Author: Michael

Posted in Album Reviews

David Bowie – Re:Call 2 (2016)

Posted on by Michael

The second David Bowie boxset in his career spanning set released in 2016, Who Can I Be Now? (1974-1976) came with Re:Call 2, a disc that mops up single edits, B-sides, and other stray tracks. The glam rock/punk style on the classic “Rebel Rebel” appears twice in slightly different mixes. “Rock ‘n’ Roll with Me” slows things down in a bit on a live version before a great run of singles appears.

The title track to his 1975 album, Young Americans was a shift in style as he incorporated funk horns and mega talented background singers to elevate the single.  John Lennon appears on Bowie’s first US #1 hit “Fame” before this soul period culminates with the staggering “Golden Years” where Bowie really makes his version of the Philadelphia sound his own thing.

Several songs from the Station to Station album appear including “Word On A Wing (Single Edit)”. Over those handful of years, Bowie had gone from character to character but on this he really bares out his soul on the moving track. This period that Re:Call 2 covers captures several classic Bowie singles.  That this all happened in two years is quite remarkable, most other artists would be proud to call this a career summation.

9/10

Posted in Paper Chase

Charles Duhigg – supercommunicators

Posted on by Michael

supercommunicators is Charles Duhigg’s deep dive study into why some people are able to quickly build connections with others through conversations. The book focuses on three main types of conversation questions that must be answered to understand what is trying to be accomplished – “What’s this really about?”, “How do we feel?”, and “Who are we?”.  Duhigg uses examples from business, law enforcement, medicine, entertainment, etc to show real life examples including a lengthy analysis on the inner workings of Netflix. 

supercommunicators as a whole is interesting and brought up a few ideas that I was able to quickly adopt into real life conversations.  Ex) What kind of conversation is this?  On the downside, the book does feel a bit long and unlike his book The Power of Habit, was not as quickly read.

7.5/10

Posted in Album Reviews

Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department (2024)

Posted on by Michael

Having just wrapped up the record breaking Eras Tour, Taylor Swift may just be looking for some well earned downtime. Way back in April she released her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department. The album broke streaming records upon release and she has just recently released physical copies of the album’s Anthology edition, offering up another 15 tracks that she wrote and recorded with her main collaborators – Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner.

The first single, “Fortnight” features Post Malone on a downtempo sound about the mundane tensions that can run through the suburbs. The title track is a mix of pop and country as the sponge like Swift absorbs the culture around her as she name drops “You’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti Smith/This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel”. “Down Bad” sees Swift beam up into stardust just to be left naked and alone on a synthy R+B track while “Florida” sung with Florence Welch ratchets up the Lana Del Rey vibes.

Like most of her albums, the lyrics have been examined a million times over looking for clues on who the songs are about. Almost every track on the album has it’s own Wikipedia page which does not happen for most artists but such is Swift’s immense popularity and interest in her private life. “So Long, London” leaves behind her British boyfriend where she sings “You say I abandoned the ship/but I was going down with it” over a beat that sounds a like a racing heart. After a few slower tracks, “I Can Do it with a Broken Heart” brings back the bright coloured lights as she acknowledges that “you know you’re good when you can even do it with a broken heart”.

The Tortured Poets Department follow the same path of some of her recent albums with similar pros and cons.  It’s an odd quirk that it’s almost immediately apparent with within the first few bars of each track you can tell whether it’s going to be a great one or just OK.  Coming at 17 tracks, including the bonus “The Manuscript”, it’s a bit long and could use some trimming to make it a leaner listening experience. But the good points are all there – the production is impeccable and Swift’s lyrical wordplay is always intriguing.  This slick team is really good at what they do.

7.5/10

Posted in Album Reviews

Davie Bowie – Station to Station (1976)

Posted on by Michael

David Bowie started writing the songs that would end up on Station to Station in 1975 while working on the movie The Man Who Fell to Earth.  Deep in a cocaine addiction, Bowie in this time period was surviving on a diet of just peppers and milk. Co-produced by Harry Maslin, the sound of the album carries on some of the funk/soul influences he explored on Young Americans and adds a bit of a croon with a European shininess on an album that went top five in both the UK and US.

The title track is a 10 minute epic that begins with the sound of a train then a slow, trudging march of sounds.  The song introduces his newest character, the Thin White Duke.  The song gets sped up in the second half where it turns into a tour de force of drums and piano while Bowie sings, “It’s too late to be grateful”.  “TVC 15” is based on a hallucination of the TV eating someone’s girlfriend, the fun upbeat track adds a bit of a sci-fi element to the themes.  The twin guitars of Earl Slick and Carlos Alomar turn “Stay” into a dirty, funky jam that also features the throbbing bass of George Murray.

The first single is the highlight.  “Golden Years” carries on the funk rock sound he previously explored on “Fame”. The guitar riffing that starts the track gets punctuated with finger snaps and handclaps that beam the groove to life before Bowie’s vocal brings a bit of a bit of blue eyed soul to the disco gloss. Its an extraordinary song that the band + Bowie really nail.  Station to Station sees Bowie make the sounds explored on Young Americans truly his own.  How he created the album while in a deep drug addiction, barely remembering anything about this period is a minor creative miracle.

9/10

Posted in Paper Chase

Cal Newport – Slow Productivity

Posted on by Michael

Over the last several years, writer Cal Newport has become a very popular figure in the productivity/business world.  His seminal book, Deep Work, is an essential read for knowledge workers. His latest book, Slow Productivity, came out in the late winter of 2024.  With a subtitle of “The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout”, the book’s three main tenets that are written about extensively are Do Fewer Things – Work at a Natural Pace – Obsess Over Quality.

This is a very important topic for office workers who are in a constant state of busyness to the point of burnout. Several of the ideas presented by Newport in the book are quite good.  An example is estimating the amount of time a project will take to give others a realistic idea of when it will be complete. This along with keeping a running list of upcoming projects will help you and others see where you are spending your time.  Other ideas do not seem as fleshed out and seemed rushed.  Better than the book, listening to Newport’s appearance on the Art of Manliness podcast may be all that a curious person would need on this topic.

7/10