Bachelor Kisses" performed by The Go-Betweens
"Sleepy Night" performed by The Chamber Strings

January 27, 2016
"One Of These Days" (from "Live At Pompeii") performed by Pink Floyd

"Water" performed by The Who
"Oceans" performed by Pearl Jam
"Yes, The River Knows" performed by The Doors
"To Live Forever" performed by Planet P. Project

January 28, 2016
"You Never Know" performed by Adrian Belew-WSPC PREMIERE

"Warszawa" performed by David Bowie
"Wallflower" performed by Peter Gabriel
"Another Galaxy" performed by Paul Simon
"Sweet Sucker Dance" performed by Joni Mitchell
"Do U Dig U?" performed by Q-Tip

January 29, 2016

R.I.P. PAUL KANTNER MARCH 17, 1941-JANUARY 28, 2016
all songs performed by Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship
"We Can Be Together"
"D.C.B.A.-25"
"Come Up The Years"
"Caroline"
"Thee Will Be Love"

January 30, 2016

HAPPY 65TH BIRTHDAY TO PHIL COLLINS
"The West Side" (live 1982)
"I Know What I Like" (live 1976) performed by Genesis
"Abacab" performed by Genesis
"Nuclear Burn" performed by Brand X
"Drum Duet/Los Endos" (live 1987) performed by Genesis

January 31, 2016
"Sunday" performed by David Bowie
"Blues To Elvin" performed by John Coltrane
"Freddie Freeloader" performed by Miles Davis
"Footprints" performed by Wayne Shorter
"Cantaloupe Island" performed by Herbie Hancock
"Win" performed by David Bowie

"Find Your Way Back" performed by Jefferson Starship