Coming Tomorrow: Julian Shah-Tayler Returns to Discuss Bowie, Aladdin Sane, “Forget that I’m 50” and More!

Julian Shah-Tayler is a musician and producer noted both for original work such as his latest single, “Malicious Intent,”* and his reimaginings, including his project Hunger City*, inspired by Bowie’s Diamond Dogs. Julian returns to this blog tomorrow to discuss Bowie, Forget That I’m 50, a tribute to Bowie’s Aladdin Sane, which he produced, and his forthcoming original album, Honne/Tatemae.

Embedded in this post is the one song from Forget That I’m 50 that Julian vocalized himself, “Lady Grinning Soul.” In the interview, Julian mentioned that he thinks of this, the title track, and “Time” as the heart of Aladdin Sane. I found this to be a fascinating comment, in part for the reasons Julian discussed, but also because the first songs I think of when I think of Aladdin Sane are “The Jean Genie,” “Panic in Detroit,” “Cracked Actor,” and “Watch That Man.” The dichotomy speaks to Bowie’s practice of often melding what might sound like two albums into one. This is most evident on Low and “Heroes,” but I’ve been thinking about Julian’s comment since we did the interview and how it applies to Aladdin Sane as well. While there are no instrumentals, the album is partly ethereal and atmospheric and partly raunchy and supercharged. Perhaps that’s the dichotomy hinted at by the famous lightning bolt bisecting Bowie’s face on the cover.

Julian is a worthy interpreter of Bowie and a really interesting person to talk to. He seems to be performing all over the Western hemisphere, and the material from the new album he’s already released sounds great, so if you have a chance to see him in concert, you’re going to want to do that! Meanwhile, come back tomorrow for some great Bowie talk and, for now, listen to Julian’s “Lady Grinning Soul.”

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* Click to link to previous posts