I had purposefully delayed reviewing Bowie’s latest Blackstar, deciding to avoid both the
birthday and album celebratory 'bandwagons' – my cleverclogs reflection for when
I did comment – and now it is genuinely sad to hear of his death. All of those
album reviews already out there are so correct about its brilliance, and
listening to the title track today has that profound poignancy many will continue
to comment on. It is surely a fact that we have lost a major artist of our time.
Can you imagine how many people are listening to his music
right now?! That is amazing. I have made my quick compilation, featuring my
favourite album of his, Hunky Dory,
the song playing as I type this, Life on Mars.
His passing hit me harder than I could have predicted, as I was a fan for sure, but latently. The Aladdin Sane album is the one Debs got me into, big-time, and I spent the best part of a week in a bit of a state. Listened to the Blackstar album while cycling from Exwick to Countess Wear and back through the drizzle on Sunday and the mood fit perfectly, albeit in a much less mawkish way than this implies. Cliches like "Dark Masterpiece/Swansong" are actually spot-on. I see the humour in his parting gift and totally get the joke. Delivery and timing. Boom tish. Genius is not too strong a word in this case. His work is done and he will continue to inspire generations to come. Thanks Dave!
ReplyDeleteThoughtfully put
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