Genre : Experimental rock, Experimental jazz, Art rock
Released : January 8th, 2016
Label : ISO Records
FFO : David Bowie, Death Grips, Kendrick Lamar, Boards of Canada, Snarky Puppy,
Christian Scott, Mark Giuliana, Donny McCaslin, Radiohead
Hey, I'm back from my little break after all that end-of-year list-posting and I wanted to start by doing something a little different.
I wanted to look back on an album that's been out for a while instead of a new release, which I don't usually do. And for this post I'll be looking back at David Bowie's final work, "Blackstar" which came out five years ago during the first days of 2016.
I'll preface this by saying that David Bowie and his artistry have always been present in my life for as long as I can remember and his music made up for at least half of my childhood soundtrack.
Needless to say that his death affected me deeply and made me reflect on my childhood years, since it felt as though a part of it had died with him, which is something that troubled me deeply and made me very aware of my own mortality.
Which is exactly what "Blackstar" as an album deals with thematically;
Looking back on one's life, career, past relationships, regrets, fear of the inevitable but also the acceptance of said mortality.
To me, "Blackstar" embodies what should be the ultimate goal of any artist, whichever his area of expertise may be, that is to say; turning one's life story and death into one final piece of art that transcends mortality and keeps the audience intrigued and fascinated long after the body has returned to the earth.
I find it fascinating and inspiring that David Bowie, at the very end of both his life and career at 69 years of age was able to put out one of his most experimental and novel sounding pieces of work within such a wide catalogue of music that never shied away from experimenting.
To the very end he was still in touch with current contemporary musical trends and yet was still able to produce something sonically ahead of the curve.
The band he chose to record this album with couldn't have been more appropriate for the style of this album as well :
Mark Giuliana's intricate and nervous style of drumming works hand in hand with Tim Lefebvre's punchy bass and Ben Monder's eerie guitar playing on top of Jason Linder's disturbing synth work.
But everything comes together when Donny McCaslin's memorable and mournful saxophone joins the band and accompanies the harrowing voice of an aged and ill David Bowie, still filled with the passion and energy of his prime while staring death in the eye.
The overall atmosphere of this album is just surreal, alternating between ominous and tragically sorrowful; the whole thing feels like a journey through a black hole as though the listener himself were facing imminent death. And the lyrical content reinforces that feeling even more and makes some of the tracks that more heartbreaking than they already are ("Lazarus", "Dollar Days").
I genuinely believe that this is one of the best contemporary albums ever made and is a truly important piece of work that is bound to remain influential for years to come and is one of the most honest and unique approaches to the theme of death in music as a whole.
R.I.P David Bowie
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