As this lyric fragment from David Bowie's "Sound and Vision" suggests, inspiration and creativity is, alas, a waiting game that occurs at odd times, inconvenient moments, and in strange places. Amidst all of the show prep for music released in 1959 (last week and this week), I suddenly found myself, following "the gift of sound and vision" by taking a deeper-than-usual dive into the music of David Bowie, who released a new "best of" compilation in 2014 that I sampled during this week's show. This Bowie-led curiosity/creativity campaign led me to unearth a couple of compelling covers of Bowie tunes (here and here) that are particularly interesting.
Additionally, this week's show featured three favorite ambient artists: Stars of the Lid (here), A Winged Victory for the Sullen (here and here), and Sigur Rós (here and here). If music is the soundtrack to our life, I think ambient music reflects the moments in between moments--the pauses, the reflective periods, the moments of deep(er) emotion. These artists illustrate this beautifully.
Lastly, today's show concuded the 1959/60 magical musical arc by featuring additional tracks from '59/'60 (Bill Evans | John Coltrane) illustrating the "ripple effect" that music from '59 had in the years that followed.
If you missed the "live" show, and want some curated "Alloy" music, you can always catch the all-music, 24/7 station. Thanks for listening!