It wouldn't be a proper David Bowie birthday without a handful of secret releases. Even though he is no longer with us, his 70th birthday yields the same inspiring results.
No Plan EP
Tracklist:
1. Lazarus (as previously released on Blackstar)
2. No Plan
3. Killing A Little Time
4. When I Met You
2. No Plan
3. Killing A Little Time
4. When I Met You
Immediately following the premiere of the BBC's "The Last Five Years" comes brand new music by the ever secretive and surprising David Bowie. Keeping the jazz combo backing band, let by New York saxophonist Donny Mccaslin, the songs seem to breathe an entirely new eerie feel to them after Bowie's death.
The first new track on the EP, No Plan, immediately hits you with a sense of sorrow. The lyrics made my eyes wet within seconds. This track sounds like he wrote it from the grave. We may never know (aside from tacky internet rumors) when these were exactly written, but it sounds like he wrote this song after being specifically to be heard after his death.
Killing A Little Time hits a lot harder than anything off this EP or his previous release, Blackstar. The impeccable tightness of the drum and bass on this track creates a general sense of tension and aggression. It's really refreshing hearing a song be heavy without relying on a guitar or any distortion to do so. It's at moments a complete mess of notes and rhythms, but never loses you. Bowie himself really seemed to take a backseat as the band fully took over this song in their own experimental way.
When I Met You has old Bowie tendencies, with an overwhelming feeling of saying goodbye. The chorus of this song takes the "old Bowie tendencies" I explained and kicks them out the window. It's a clutter of two vocal takes with completely different lyrics being played at once. It almost sounds like he couldn't decide on which vocal patterns and lyrics to keep, so he smashed them together, creating a dissonant collage.
BBC Two Documentary: The Last Five Years
This documentary is a must see for any curious on Bowie's career, fans from all generations, and definitely has a few treats for the die hard fans. From interviews with band members and collaborators to unreleased interviews from Bowie himself. This is a truly beautiful and interesting glimpse into an immensely inspiring last few years of his life.
Of all the things that will continuously stand out in a cool for me is his off beat but hysterical humor. Band members don't reflect as him being some snobby, egotistical prick - but a genuinely good human being. You spend all this time in the studio and on the road with people, even the coolest people become hard to be around. That never seemed to be the case with Bowie.
The parts that made me choke up were the behind the scenes tour footage of Bowie being hilarious at truck stops, random jokes he'd play before he'd go on stage, and just the general sense of not taking shit so seriously. I think it's easy to be entertained by someone to sit back and watch the legacy a music legend unravel, but it's a completely different thing watching videos of someone that looks like he'd be a total fucking blast to be around.
and the third part of today's birthday releases....
No Plan - directed by Tom Hingston
If you don't get goosebumps at the end of this, you may want to check if you even have a pulse, because this video should give you all kinds of feels. The first thing I noticed was the street sign to a previous London residence for Bowie, Foxgrove Road in London. This was the start of it all. It's where he lived when he wrote his very first Bowie album.
The TV's broadcast the lyrics to this melancholy track line by line while a small crowd of people collect to watch this strange, ghost-like display. Just like I mentioned in the short review of the EP itself, this track seems to only logically come from a view from the grave.
I don't want anything beyond that stain your interpretation of the video.
Bowie would have been 70 today. I know damn well he didn't want to go. He seemed to have an endless palette of music, plays, art, and life to live. A seemingly forever restless mind. That's something I will forever relate far too well with. No matter what age I die and regardless of what I accomplish, my last thoughts will always be "but wait, I'm not done!"
-Novak