New Music Weekly: David Bowie, Daughter, Panic At the Disco, and More!!

Hey there, music lover! Like new stuff? Great! You’ve come to the right place. Each week all sorts of audiolicious goodies are unleashed onto the masses and this is where they come to be judged. I’ll tell ya what’s good, what’s bad, and what’s a waste of your time. Thanks for stopping by!

The Big News

Okay, welcome back! I know, I know, Bowie’s dead and we’re all supposed to still be in mourning over the death of the Great One, but let’s try to have a little fun, yeah? We have some important stuff to get to, but all of that can wait. I posted a bit of a tribute on Monday, but let’s a take a few more minutes and bask in his greatness one last time.

Here’s a great live vid withThe Spiders From Mars

Did you guys ever hear the story of Arnold Corns? It’s an interesting piece of Bowie-ana that’s worth your time.

What about the story behind that infamous slap fight between Bowie and Lou Reed? Via an Uncut interview  with former Reed guitarist Chuck Hammer:
“What David actually said to Lou to spark off the assault has long-since been the subject of much speculation. Just before it all went off, the pair took a circuit of the restaurant in Knightsbridge where we were eating, toasting each other and their renewed friendship. 
“Whatever David said that ignited Lou’s fury, he made the mistake of repeating within minutes, thus provoking another flurry of slaps and punches and Lou’s dramatic departure – frogmarched out in the grip of his own minders, probably for his own good as much as Bowie’s or anyone else’s. … 

Here’s a wonderful photo of David with David Johansen of the New York Dolls. I’ve often wondered what Bowie was saying here. I’ll bet it’s something as simple as “There’s a huge pile of cocaine in the other room. You go in there and make sure it’s good and come back and get me.”

And now that Bowie has died it’s probably time to reconsider his work in Tin Machine, the proto-metal band Bowie fronted in the late-80s and early 1990s.

How about watching a Bowie movie not named Labyrinth?

And then there’s Blackstar, the man’s last musical statement. I’ve gone on record saying that the last two Bowie records The Next Day  and Blackstar are two of the best albums ever made. What else is there to say? He released the record and then he died – maybe I’m just drunk but the only times I know of where something like this happened was when The Exploding Hearts released their masterpiece Guitar Romantic just before half of the band perished in a van wreck, and when John Lennon died just before Double Fantasy was released.  Both of those records are considered milestones in rock history, but both are indelibly connected to the morbid stories that accompany their release.  I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to hear Blackstar and not think about Bowie passing, but I do know that when I first heard the record last Friday I called it “nearly perfect”. To me, the most depressing thing about Bowie’s death is that there isn’t going to be a next record, or another tour, or another great photograph, or another kooky project like Arnold Corns or Tin Machine, or another movie. It’s over. Damn.

The Other Big News

Note: I have changed the schedule for NMW. For the last year we’ve covered releases a week ahead or their release. From now on we’ll be discussing them a day after. So all of the new stuff below was released yesterday.

2006’s favorite band, Panic! At the Disco, can’t be killed or ignored. The Las Vegas outfit returns with their fifth effort, and first since 2013, Death of a Bachelor.

Indie-Miscy

The quiet roar of Daughter returns with the outfit’s second full-length, Not to Disappear. Quoth Consequence of Sound: “Rarely have heartbreak and gloom sounded sexier than when in the hands of London-based singer-guitarist Elena Tonra. She and bandmates Igor Haefeli and Remi Aguilella are experts at crafting a cold sonic landscape that’s equal parts lush and sterile, inviting and terrifying.”

British rockers Mystery Jets return with their sixth release, Curve of the Earth.

And Garrtt Klahn, formerly of Texas is the Reason, unveils his self-titled debut solo effort.

RIP

Here’s where we say goodbye to those who’ve hit their last high note. Rock on brothers and sisters.

John Berry of 1990s slow-core darlings Idaho passed away.

St David, of course.

Soul man Otis Clay left this plane of existence.

Country singer Red Simpson.

Another glam figure Brett Smiley passed.

Nick Caldwell of The Whispers.

Blues guitarist Long John Hunter.

Avant jazz pianist Paul Bley.

My Recommendation

This one should be a no-brainer. Goodbye, sweet prince.

Next Week

Tune in next week, same new music time, same new music channel for a HUGE week including new stuff from Savagaes and MEGADETH!!!