S2 Ep6: Siân Pattenden on Low

DAVIDBOWIE: ALBUMTOALBUM

Low! The 1976 masterpiece which saw our man frazzled and burned-out, on the cusp of mayhem, relocated from the madness of Los Angeles and teaming up with Brian Eno for a lot of experimental doodling and dallying and along the way, coming up with one of the most revolutionary albums in rawk history. The opening salvo of the 'Berlin Trilogy', Low is a beautiful racket of proto-electronica, effects and ambient soundscapes, that gave Bowie a new lease of life, electronic music to the mainstream and no doubt, ulcers to the good folk at Bowie's long suffering record label RCA.

In this episode, we meet the wonderful Siân Pattenden, writer, artist, co-host of the brilliant Bigmouth podcast and all-round good egg, for an illuminating wander along the Low road. Along the way, we debate the value of creative block, blues and greys, masculinity, divorce, love and depression as well as the circumstances around the making of this extraordinary album. Unfortunately, there was a car alarm outside during recording, which some of you might find annoying, but I hope you can persevere and enjoy Siân's engaging and illuminating chat, nevertheless. And should you be in the market for some quirky, fabulous lo-fi art creativity, check out her site at raw-art.co.uk for Bowie mugs and much more!