2013-05-11
Bowie ain't St. Sebastian
Bowie's new video above is supposedly causing a bit of a commotion for its depiction of Catholic imagery to emphasize the Church's hypocrisy, especially vis a vis the sexual scandals. Bowie is an amazing artist---my favorite artist---but, honestly, this video is not innovative at all. It is quite manipulative because it will make people (many of his fans, judging by the Facebook and Twitter comments) feel like they are edgy for playing with the "meanie" catholic church, when in truth it is all false edginess. It is so safe---and so cliche---to play with Catholics, that this feels like a super-studied MTV video awards show: studied faux edginess. Safe because no one is going to order a fatwa on your head, and cliche because it was already cliche when Madonna did it (with stigmata and all)... Sadly, the Stars (are out tonight) video was also a rip-off from The Eurythmics Savage video album... The Where are we now video was much more interesting. Don't get me wrong, I can see an artist (a painter at that) like Bowie being inspired by Catholic imagery, but the video is manipulative by seemingly trying to pinpoint the hypocrisy of the Church, while simultaneously being hypocritical itself by following, in addition to the safe/cliche faux edginess, the easy angle of linking sexuality to the catholic emphasis on the body and flesh. Honestly, if you can't top Mishima, don't do this...
Labels: David Bowie, Music
2008-09-09
Relax, I'm Only Dancing
In the past six months or so, two albums never left my mp3 player: Curtis by Curtis Mayfield and Young Americans by David Bowie. The first is from 1970 and the second from 1975. Both are amazing albums from an amazing period---which resonates with the present times in so many ways. Musically, they show the path from Soul to Disco. But more than that, they show us how Disco was born from the cultural mashups of war and peace, of all racial and sexual colors, of hedonism and activism, of fear and hope, of rough times and glamour. The only thing pure about Disco was its urban identity, and in that, it was much more radical than Punk.
It is no surprise then, that the last few years have witnessed waves of disco revival: from disco-punk to activist soul. This last decade was certainly a throwback to the 1970's---from Vietnam to Nixon, we seem to be playing a very similar script. With all that in mind, I made a mix CD of related tracks from the past and present. This is a very dance-oriented, soulful mix that I made to convey the extreme mashup that Disco, as I see it, is: Relax, I'm Only Dancing. To download it, you need the following username/password combination:
username = apollo
password = feelingfree
Also, if you don't believe Bowie went all Philly/Disco go get the phenomenal Young Americans, especially the 2007 edition with video footage from the Dick Cavett show---see a clip blow as well as another one from the Dinah Shore show (don't you wish American mainstream TV were still this risque?). It was pretty wild to follow "Diamond Dogs" with this...
It is no surprise then, that the last few years have witnessed waves of disco revival: from disco-punk to activist soul. This last decade was certainly a throwback to the 1970's---from Vietnam to Nixon, we seem to be playing a very similar script. With all that in mind, I made a mix CD of related tracks from the past and present. This is a very dance-oriented, soulful mix that I made to convey the extreme mashup that Disco, as I see it, is: Relax, I'm Only Dancing. To download it, you need the following username/password combination:
username = apollo
password = feelingfree
Also, if you don't believe Bowie went all Philly/Disco go get the phenomenal Young Americans, especially the 2007 edition with video footage from the Dick Cavett show---see a clip blow as well as another one from the Dinah Shore show (don't you wish American mainstream TV were still this risque?). It was pretty wild to follow "Diamond Dogs" with this...
Labels: Curtis Mayfield, David Bowie, Disco, Disco Punk, Music
