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 Keep It Simple
Van Morrison
Roger McGuinn @ the Huntington IMAC, Long Island, NY - April 4, 2008
Emily Saxe @ the Allen Room/Jazz at Lincoln Center - April 5, 2008
Another Country
Tift Merritt
Be Your Own Pet
Get Awkward
Paul McCartney – The McCartney Years (DVD)
Juno – Music from the Motion Picture
Various Artists
Yes - Their Definitive Story
Day and Night Driving
Seven Mary Three
InterMedia Arts Center 2/2/08
Huntington, NY
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David Bowie
Exchanging art for commerce, David Bowie decides to drop much of his artful tendencies, put on his red shoes and dance the blues. The results are simultaneously fashionable, fascinating and frustrating. For Bowie, this was his most blatant attempt at commerciality since Young Americans, and the record sales indicated that he was quite astute at reading the marketplace. Let’s make it plain, though, that Let’s Dance is anything but a sell-out. Before its release, Bowie was basking in the most artistically successful stage of his career, and his popularity among hip new wavers was tantamount to idolatry, so it was no sure thing for him to change horses (again!) so radically in the middle of this stream.
With a song as monumentally appealing as "Modern Love" starting the album, nobody was apt to complain. It was Bowie’s catchiest composition in years, maybe ever, soaring with a danceable energy that made it absolutely undeniable; I can’t imagine anyone not liking this song. Bowie’s revamping of Iggy Pop’s "China Girl" follows, and it’s equally brilliant, if only marginally less catchy. Bowie sings Iggy’s words with a passion that renders the lyrics as a literate ode of deep respect and love for a woman and her un-Americanized culture. The title tune summarizes the overall mood of the album, with dance rhythms supporting somber attitudes. All three tracks appearing back to back on side one, leaving the initial impression that this could be yet another album of sheer brilliance from a man who has created his share of them.
Perhaps the strangest aspect of Let’s Dance is Bowie’s use of Stevie Ray Vaughan as guitarist. While this match was ultimately successful on both accounts (Vaughan’s career as a solo artist began shortly thereafter), it was a bit of an anomaly, and the proof is audible. Vaughan just sounds uncomfortable on these tracks, as if he’s restrained and uncertain about what his employer could possibly want from a Texas blues master. Fans of Vaughan know exactly what extraordinarily dynamic power he is capable of, but his contributions to Let’s Dance sound hesitant, as though he isn’t particularly moved by the groove of Bowie’s songwriting. His touch on "Without You" and "Criminal World" lack the searing drive that got him hired in the first place, and it comes as no surprise that this pairing ended soon afterward.
The hits outclass everything else on this album, too, to the point that it is much too lopsided. The second half wanders aimlessly, with songs that exist somewhere between pretension and ambition. "Cat People" is the most useless recording here, since it eschews the excellent (and popular) soundtrack version and reduces it to something much more ordinary. Ultimately, Let’s Dance is a collection of hit and miss recordings. Play side one and it sounds great, but that only provides half of the story.
Grade: 
 
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