A new David Bowie box set released on Friday is loaded with rarities and outtakes that longtime fans will burn through. But it’s disc No. 4 that you’ll want to immediately stream on Spotify.
That’s The Gouster, a previously unreleased gift of a seven-song record. Recorded between 1973’s hard-rocking Aladdin Sane and 1975’s Philadelphia soul-laden Young Americans, it’s a transitional effort that finds Bowie remarkably dialed in. All of these tracks eventually saw the light of day and many morphed onto Americans, but this box set, Who Can I Be Now? [1974-1976], is the first release to offer up Gouster as a whole.
“John, I’m Only Dancing,” performed as early as 1972 on the Live in Santa Monica concert, is here a shimmying disco sequel. “It’s Gonna Be Me,” an underrated B-side to “Young Americans,” is the piano-man centerpiece.
Hop to it.
H/T Stereogum
