Pages

Showing posts with label Death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Death. Show all posts

Monday 11 January 2016

Dear David Bowie,


Dear David Bowie

I, like most people, am no stranger to the heartbreak of losing a close friend or a loved one. It is irrefutably the most hollowing of all human experiences, when a part of you that once sat undetected has now been scooped out from your spirit, and its sudden absence leaves a disorientating mess of surreal confusion and irreplaceable damage. You become consumed, normal everyday priorities appear frivolous, any stray thought will come crashing back into the memory of the departed, and a new pouch of tears rips open within the solar plexus, allowing us to cry a new brand of grief, for what feels like all the water inside of our body.

It's fascinating, then, how upset one can get over a person they have never met, but it does make sense. Celebrities play an integral part of our happiness and growth. They teach us lessons, good or bad. They inspire us to reach for what they have. And their lives provide us with a well-needed break when our own gets a little too overwhelming to bear.

But you, Mr Bowie, cannot be lumped so easily into this category. Your worth as an artist is above your average famous person (to say the very fucking least), which has been proven time and time again by sales figures, awards, your net worth, your influence on the greater art world, your legendary status, and the tributes we have seen at such monumental proportions today. You were the epitome of Rock God, immeasurably larger than any other human alive, leaving a very sad platform which will never ever be filled. You will forever stand as the greatest example of someone who shoved so much art into their trade that they themselves became the masterpiece. You were your masterpiece.

It's strange to say, but dying has been the most human thing you've ever done, which would explain the universal disbelief of your passing. You were never supposed to die. And now you have left us without any clue as to what we're supposed to do without you, and I am not exaggerating when I say that I don't know if I will ever be the same in the knowledge that another Bowie song will never be written again. Sounds silly, doesn't it? Although, then again, does it? Perhaps we never met, Bowie, and perhaps it was very one sided, but I spent a lot of time with you, man. I thought of you every day. You were the pinnacle. You were the type of dude that proved that there was a certain magical element to the world, a puzzling freedom, and through artistic expression, we all maybe had the chance of getting there ourselves. And that's the type of thought that makes your death seem further unique and special, above even that of someone I may have known in real life. Because, as I cry while typing this, I know there is crying around the world for you, and as a global unit, there is a really large fucking hole right now. Maybe in the afterlife they measure your impact by the volume of tears produced, and if so, you, sir, would surely be up there with the best of them. And I'm proud to contribute.

In a rare case like this, the mind naturally searches for counterparts who we can also place in the league of musical deaths which my lifetime will be remembered for. Kurt Cobain is a good contender. But when we step back and evaluate his contribution, we find a man who wrote a few generation defining albums and then ultimately self destructed into a rockstar cliché tragedy. I also clearly remember when Michael Jackson died, but by that point, his private life had fallen into such a media circus of controversy, that it outweighed his musical input, and much like Cobian, his fatal overdose resulted in yet another tragic death typical for the famous. But your story, Mr Bowie, was not a tragedy. Your health had been in question for almost a decade. You lived to the respectable age of 69. You continuously presented acclaimed work until just the other day. And your cancerous demise was an exit even the most cautious of individuals have been known to take. But what was anything but commonplace was your artistic donation, which was so substantial in volume and so immense in success, that it spread as one of the most well-known in the industry's history, yet was skewed so far sideways by its peculiar innovation and integrity, that your ladder stood alone, suggesting your legacy could never be regarded in the same breath as Elvis or Lennon or Sinatra, but rather a warped bubble floating out to space all by itself. And that's why none of this is an unfortunate disaster. This was the perfect lifestory, as if God himself was a massive Bowie fan and wanted your book to be a long and rewarding read, with a satisfactory beginning, middle, and conclusion.

And that is exactly what we got. It only took me a few minutes to grow suspicious, but it does now seem to be confirmed by Tony Visconti that you were desperately informing us about your fast approaching death just last Friday, and you were saying goodbye. The Starman, now a Blackstar. "Look up here, I'm in heaven". "I'm trying to, I'm dying too". "Something happened on the day he died". And perhaps the most eerie lyric of all (although probably coincidental), "Where the fuck did Monday go?". The references to fear and death and mortality are all too obvious now. You knew this was your final message, and you somehow delivered it from a podium you had never spoken from before, a genre untouched by your voice, which is seemingly impossible from a 69 year old man dying from cancer who had built an entire career out of reinvention and genre-hopping. I mean, already the critics had spent the last week unanimously worshipping this new sound you walked on, and I can only imagine how great that must have made you feel on your last days. Wow, what a wonderful thought that is. But now that you have abandoned us in the knowledge of what you were literally saying, we can only stand still in awe of your genius which was working until the bitter end, the album's newfound meaning suddenly proving your swansong to be perhaps your most potent, smartest, and calculated move yet. Which is an unheard of feat for a man who spent five decades releasing music, and who was only two days away from his final heartbeat. Oh, you sneaky sneaky alien.

To conclude on a personal note, I have to tell you that you were my #1. People would ask me which celebrity I wanted to meet the most, and my answer was always David Bowie. People would ask which act I'd like to see live the most, and my answer was always David Bowie. And to know that I will never get either of these opportunities has left me with a sickness I'm not sure I've ever felt before. You have to understand, you were my artistic everything. Not a piece of work I have produced wasn't an ode to you on some level. I stole everything I know from you, and the only reason nobody noticed is because I didn't have the guts to commit to it as far as you did. I guess what I'm trying to say is that there is not a single artist I love more than you. And I will miss you so fucking fiercely.

Thank you for everything, Starman.
You live on within us.

Jared Woods


Sunday 21 April 2013

Storm Thorgerson (28 February 1944 – 18 April 2013)


Rest In Peace, Storm Thorgerson I can’t really remember when my fascination with album artwork began, but you can rest assured that whenever it was, my fascination with Storm Thorgerson was quick to follow. The more I researched the images I adored, the more this guy’s name (as well as the art group Hipgnosis, which Storm was a key member of before 1983) continued to crop up over and over again, until it was obvious this dude was in a league of his own.

Storm became a considerable fixture in my musical education and exploration. I have been known to listen to bands purely because he had done the artwork for them. I have written about him on a few occasions during this blog's existence, most notably in my 2010 article Easter Eggs Up Your Ass, as well as a piece so old it predates Juice Nothing itself, 2008's 30 Favourite Album Artworks I Own. When my sister told me that Mr. Thorgerson would be attending his own exhibition in South Africa, I begged her to purchase his latest book for me and get it signed - which she did, something I am as equally grateful for, as I am irrationally jealous of (to see me holding said signed book, with my sister's wisdom teeth included, click here). And while all of this was going on, it had become a progressively more crucial dream of mine to one day have Storm Thorgerson design artwork for my own music. He would've loved it. I'd let him do whatever he wanted.

Unfortunately, I never got the chance. 3 days ago, after a long battle with cancer which I wasn’t even aware of, Storm died at the age of 69. The death of someone I admire is always tough, but this one felt significantly more important than your average "rockstar". This wasn't some member of a band who would now cease to exist. This was a man who granted us the visuals for many of the greatest bands that had ever blessed our ears, going on to play a pivotal role in the presentation of so many albums we worship, including those from AC/DC, Anthrax, Biffy Clyro, Black Sabbath, The Cranberries, Dream Theatre, Genesis, Led Zeppelin, The Mars Volta, Megadeth, Muse, The Offspring, Paul McCartney, Pendulum, Pink Floyd, Scorpions, Styx, and T. Rex, to name very few. Most artists start to suck and fade out of popularity at some point, but not Storm. In fact, I think he was only improving as time went on, some of his most impressive works only arriving in more modern years. And when you learn that his most recent offering for Biffy Clyro’s Opposites was released in January 2013, it's safe to assume he had a lot more to offer, if given the lifespean to do so. All of this into consideration, is why the loss feels a little bigger than your general big tragedy, and I mourn the man much more than I could do justice here.

But I still had to try, which is why I threw together this little bit of writing. It's to pay my respects and to keep the memory of this artist alive, in my own small way. To do this a bit better, I have decided to let his genius speak for itself, by selecting 20 of the legend's works which stood out most to me (either as a personal favourite or as one of his more iconic pieces) and then displaying them below. However, I urge you not to stop there, and to go fourth into your own research, because even if you weren’t aware of this name until now, you will be impressed about how much of his art you were already very familiar with.

Rest in Peace to the Greatest Album Artwork Creator of All Time.
Storm Thorgerson (28 February 1944 – 18 April 2013)

PLEASE NOTE: Storm refused to use Photoshop in his creations, and he had no intention of ever learning it. So keep in mind that everything you see here is real, unless otherwise stated.



Rest In Peace, Storm Thorgerson: Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon

Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)




Rest In Peace, Storm Thorgerson: Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (1975)




Rest In Peace, Storm Thorgerson: Led Zeppelin - In Through the Out Door

Led Zeppelin - In Through the Out Door (1979)




Rest In Peace, Storm Thorgerson: 10CC - Look Hear?

10CC - Look Hear? (1980)

US Edition


Rest In Peace, Storm Thorgerson: Ween - The Mollusk

Ween - The Mollusk (1997)



Rest In Peace, Storm Thorgerson: Phish - Slip Stitch and Pass

Phish - Slip Stitch and Pass (1997)




Rest In Peace, Storm Thorgerson: The Cranberries - Bury The Hatchet

The Cranberries - Bury The Hatchet (1999)




Rest In Peace, Storm Thorgerson: The Cranberries - Wake Up And Smell The Coffee

The Cranberries - Wake Up And Smell The Coffee (2001)




Rest In Peace, Storm Thorgerson: Muse - Absolution

Muse - Absolution (2003)




Rest In Peace, Storm Thorgerson: The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium

The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium (2003)




Rest In Peace, Storm Thorgerson: The Mars Volta - Frances The Mute

The Mars Volta - Frances The Mute (2005)




Rest In Peace, Storm Thorgerson: The Mars Volta - Amputechture

The Mars Volta - Amputechture (2006)

Mars Volta did not end up choosing this design


Rest In Peace, Storm Thorgerson: Umphrey's McGee - The Bottom Half

Umphrey's McGee - The Bottom Half (2007)




Rest In Peace, Storm Thorgerson: Biffy Clyro - Puzzle

Biffy Clyro - Puzzle (2007)




Rest In Peace, Storm Thorgerson: Biffy Clyro - Only Revolutions

Biffy Clyro - Only Revolutions (2009)




Rest In Peace, Storm Thorgerson: Muse - Uprising

Muse - Uprising (2009)

Single


Rest In Peace, Storm Thorgerson: Shpongle - Ineffable Mysteries from Shpongleland

Shpongle - Ineffable Mysteries from Shpongleland (2009)




Rest In Peace, Storm Thorgerson: Pendulum - Immersion

Pendulum - Immersion (2010)

Pendulum eventually got an outside artist to mess with Storm's original piece.
As a result, this one does use Photoshop.
Storm was not happy about it.


Rest In Peace, Storm Thorgerson: Steve Miller Band - Let Your Hair Down

Steve Miller Band - Let Your Hair Down (2011)




Rest In Peace, Storm Thorgerson: Younger Brother - Vaccine

Younger Brother - Vaccine (2011)