Art Decade
"Art Decade" | |
---|---|
Instrumental by David Bowie | |
from the album Low | |
Released | January 14, 1977 |
Recorded | September–November 1976 |
Genre | Ambient |
Length | 3:46 |
Label | RCA |
Songwriter(s) | David Bowie |
Producer(s) | David Bowie and Tony Visconti |
"Art Decade" is an instrumental by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, released on his 1977 album Low.
The song is named for a street that Bowie had encountered in
The song features a quick introduction on percussion and vibraphone, using a caravan-like drum sound to continue throughout the piece. Bowie's melodic portion of the composition is layered over the synthetic soundscapes of Brian Eno, whose synthesizer effects are reminiscent to those of the
Despite Bowie being credited solely for the song, Brian Eno has said he was responsible for saving the song from the out-take pile. The original piece was recorded on a piano, with both Eno and Bowie playing. "[w]hen we'd finished it he didn't like it very much and sort of forgot about it. But as it happened, during the two days he was gone I...dug that out to see if I could do anything with it. I put all those instruments on top of what we had and then he liked it and realised there was hope for it, and he worked on top of that adding more instruments."[1]
Live versions
- Performances from the Welcome to the Blackout(2018).
Personnel
- David Bowie: Guitar, Vibraphone, Piano, Chamberlin
- Brian Eno: Piano, Mini Moog, Chamberlin
- Eduard Meyer: Cellos
Other releases
- The live versions from Stage was released as the B-side of the single "Breaking Glass" in 1978.
- It was released as a picture disc in the RCA Life Time picture disc set.
Sources
- Greatorex, Johnathan. "Just a Mortal With Potential." Teenage Wildlife. November 1996. 6 March 2006 [1].
- Griffin, R. "Low." Bowie Golden Years. January 2005. 6 March 2006 [2].
References
- ^ Tamm, Eric. Brian Eno, His Music and the Vertical Color of Sound. Faber and Faber, 1989, p. 158.
- ^ "The sound behind the vision". 21 July 2014.