29/09/2025
Well nothing like starting Monday off with…er…a blast of Scott Walker’s Tilt to set the mood for the week ahead. Spotted it in the pile of shame (well one of the piles…ahem…) - unopened RSD reissue and gave it a whirl…
But a few days ago I read a great piece that talked about Bowie’s “hyper gothic drama cycle” concept album 1.Outside coming out around the same time as Tilt
https://thequietus.com/opinion-and-essays/anniversary/david-bowie-scott-walker/
Now I don’t need any excuses to chat about Outside - it’s become my 2nd favourite Bowie album, a comfort listen that I’ve come to know so well. On first listen I thought it was naff with some odd high points, but after seeing him live at Doncaster Arena on the tour promoting it (probably about 1/2 to 2/3rds full, the next night they were offering buy one get one free with coach from Nottingham which shows how Low Bowie’s stock was at the time) I went back to it, discovering some tracks I’d missed and wondering how I didn’t pick up on the glorious finale of Strangers When Me Meet.
I’m still obsessed by the making of this album, the planned “trilogy” of albums, the story that I’ve never really got…I even had an idea many years ago of doing a not for profit fan flick musical in a fag packet budget Blade Runner style idea for a film…if I could ever fathom “the story”
Yeah, it’s a wonky sounding thing with Bowie’s am dram character segues and as the article points out the very 90s photoshop look to the album artwork…but I’ve always felt for an album that came mid 90s there was something very Y2K/ premillenial tension about the world we may be inhabiting ahead of us, in the style of something like Southland Tales.
This splatter coloured vinyl is a treat with a heavy tri gatefold sleeve and is a very treasured possession, and especially as the original album was a single LP “highlights edition” and was the only way to get the full album on vinyl until the last few years.
