Reviews
 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
If I were a cynical little bugger, I might be inclined to say that Earthling finds Bowie in reactionary mode, hopping onto a trend instead of culling one of his own. I am not, however, a cynical little bugger. I fancy myself an open-minded, fair individual who judges things on their actual merit instead of first impressions. Therefore, being the wonderfully insightful person that I am, I am willing to accept that Bowie came about his obsession with the drums-and-bass branch of techno in a less than cynical manner, immersing himself in this style because he genuinely liked it, and not because it was perceived by other critics (much more cynical than myself) as the latest and greatest, bound to be next-big-thing.
Needless to say, ‘drums ‘n’ bass’ never was the next big thing. In reality, it barely got off the ground, since it appealed only to club-fiends with dilated pupils, who liked their music to be as underground as possible. That’s quite a shame for them, though, because Earthling just might be one of the best drum-and-bass-style techno albums ever made. Unlike the huge majority of artists who dabble in the blips, bleeps and hyperkinetic rhythms that define this style, Bowie does not choose to neglect other more fundamentally sound ingredients, such as a real ‘song’, or a genuine ‘melody’. In the rush to be the hippest DJ on the block, most purveyors of drums and bass don’t even try to create ‘songs’ or melodies, with the end result sounding as though it was created by some kid who forgot to take his Ritalin. Bowie was and always will be primarily a songwriter, and this album is all the richer for it.
More than half of Earthling consists of near spastic syncopations, all of which are imaginatively constructed under some very good songs. ‘Under’ is the key word here, since the songs could exist without the production and still sound pretty damn good. The arrangements here are genuinely fun, though, with sounds panning left and right, stopping and starting on the head of a pin, all in service to the song. To hear what this could sound like without the context of a talent like Bowie at the helm, check out just about anything by, say, Aphex Twin. There, the rhythmic skeleton exists for its own sake. Here, Bowie provides meat for the bones, giving you something to hum and think about while contorting yourself. A song like “Little Wonder” is a little wonder of its own devices, as is “Dead Man Walking”. The songs that aren’t so kinetically inclined are just as interesting; “I’m Afraid of Americans” is a humorous depiction of paranoia, with Bowie recoiling from a culture that inspires instant gratification and consumerism (as well as a free pass to the next big thing). Of course, Bowie’s tongue is buried deep in his cheek here, especially considering that he remains one of the best purveyors of contemporary culture that we have. God bless him.
Grade: 
 
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