Let the Bowie Remixes Begin
It will be interesting to see how history interprets Bowie’s work. In the short term, there are likely to be a flood of tributes. After Cole Porter died in 1964 (incidentally the same year of Bowie’s very early material), there were probably many tributes. When Sinatra died, the elder jazz community lamented the loss of a hero. But actual memories are not something that nicely translates into digital re-stitchings of it from recordings. Even if we could upload Bowie’s brain, neither his creativity could be replicated, nor the experiences of millions of fans. This is why I don’t think music history can be properly represented through technology alone. (I just wonder if remix for the sake of itself necessarily makes for an interesting sonic precis.) Cole Porter came of age in the 19-teens, amid cubism and dada, and wound up writing songs that in retrospect are comparatively very conservative and square. Paul McCartney has intimated that Cole Porter was an influence, but there was n...
