From my Kickstarter exclusive “Vanderslice Plays Diamond Dogs”. Diamond Dogs is a beast: it’s the most Bowie of all his records I think. He plays the most instruments on this record by far. Mick Ronson and the early 70s supporting players are gone. Bowie takes care of all guitars and plays a LOT of keys and sax. The drugs were epic. I tried to make the album weirder. That was very hard. For “Diamanthunde” I cut lyrics, changed chords, and completely restructured the song. I also brought in Avi from Avi Buffalo to play fragmented guitar. I’m a Bowie obsessive and Diamond Dogs has always fascinated me. It’s often overlooked among fans and it’s very hard to place in his 70s output. I think it’s a drugged out masterpiece, an abandoned Orwellian concept album that has the most playing Bowie ever did on one of his records. The best moments on this record are heartbreaking. I was not deferent to Bowie: For “A Better Whirlpool”, I translated lyrics into German, chopped verses, moved bridges, changed chords, and otherwise ran roughshod over this beast.
New Music United 