What Bowie song is the obvious choice to appear on the soundtrack for the TV show “Heroes”? Why, “Heroes” of course! Knocked me over with a damned feather. Bob Dylan and Iggy Pop have some songs on the album as well. I’m so bored by this bit of news I can’t be bothered to write more about it.
Posted in More To Own, News | No Comments »On their new album Women As Lovers, Xiu Xiu recorded an excellent cover of Under Pressure. The song featured Jamie Stewart and Caralee McElroy singing Freddie Mercury’s vocals and Michael Gira singing Bowie’s vocals. As always, Stewart delivers an intense vocal performance. If you are ever curious to hear a verbal demonstration of the word “saudade”, Stewart’s vocals are it. They define it. Good thing they’re so distinct too, because Michael Gira’s vocals were a bit bland. When I first heard the song I was actually a bit disappointed with his vocal performance. I’ve never heard him sing before, but I got the feeling that he may have phoned it in with this song. Upon further listens, however, I started to wonder if his performance was intentionally flat to contrast with the soaring intensity of Stewart’s. I’m still undecided. Overall, the cover was brilliant, though. Xiu Xiu is one of those rare bands that can force harmony and discord into the same song and still produce a work that is completely listenable. Not only do I recommend this song, but I recommend the whole album. And if you’re new to Xiu Xiu, get the previous album The Air Force while you’re buying Women As Lovers.
Posted in More To Own, News | 2 Comments »Hear that? That’s the sound of me rejoicing over Iman’s new jewelry line. In designing pieces for Global Chic, Iman drew inspiration from various bits of jewelry collected from China, Africa, India, Bali, and her own vintage engagement ring. Iman said in an interview with Vogue that a woman is never fully dressed if she does not have the proper accessories. The Home Shopping Network will launch the line on their TV channel and website on December 15.
Additionally, the Canadian Press has another great interview with Iman. Read it for some fun tips for yourself or the important women in your life.
Posted in Circle Of Friends, More To Own, News | No Comments »Music memorabilia site 991.com is selling a one-of-a-kind bit of Bowie memorabilia. For a scant $1000 or so, a Bowie fan can buy the life mask made of Bowie’s face during The Hunger. The mask was used to test out makeup for the movie. I tell ya, if I had $1000 to burn I’d buy the mask myself.
Posted in More To Own, News | No Comments »For those of you getting a jump on your holiday shopping, hop over to Chuck Hammer’s iTunes store and consider getting your loved ones some gorgeous guitar music. Or for that matter, getting a little present for yourself. The man behind the guitar riffs on Ashes to Ashes, Teenage Wildlife, and a few Lou Reed songs is still hard at work. I previewed some of the songs myself and may have to add a couple albums to my own wishlist.
Posted in Circle Of Friends, More To Own, News | 1 Comment »It was only a matter of time, really. With the advent of Guitar Queer-o, ahem, I mean Guitar Hero and the ability to virtually learn to play guitar riffs in popular songs, it is to be expected that David Bowie’s music would show up in a similar game. And it has. The makers of Rock Band, the new game that expands the virtual instrument-playing experience beyond the electric guitar, just released a new song pack with three Bowie songs – Moonage Daydream, Heroes, and Queen Bitch.
Kudos for the choice to include Moonage Daydream and Queen Bitch since they’re slightly less known than his hit singles, but I’m not sure how I feel about the overall idea of including Bowie’s music in a game that poorly simulates playing a musical instrument. Some may argue that it is an innovative way to expose Bowie’s music to a demographic that would not normally seek it out, but I’m ambivalent. This is not the first time that Bowie’s music has shown up in a video game. Most of the songs from “hours…” were featured in cut-scenes in Omikron: The Nomad Soul before the album was ever released. However, both Bowie and Iman had a hand in the making of that game and even lent their likenesses to in-game characters.
The Bowie song pack for Rock Band is a completely different thing. Technically, it’s not selling out since Bowie doesn’t need the money and his music has been featured in numerous commercials…but it still doesn’t sit well with me. Maybe I’m just thinking too hard about this. In any case, I think I’ll stick to learning Bowie’s music the good old-fashioned way, with my real instruments.
Posted in More To Own, News, Opinions | 2 Comments »On October 15, Target released their new fall collection for men – Bowie by Keanan Duffty. The line has some great looks that take their inspiration from the Thin White Duke era all the way to Bowie’s style of the late 90′s (which sadly has no catchy name). Like a good little Bowie fan, after checking out all of the new Bowie by Keanan Duffty items online I made the trek down to my local Target. I was, however, saddened by the piddling amount of items they had stocked from the line. I had hoped to score a couple items for myself (no, I am not above stealing looks from men, thank you) and a couple items for the Webmaster and avoid paying shipping through the website. Oh well, fashion hurts the wallet sometimes.
Posted in More To Own, News, Opinions | No Comments »As we reported this time last year, David Bowie and several other glam rockers will be featured on the soundtrack of ‘Control’, the upcoming biopic of the life and death of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis. Both of Bowie’s songs will be featured in the movie itself. Among the artists featured on the soundtrack are Iggy Pop, Roxy Music, New Order, and, of course, Joy Division. New Order fans will be excited to hear that there are three new New Order instrumentals on the soundtrack – ‘Exit’, ‘Hynopsis’, and ‘Get Out.’ The soundtrack is due out on October 1, 2007 with the films release following four days later on October5, 2007.
Posted in More To Own, News | No Comments »The new Jareth action figure looks to be made for the segment of David Bowie’s fan base that is attracted to men. I present to you Exhibit A:
Really. Check out the package. This toy must be made to attract the male-loving David Bowie fans. Can there be any other reason why a toy maker would put Bowie’s Area so prominently on display? Well, unless the toy maker has a vested interest in the Labyrinth fanfic sites. Too bad they screwed up the hair. If the figure had the trademark fluffy hair instead of those awful dreadlocks I may have become the proud owner of a new Jareth action figure. Ahem.
Posted in More To Own, News | No Comments »On October 2, Capital/EMI will reissue one of the Webmaster’s and my favorite David Bowie records – Buddha of Suburbia. David Bowie says about the album and recording it, “This album may well have been one of the most enjoyable projects that I have been involved with. My personal memory stock for this album was made up from an almighty plethora of influences and reminiscences from the 1970s.” The album often gets pigeon-holed as merely the soundtrack to the BBC miniseries adaption of Hanif Kureishi’s semi-autobiographical book, but it is a work of art in it’s own right. Follow the link to Earthtimes to read the rest of Bowie’s reminiscence.
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