Planet Earth is blue, and there's nothing I can do

David Bowie - Space Oddity - 1969

Two years after his unusual debut album, David Bowie released this one, which for many is the "real first" album of his career, because it's the first one in which he begins to sound more like the Bowie we all know.
He wasn't still there, though. This album still has a few very old sounding 1960s ballads, like "Letter to Hermione" and "Janine", which would belong perfectly in the previous release.
And by no means this is a perfect album. Although I am not sure if Bowie has ever been about perfect albums. He has indeed released a few that would qualify as such, but it's not his "stability" as song-writer what appeals to most of us, I think, but rather the sheer insane talent of his better compositions.
And there are quite a few of those here. Starting, of course, by the title track, which has become such a classic in our culture, that it would deserve a whole entry here just for itself. And it has become a classic because regardless of how far away from our everyday experiences the story may be, it still strikes an emotional chord with all of us. The feelings of loneliness, exhilaration and freedom that Major Tom seems to be feeling in his spaceship are feelings we can all relate. And they're superbly delivered, even if the structure of the song is seemingly simple.
But there are other great songs here. "Cygnet Committee" is a fundamental piece in this album, because it is the one that the most clearly shows many traits that Bowie would have in future releases: the dystopian topic of a leader that helps a revolution, only to be forgotten by those he helped. The revolution, of course, doesn't lead to the utopic paradise they were expecting either. But there's also his unique narrative power here, telling full stories, instead of just conjuring up one image. It's a massive song, and one of my favourite Bowie tracks ever.
We also have "Memory from a Free Festival", an almost nostalgic piece that seems to look back at the peace & love spirit that had been part of the second half of the decade and that, by 1969, had already began to outlive its welcome. And also we have "Wild Eyed boy from Freecloud" and "Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed", which also deal with feeling lonely and like an outsider.
As I said, this may not be a perfect album, but it has some brilliant moments. And even when it's not brilliant, it's pretty damn good.

• This album was actually called David Bowie upon initial release, and also Man of Words/Man of Music. This is the title of the 1972 re-release, and I'm keeping it to avoid confusion and because it was the name with which I always knew it. 
• "Space Oddity" has actually been played in space. In 2013, astronaut Chris Hadfield, stationed in the ISS, released a video of him singing it before returning home. He twitted the video, and Bowie replied: "Hallo, Spaceboy...". Bowie loved the version, and after a certain amount of legal issues (Bowie actually didn't own the copyright for the song), Hadfield was authorised to keep the video on Youtube. Which makes me very happy.
• Also, this year, SpaceX launched Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster into space, with a mannequin named "Starman". "Space Oddity" was played during the trip. 
• And, while not in space, during the 1980s, Peter Schilling recorded a song, called "Major Tom (Coming Home)". The song was quite successful back then, and years later would be part of some unforgettable scenes in the brilliant Breaking Bad TV series.
• Both "Letter to Hermione" and "An Occasional Dream" were about Bowie's recent breakup with his girlfriend who was called, of course, Hermione.
• "The sun machine is coming down and we're gonna have a party". For some reason I love this line, which repeats at the end of "Memory of a Free Festival", in a similar way to the "nanana" chorus of "Hey Jude". And yes, I also love the "nanana" thing. 
• I'm putting "Cygnet Committee" here, because I love it. And also, Chris Hadfield's version of "Space Oddity". It was a song meant to be sung in space, after all.

That was pretty avant-garde, wasn't it?

Pink Floyd - Ummagumma - 1969

Last time I talked about Pink Floyd, I mentioned how long it would take them to eventually find their own sound. Their previous release, More, was a weird mix of styles, and they sounded like a band who had trouble finding which direction they were going to.

In that sense, this is a step in the correct direction. Too bad it's such a bad step.

This double album is two very distinct albums: The first disc is a series of live recording, mostly featuring the longer, more "spacey" tunes from the first two albums. Now, Pink Floyd have never been the emotional type of live show, but the songs are brilliantly played, they are very good versions and if you're like me and like the trippy early songs, having them here is a good thing. 

The second disc is something that probably happened because of that old-time excuse when you screw up, which is: "It seemed like a good idea at the time". For some reason they decided to take half of a side for each of them, and do solo work, without the participation of the other members. 

The result is quite poor, to be honest. Richard Wright's section, a 4 part instrumental called "Sysyphus", is a bit weak, and belies his immense talent. Waters part, is two songs, one of them is just noise, and the other one is not horrible, but not too good either. The last part is Mason's bit, which lasts a bit less than 9 minutes out of which about 7 are (yes, you guessed right) drums. The best part is Gilmour's section, "The Narrow Way", made up of three parts, two of which are instrumental. But it does showcase his talent nicely, and I actually enjoy listening to it. 

• The title of this section is from spoken words that can be heard halfway through the first one of his songs. In order to hear them, you have to play it at half-speed. The title of the piece is "Several species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Playing with a Pict". And it's just noises.
• The name of the album is, apparently, Cambridge slang for sex. As in "I'm gonna go back home for some ummagumma", line attributed to one of their roadies. 
• Believe it or not, at the time, this album was rated higher by critics than Bowie's one. That says a lot about critics.
• I'm putting Gilmour's full section here, mostly because the guy who made this fan video has done a pretty interesting job.

Random thoughts

• Depending on where you are, this will be posted either on April 24th or 25th. April 24th was the birthday of Tony Visconti, who produced Space Oddity and would produce other Bowie albums in the future.
• April 24th is also the anniversary of David Bowie's marriage to Iman. I wasn't aware of the date until now. It's pretty cool, I think. As I said at some other time, it's that kind of day. 
• I wonder if Bowie ever imagined that one day, in the not too distant future, a car would be orbiting in space playing his song. There are lots of reasons why it saddens me that he died, that he could not be here to witness this is one of them.