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David Bowie Has Died

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Re: David Bowie Has Died

#211

Post by TeMPOraL »

Everyone here has probably heard Space Oddity. Until recently that was the only song of David Bowie I've known. But then, thanks to The Martian, I found this one, Starman:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRcPA7Fzebw

Really, go listen to it. It's just beautiful. It captures imagination and hope for the future. And I think it has a perfect message for us, about both his legacy and our responsibility.

  There's a starman waiting in the sky
  He's told us not to blow it
  Cause he knows it's all worthwhile
So, "Let the children lose it", and let's build a better world for them.

Thank you, David Bowie.

Re: David Bowie Has Died

#212

Post by kedean »

cageface wrote: post #75
wyclif wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't agree—I use Spotify a lot and it's helped tremendously in my finding new music. The "Discover Weekly" and social playlists features always point me to sources of new music.

Spotify and other streaming services are amazing for discovering new music if you're willing to put in the effort but most people just listen to what they have pushed on them. I doubt most people even realize that top 40 music isn't written by the people that perform it.

Those people wouldn't have been willing to put forth the effort in any of the old systems either. Why does that mean Spotify made things worse?

Re: David Bowie Has Died

#214

Post by nerdcity »

Anyone else remember BowieNet? The man had his own ISP back in 98, for crying out loud...

A true visionary of an artist. He really understood technology, and what changes would be wrought by it for people, the arts, social systems, the music business, etc.

Dance, magic dance, Mr. Bowie. Dance, magic dance.

Re: David Bowie Has Died

#216

Post by SonicSoul »

synthmeat wrote: post #21

I don’t even know why I would want to be on a label in a few years, because I don’t think it’s going to work by labels and by distribution systems in the same way. The absolute transformation of everything that we ever thought about music will take place within 10 years, and nothing is going to be able to stop it. I see absolutely no point in pretending that it’s not going to happen. I’m fully confident that copyrigh…

this is a travesty. In addition to loving his music he also lived in my neighborhood in nyc and I've been naming our internal applications after his songs. Put up a black banner on Ground Control as we speak :(

my favorite is the collab he did with Trent Reznor on I'm Afraid of Americans https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPVrFIP0CMs

Re: David Bowie Has Died

#217

Post by tassl »

reitanqild wrote: post #142
will_pseudonym wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean that it is a shared obsession that can intensify our better and worse natures, but the worse outweighs the better.

FWIW a couple of the absolute worst periods has been under decidedly atheist regimes (Communist Russia etc + French revolution). Then again I think atheism is a religion too.

The atrocities committed during these periods were not made in the name of atheism, which is the main difference with ISIS or inquisition. Whatever they did, it was not consequence of their atheistic beliefs.

Re: David Bowie Has Died

#218

Post by nashashmi »

eropple wrote: post #177
dbattaglia wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Also, I fail to see what this is doing on HN, sorry. It's currently #1 on HN. Think about that. Just because you don't care about Bowies death doesn't mean it's not important to a lot of people on here. There's a ton of articles (especially sociology and science focused) that I wouldn't think belong here but they're interesting and I'm glad people post them.

Not just #1. Right now, it has 863 upvotes; that's a ton for a story that broke in the middle of the night on a Sunday. The next highest has 347, and has been around for a day-plus. This pretty clearly hits home for a lot of people, and I really, really hate the faux-above-it-all "I don't see what this is doing on HN" mini-modding. It's here because people believe it should be here. (edit: 899 points, 18 minutes late…

I am just hearing about him now that he has died. I don't see why it is SO relevant to HN community. I don't see any similarities here whatsoever. Nor do I see a hacker theme.

Would appreciate if someone would enlighten me on this.

Re: David Bowie Has Died

#219

Post by oldmanjay »

cageface wrote: post #208
matwood wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So your premise is that if it is music that you do not want to hear, it must be the labels pushing it? In no way could that music be on the radio because it is actually popular?

It's popular in the same way McDonald's or Coca Cola are popular. It's a product of no substance riding massive marketing budgets.

You understand that your taste, despite subjectively feeling more "real" than the tastes of others, actually isn't, right?

Re: David Bowie Has Died

#220

Post by stinkytaco »

sjclemmy wrote: post #160
braythwayt wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don’t even know why I would want to be on a label in a few years, > because I don’t think it’s going to work by labels and by distribution > systems in the same way. > > --David Bowie, 2002 Something to think about in music that also happens in startups and software: These are social activities. People don’t judge music solely by some kind of independent metric of appeal. They also judge whether the music is popu…

I think Bowie was the antithesis of this. If you'll forgive the hyperbole, he is the archetypal outsider, the patron saint of the dispossessed. So for all those who don't feel that they belong, Bowie's activities provided a message - 'It's OK to be an outsider', and, curiously, through that message provided a sense of belonging - I'm going to get all metaphysical and say that that is alchemical / transformative in a…

I'm afraid I don't buy that. Music follows rules, rules that we all grew up internalizing. There's no "universal music", just music who's rules you are familiar with. Tweak those rules just enough and in the right way and you are innovative (see: The Beatles). Tweak them too much and you are simply avant garde (see: Captain Beefheart).

That means that music is without question a social construction. Simply look at how non-western music is so radically different from popular western music, yet still appealing within those cultures.

It's very possible Bowie could have been too avant garde or too much of an outsider, but what he excelled at was tweaking the establishment just enough (both musically and performance-wise) to find a huge audience whilst still being "outside" the mainstream.

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