David Bowie fans will delight in today's release of Conversation Piece, a 5CD box-set and digital equivalent tracking David’s early development throughout 1968 and 1969, via his home demos, BBC radio sessions, studio recordings with guitarist John ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson and the experimental music and mime group, Feathers. The collection also celebrates the 50th anniversaries of the release of the "Space Oddity" single and David’s second album, David Bowie (aka Space Oddity).
Twelve previously unreleased tracks from the period are now available, as well as a brand new mix of the Space Oddity (aka David Bowie) album by longtime Bowie producer/collaborator Tony Visconti.
The new mix of the album now features the title track of the boxset "Conversation Piece" restored to the tracklisting in its initially intended position before it was originally dropped due to time constraints of vinyl.
The 120-page hardback book accompanying the box features exclusive memorabilia from the personal collection of David’s former manager, the late Ken Pitt, as well as from the David Bowie Archive, and includes photos by Ray Stevenson, Vernon Dewhurst, David Bebbington, Ken Pitt, Alec Byrne, Tony Visconti and Jojanneke Claasen.
The sleeve notes have been written for the release by Bowie experts Mark Adams, Tris Penna and Kevin Cann along with contributions from David’s lifelong friend George Underwood, Tony Visconti, Vernon Dewhurst, Dana Gillespie and John ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson.
These new sets are available to purchase here.
To further the audio experience, Tony Visconti has also remixed the track in 360 Reality Audio music format, a new 3D audio from Sony. With 360 Reality Audio, the listener experiences the vocals and instruments placed within a spherical space, creating an immersive sound that closely mimics the omni-directional soundscape of a live musical performance.
Tony Visconti describes this new version of the track as “When I first heard Sony 360 I was quite amazed, in the headphones it was remarkable how you could hear things behind you and above you. I think it will be a treat to hear things you thought you knew very well, it will bring out hidden detail. You might have heard Space Oddity 200 times, when you hear this I guarantee you will listen another 200 times. It’s a new way of hearing the song.”
The new immersive mix will be available via Amazon HD using Amazon Echo Studio, and via Deezer, nugs.net and TIDAL using headphones, more news to follow.
