God bless The Jim Henson Company. They’ve just released Labyrinth for download on iTunes. Boys and girls, if you’ve not already got a copy of Labyrinth then now is the time to buy it. Don’t let another night go by where you have not experienced the awesomeness of Labyrinth. Oh yeah, the Dark Crystal is also available for download. I’ve actually never seen that one. Guess it’s about time.
Posted in More To Own, Movies, News | No Comments »This weekend the Amherst Ballet will be performing it’s seasonal show “Dance Diversity: A Collage of Works.” The third part of the performance is a piece choreographed and performed to “Space Oddity.” University of Massachusetts faculty member Jenny Bennett-Mansur choreographed the work and showcased it at Northampton’s First Night. The dance s described as a “very unique contemporary piece” by Ethan Schweitzer-Gaslin, one of the dancers who will be performing it. Man, I’d lvoe to see some video of the performance. Maybe some proud parent will record it and stick it on YouTube.
Posted in News | No Comments »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 »Starlet Scarlett Johanson (or ScarJo, as she is affectionately called by the Fug Girls) has cut an album of Tom Waits covers with Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio that is due out on May 20, 2008. The collaboration between Johansson and Bowie started when the two ran into each other at a party a few days before Johansson started recording. According to Rolling Stone, Bowie said he heard that she was working with Sitek. She told him that she indeed was and considered inviting him to visit her in the recording studio. Bowie didn’t stop by during ScarJo’s recording but while she was filming on location in Spain, Sitek called to tell her Bowie had recorded vocals for the tracks “Falling Down” and “Fannin’ Street.”
Other guests on the album include Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs on guitar. I’m a little skeptical of the album itself because I’ve heard Johansson sing and while she’s not horrible, she’s not spectacular. Maybe the thinness of her voice is due to the poor sound quality, but I’m still not convinced she’s a great singer. Of course I’m still going to get the album and give myself a chance to like it because Bowie is featured and I kind of like Johansson but also because she apparently has cool taste in music. I mean, an album of Tom Waits covers? That is cool.
The track listing of the upcoming album:
1. “Fawn”
2. “Town With No Cheer”
3. “Falling Down” (feat. David Bowie)
4. “Anywhere I Lay My Head”
5. “Fannin’ Street” (feat. David Bowie)
6. “Song for Jo” (original song)
7. “Green Grass”
8. “I Wish I Was in New Orleans”
9. “I Don’t Want to Grow Up”
10. “No One Knows I’m Gone”
11. “Who Are You?”
Update: Bowie commented on his contribution to ScarJo’s upcoming album on today’s BowieNews. He also essentially said her vocals are pretty cool. As far as recommending artists that I like, he’s got a pretty good track record so I’m looking forward to hearing her sing a bit more now.
Posted in News | No Comments »I’m a Bowie freak. And a sci-fi geek. So what is the next best thing to having David Bowie direct (or star in) a sci-fi movie? Having his son direct it! It’s doubtful that he’ll be credited as Zowie Bowie but nevertheless Duncan Jones is directing Moon. Due out in 2009, Moon tells the story of an astronaut stranded on the moon for three years and stars Sam Rockwell as the marooned astronaut. After Rockwell’s performance as Charley Ford in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, I am really looking forward to this movie. Okay, and Rockwell’s skills aside I’m also dying to see the directorial debut of Bowie’s son…..and whether or not the main character will be named Major Tom. What is it with the Bowie/Jones family’s fixation on abandoned space travelers, anyway?
Posted in News | No Comments »Here is a picture for every Bowie fan’s gallery:
Bowie with Heath Ledger, Charlize Theron, and Naomi Watts in 2004. Rest in peace, Heath.
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I cannot wait to see August. In an interview with the New York Daily News, Bowie’s “August” co-star Andre Royo commented that Bowie took the time to learn his lines which made Royo and the rest of the cast “feel great because there’s someone iconic who’s taking it seriously. This is David Bowie. He could have said, ‘Listen, I don’t give a f-. I’m David Bowie. You didn’t cast me because I’m a thespian of the ages.’” (Incidentally, that makes me wonder if a lot of high-profile actors who do cameos don’t bother to learn their lines.) I know I’ve said before that I don’t think Bowie is the best actor, but he was amazing in “The Prestige” (and should have gotten an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor) so I hope he follows up that flawless performance with another.
The people at Page Six for the New York Post spyed Bowie and Iman at Kara Walker’s exhibit earlier this month. If you are not familiar with Walker and her work, the you ought to check her out. I first heard of her when VOGUE wrote an article about her work. She’s known for dealing with race and gender in a larger-than-life fashion.
Posted in News | No Comments »Apparently Neil Gaiman and your humble CrackedActor webmasters weren’t the only people to pick up on how much Johnny Depp sounded like Bowie in Sweeney Todd. Depp recently said that he did not draw a direct inspiration from Bowie, stating “I wouldn’t ever dream of attempting to channel David Bowie because he is one of my heroes. But if there is a similarity it wasn’t intentional. It’s a nice compliment though.” Hell, if someone told me I sounded like Bowie my response would be, “Yeah, that’s right I took some major inspiration from him. David Bowie rocks my socks and we can all thank him for most modern music.” But that’s just me.
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