The Clackamas print., January 20, 2016, Page 5, Image 5

“I ama'Ar
BY MATT ROWNING
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Arts and culture editor says album is Bowie's final farewell
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On David Bowie’s 69th birthday came blasting from the
depths of outer space his new album, “★” (Blackstar).
David Bowie came from outer space. Since his ascent
to rock stardom with his call to astronaut Major Tom
through his arrival to earth as Ziggy Stardust and his
alien Thomas Jerome Newton, he has told us tales of
the beyond.
Perhaps th a t’s the only constant in a career branded
by metamorphosis and change. Bowie started in rock,
striking gold with hits from his self-titled album and
“Hunky Dory.” He had essentially perfected the form
of rock as art by 1972’s “Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders
from Mars.”
From there Bowie experim ented w ith other forms.
1974’s “Diamond Dogs” found him working with the
rock opera/concept album form ats and using funk
textures. In 1977 Bowie stripped down the rock elements
to near nothing and rebuilt his sound with electronic
instrum ents.
“ B lackstar” is a new evolution for Bowie. The
eponymous title track and first single of the album is 10
minutes long. It opens in a dark Phrygian, a kind of minor
key that translates anxiety and evil. Themes of alienation
and fear appear. Bowie howls out the setting: “In the
villa of Ormen stands a solitary candle, On the day of
execution, only women kneel and smile.” Bowie wastes
no time in establishing the dark imagery of “Blackstar”
with the lone candle, the execution and the contradictory
actions of the women: kneeling and smiling.
The song evolves. It moves into a more major key as
the clouds suddenly break. “Something happened on
the day he died, spirit rose a metre and stepped aside,
somebody else took his place, and bravely cried: I’m a
blackstar, I’m a blackstar.” The protagonist of the song
has evolved through death into both a new musical key
and the new emotion of bravery.
Bowie uses them es of darkness and anxiety better
than any of his contemporaries with the only possible
competition being Radiohead, a band his influence paved
the way for.
“Sue (Or In Season of Crime)” could have come off a
Radiohead release circa “Kid A.” Pulsing guitar enters
photo by Austin BolU
in one of the closest moments to straight ahead rock
on the album.
The following song “Girl Loves Me” has a vocal sample
reminiscent of Idioteque off Radiohead’s Kid A. In “Girl
Loves Me” Bowie yelps “Where the fuck did Monday go?”
over and over between verses of “A Clockwork Orange”
slang. Borrowing Alex Burgess’ vernacular from “A
Clockwork Orange” is something Bowie has done before
(“Hey droogie, don’t crash here” from Suffragette City);
here it’s with foreboding intent.
“Where the fuck did Monday
go?” - Bowie
What if Bowie m eant the phrase “I’m a Blackstar”
more literally than would be interpreted? Unlikely, yes.
On a thematic level though, and considering th at he
released the album on his birthday, there are elements
of Bowie’s artistry that are all wrapped up in the form
of the album.
The dark, pulsing textures at the introduction of the
song “Blackstar” are rem iniscent of 1977’s “Low” .
Saxophones come in, echoing “Diamond Dogs.” The
them es of space and stars echo “Ziggy Stardust.” It
moves through changes over and over again.
The album has a dramatic showstopper a la “Five Years”
in “Dollar Days.” There are the same saxophones that
played on “Suffragette City’s” chorus throughout. He
breaks down the classic verse-chorus-verse form on
nearly every song, much like jazz and neoclassicist era
Bowie. So much of the artist that is Bowie is wrapped
up in this work.
If Bowie died tomorrow, his epitaph should simply
I wrote all this as Bowie lay dying. I had no idea that
I would wake up to the a message from my dad telling
me th a t the legend had died. Funny th a t I surmised
there was an epitaph hidden in his album. Surreal that
the sentence I had ended my simple editorial with was
closer to a prophecy.
Obviously I am not a prophet. I am a believer in the
legend though. I listened to “Changes” hundreds of
times in middle school, knowing that change was upon
me. I wrote my own rock opera because I was so inspired
by “Ziggy Stardust” and The Who’s “Tommy.” I’ve made
a poor imitator of the genius that now was.
In the wake of his death the outpouring of love from
fans has been incalculable. Social media has exploded.
In the morning my girlfriend painted my face like Ziggy
Stardust; I paraded around CCC with the lightning bolt
from the cover of “Aladdin Sane” gracing my face.
W ith Bowie’s passing I now feel th a t the album is _
even better. His last work is a masterpiece. We’re lucky
to have had David Bowie, the genius, the diamond dog,
the hero.
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