Albums Review: Sounds of Yesterday, Society of Tomorrow
Identity and Irreverence — Low vs. Blonde
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According to the definition, artistic identity is “when an artist stays true to the authenticity of their own life and experience, creating art from a personal interpretation of the area, the subject, the culture, the artist’s own past, and present, bringing the authenticity of their own life and experience to their creation”.
In my opinion, any artist who wants to assert himself in the industry, must sooner or later reveal himself more and more, demonstrating his innocence and vulnerability.
Through vulnerability, success is more easily attainable both in its community of listeners and in achieving longevity in the field, so in this matter, the two albums in evidence characterize exactly that.
David Bowie — Low
Genre(s): Art rock, avant-pop, avant-rock, experimental, electronic, ambient
Tracklist: Here
For me, no one has been able to demonstrate his irreverence, in such a genial and creative way, as the great David Robert Jones a.k.a. David Bowie, one of my greatest idols and inspirations since he came into my life at the age of 13, an influence that endures to this day.
That said, the first album, in analysis, is titled Low and was released in 1977 by RCA Records.
It marks the first of three albums of his trilogy, known as the Berlin Trilogy, and were recorded (mostly) and developed conceptually in the German capital, where the artist lived between 1976 and 1979.
This change by the most notorious “rock chameleon” was due to three reasons: the desire for artistic change and personal maturity, consequent to the pressure of the legacy that he left through personas, such as Ziggy Stardust (between 1971 and 1974) and The Thin White Duke (between 1975 and 1977), manifesting signs of mental fatigue; the escape from a life marked by cocaine addiction during the two years he lived in Los Angeles, years that tormented him so much during that period (“That was my first attempt to kick cocaine, so that was an awful lot of pain. And I moved to Berlin to do it”); and his interest in Krautrock (also known as Kosmische Musik), a musical movement that began in West Germany, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, popularized by groups such as Kraftwerk, Neu!, among others.
All of these reasons, led to the sound and intrinsic message that Low offers, are started by the instrumental song “Speed of Life”, in which he challenges us to enter this musical journey, not necessarily being interested, whether we follow it or not.
Initially, the album was to have been used as a soundtrack for the 1976 film “The Man Who Fell to Earth”, which Bowie starred in (interestingly, the album cover is taken from a scene of it); however, he was intrigued throughout the creative process and went in search of a musical language who had never explored, and this was electronic and ambient music.
Desirous of creating something in this musical conduct, but not knowing how, he asked Brian Eno (by the fascination in his pioneering work, in ambient music, such as “Another Green World” and “Discreet Music”, which, I strongly recommend, for any fan of the genre) to travel to Berlin to teach him and cooperate in the process of capturing specific sounds, sound manipulation techniques and desired atmosphere according to Bowie’s mood at the time (this input is most notorious in the last section, between “Warszawa” and “Subterraneans”).
In terms of production, Bowie and his producer Tony Visconti were the main drivers of this process (held at Château d’Hérouville studios in Hérouville, France, and at Hansa Studio by the Wall in West Berlin, Germany).
Visconti’s influence on this project is very prolific, due to various recording processes and creative ideas in the studio, but none surpasses the use of the Eventide H910 Harmonizer, launched in 1975 (a device mainly used in radio and television at the time, enabling a pitch shifting in the original sound, by defusing and lowering or speeding it up).
By its use (which, according to Visconti, the Harmonizer “fucks with the fabric of time”), especially on the drums (mainly the snare); without changing the acceleration of the same, the instrument undergoes a change in pitch and consequent feedback, which made it possible to drop the pitch that, according to Visconti, seemed endless.
The project had collaborations from various instrumentalists, as David Bowie himself (saxophonist, in tracks such as “Subterraneans”, among others), Iggy Pop (backing vocals on “What in the World), Brian Eno (keyboardist, using instruments, like the EMS AKS Synthesizer, Minimoog, etc., in tracks, such as “Warszawa”), Carlos Alomar (lead guitarist in tracks, such as “Breaking Glass”, and rhythm guitarist in songs, such as “Be My Wife”), Dennis Davis (percussion in songs, such as “Sound and Vision”), among others.
The sonic result of this very “industrialized” and “mechanical” piece has been very influential since its release, having been a source of development for genres such as new wave, post-punk, rock, among others, as well as inspirational for numerous groups and artists that followed, such as Joy Division and The Cure.
Personally, I divide the album into two sections: the first, an autobiographical character (where the lyrical impetus is notorious), in which the depressive and intolerable state of his own being is demonstrative, by trying to cooperate with his own emotions and turbulences (in songs, such as “Breaking Glass” and What in the World”), the remoteness of the dark addiction years, in the United States (in “Sound and Vision”), sadness derived from mistakes made during his journey, both personally and in his marriage to Angie Bowie, who never managed to conform to his lifestyle and musical career at the time (in “Always Crashing in the Same Car” and “Be My Wife”); and the second part, the sensory music tenor (mostly instrumental), related to his experience in West Berlin (located in West Germany, at the time) since the sensation when he visited Warsaw and its decay, evoked by a based Polish choir Śląsk type of piece (in “Warzsawa”), the depressive and nostalgic sound to express the art decline in West Berlin (in “Art Decade”, which encoded means “art decayed”) and misery associated with the wall (in “Weeping Wall”), to the memories of people caught, in the period of separation, in East Berlin (in “Subterraneans”).
Therefore, I recommend its listening to any appreciator of ambient music, krautrock, rock, concept albums and painting (Link here).
Frank Ocean — Blonde
Genre (s): R&B, avant-garde soul, psychedelic pop
Tracklist: Here
The second album, under review, is titled Blonde (stylised as Blond) by African American artist Frank Ocean, released in 2016 by Blonded (Beats 1 radio show and label company, conducted by Ocean).
The album was issued in two different versions: the physical version in magazines (like Boys Don’t Cry, Ocean’s zine magazine) given away in pop-up stores around the country; and the digital one on iTunes (which is the version in review).
In this project, he exhibits all his vulnerability through true life episodes and pop culture references, addressing various topics such as love, relationships, their repercussions and posthumous learning, self-esteem/hatred, drug addiction, mortality/immortality, mental health and depression, creating a deeply personal work, which for one reason or another, makes us feel what he experienced such is the rawness of it.
Production and instrumentally wise, the project was started at Electric Lady Studios, New York in 2013 (but was interrupted, after a writer’s block), later at Abbey Road Studios, London and Henson Recording Studios, Los Angeles.
It has the collaboration of several producers, arrangers, sound engineers and mixers, such as Frank Ocean himself, Om’Mas Keith (production in songs, such as “White Ferrari”, and arrangement on tracks, such as “Pretty Sweet”), James Blake (production in songs, such as “Solo”, and arrangement on tracks, such as “Godspeed”), Jonny Greenwood (string arrangement on “Seigfried”), among others; and instrumentalists, such as Beyoncé (additional vocals on “Pink + White”), Pharrell Williams (keyboards, drum programming and bass on “Pink + White”), Mars 1500 (keyboards on “Solo” and “Godspeed”), Fish (guitars on “Ivy”), London Symphony Orchestra (strings on “Seigfried”), among others.
Since the incrementation of several sections of strings, such as violins (like on “Pretty Sweet”) and cellos (like on “Self Control”), minimalist keyboards (on several tracks, such as “Skyline To” and “Seigfried”), high-pitched vocals, high layered vocal harmonies (due to the influence of Brian Wilson), plagal cadences (“Godspeed”), sampling (on “Close To You”, by using a Stevie Wonder audio), interpolation (on “White Ferrari”, by the extraction of the melody and line “Making each day of the year”, of a Beatles’ song entitled “Here, There and Everywhere”), and instruments that highlight the baroque, psychedelic and avant-garde sound of the 60’s and 70’s (influenced by various artists of these decades, such as The Beatles, Beach Boys and Stevie Wonder), such as mellotron and Moog, we perceive the purpose of sonic exploration and challenges sought by Ocean (for the much less percussion, which is generally, the core instrument of R&B/Hip Hop genres, distancing it from its conventionality), and, therefore, I can admit that it’s a differentiated album in the present times.
From this perspective, Blonde is a statement at the creative and introspective level, characterized by little conventionality (in this register), both in terms of instrumental composition and conceptual lyric terms.
In this prism, this is soon evidenced through the title and album cover.
The appearance of the title, written in french (“Blond”) on the cover, resulted in a great intrigue by various fans, having led to a series of interpretations (although never validated by Ocean): the representation of his bisexuality, being that “blond” represents the masculine aspect and “blonde” being the feminine one; reflection on his youth years, portrayed in the blond hair color of a child which subsequently darkens (notable in “Pink + White” and “Ivy”); and the symbolism of being blond, that are considered to be thoughtless and carefree, associating this with themes on the album, such as immortality and youthful carelessness (notorious in “Futura Free”).
In this regard, it provides us with the motto for the personal and narrative elements of the entire album, by various themes, giving us a peak of Ocean’s world and, as listeners, we cannot say that we have not been entertained:
- Hedonistic materialism and human egocentrism [on “Nikes”, associated with Nike sneakers (with a reference to members of a 90’s cult, called Heaven’s Gate, who committed suicide while wearing Nike’s “Decade” models)]
- solitude [on “Solo”, a personal and loving nature track, and “Solo (Reprise)”, associated with the loneliness felt in the music industry)]
- Sex and fame (on “Futura Free”)
- Digital revolution and its effect on interpersonal relationships (on “Facebook Story”)
- Failed relationships provoked by inexperience and innocence in youth, which led to anguish and consequent learning of his being and sexuality (on tracks such as “Ivy”, “Self Control” and “White Ferrari”)
- Analogies [on “Seigfried”, in which he compares an old lover to Seigfried (a figure of norse mythology) by their similar elegant physiognomy and long flowing hair]
- Religious beliefs and spirituality (on “Godspeed”, in which he desires good luck and happiness to an old lover on the beginning of a new journey);
- The effect of drugs on negative thoughts (on “Nights” which, for me, is the best song on the album; it is divided into two sections by a silence, which marks the half duration of the album, in a kind of conceptual music mutation: the first is accompanied by energetic electric guitars, in an aggressive and flashy mood, while the second is slow and reflective, demonstrating negativity and clash derived from a drug high)
That said, I recommend this album to all appreciators of R&B, psychedelic pop and concept albums (Link here).
Clash of Times (Low vs. Blonde)
For all the reasons and a few more, Bowie’s Low embodied what we can consider artistic irreverence and musical identity at its peak (which, in my opinion, was already more than assured before this album by him).
Not only for his personas and attitude, but also for the way he respects art in a whole, no one has been able to match this master in this category, which, in my view, makes him the most original and fearless artist ever.
As for Ocean, it reveals what any artist wants to achieve, and that is total sincerity to himself and his listeners. Blonde is his wake-up call for authenticity, which puts it as one of the great representative works of my generation (personally, one of my favorite R&B albums ever).
By comparing these times and generations, I think one thing is assured, and that is the desire for innovation on the artist’s part.
Although the 1970s was an era of technological discovery and intrigue, this does not invalidate that the artist doesn’t try to challenge himself more and more, especially with the technological resources at his disposal.
Currently, the artist has a wider range of tools to search for his/her creative path and by examples, such as Frank Ocean, we realize that the sky is the limit.
So we should all try to explore our creativity, by complementing the best of both worlds, and that’s the knowledge and research of the past, with the technological resources and accessibility to information of today.
“I think all my art is based on living, not on doing art; in experiencing life in many, many different aspects” — David Bowie
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