Guest Post: Ash Tries Again (Bowiemania 3 – The Final Confrontation)

Guest Post: Ash Tries Again (Bowiemania 3 – The Final Confrontation)

June 1, 2010, 3:41 PM
Filed under: Guest Post | Tags: Ash Tries Again, David Bowie, Guest Post

Ash v Bowie – the final battle.  He wrote this in a timely fashion, I am just slothful and suffering from winter collywobbles.

Finish him!

We’re on the home stretch now, with Space Oddity and its title track, Space Oddity.

It’s hard listening to this with a fresh ear. I can definitely appreciate how unique Major Tom’s plight was at the time – and still is, to an extent. The narrative, rock opera, and science fiction elements all remind me of The Universal Migrator by progressive pseudo-band Ayreon.

To be honest, I almost dig the song’s high strangeness. There’s an appeal to artists seeing their concept through to completion.

The next track, Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed, is appealing as well: an all in jam-fest with no pretensions and a mad sense of direction. It’s a nice contrast to the ballad Letter to Hermione.

We’re kicked into more familiar Bowie territory with Cygnet Committee, a surreal landscape where I sense the roots of bands like Radiohead. At just shy of 10 minutes though, things could probably be wrapped up a little sooner.

Speaking of which, let’s check out side two.

Janine and An Occasional Dream drip with folksy warmth, even if the latter’s panpipes are a little kitsch. Actually, this sweet folkhood continues until the final track, Memory of a Free Festival, when Bowie takes a turn to the contemplative.

So with the exception of Space Oddity itself, I found Bowie Version 19.69 easy to listen to. Some sections, like the rather lengthy wind down to Memory of a Free Festival, are of course a bit over the top.

On the whole though, you can sense – dare I say it – honesty to these songs. An honesty I think is lacking in Ziggy Stardust.

Would I buy the album? No. It’s just not my style of music.

Would I buy any David Bowie album? Yes. Earthling gave me a definite kick and, if that’s any indication of what modern Bowie sounds like, I’m intrigued.

It’s this stylistic range that a lot of people will tell you they love about him. Of course, they can also listen to the same never ch-ch-ch-changing Bowie tracks again and again until everybody explodes.

Everybody.

What’s the point of loving an artist with a huge range if you stick to the greatest hits?

It’s outrageously late and I’ve listened to a lot of Bowie today, so this is Ash signing off for Amy Tries Again.

Oh, and critics – ready with your potshots. Ten bands I like:

Nine Inch Nails; Tool; Katatonia; The Beatles; Nirvana; Porcupine Tree; The Smashing Pumpkins; The Cure; The Red Paintings; Ministry.

So that’s that, then.  Hearty congratulations to Mr Hauenschild for his efforts in Trying Again.  That said, as he has not changed his opinions entirely and come to worship David Bowie, it is only with heavy heart that I stamp his experiment:

DAVID BOWIE: SUCCESSFULLY TRIED AGAIN (by Ash).

If you like the cut of Ash’s jib (or despise him and wish to start some sort of internet flame war with him), I suggest you check out his podcast, Show Brisness (punnily enough, it’s about the arts in Brisbane).  Despite the fact that he is on the side of evil, he has quite a knack for interviewing people.

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