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David Bowie Announces Avant-Garde Jazz Album 'Blackstar' Due January 8

David Bowie is in a constant state of metamorphosis--and in continuing his preservation, Mr. Stardust has announced a new jazz album to be released in January. The album will be entitled Blackstar.

While it has been rumored for a few days, Pitchfork confirms the release of the new jazz album. It's also been reported that the album was been recorded with a group of jazz musicians at New York's Magic Shop.

The seven-track album has been reckoned to be "completely bonker" and is also said to be in the vein of avant-garde jazz. Ingredients include Gregorian chants, a soul section, some electronic experimentation and Bowie's classic vocal.

Of the inspiration for the album, Kraftwerk has been noted to have a sonic presence in the songwriting. However, there is a hip-hop duo already called Black Star that has been on the scene since 1997. Artists Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) comprise the group and have yet to confirm if they have been featured on the recordings.

Raw Story notes: "The new album is also peculiar in that Bowie 'will decline to provide a radio edit' for its lead single. Radio stations will have to take 'all or nothing' if they want to play the track, according to the Times. The single is set to release on November 19, presumably so that radio hosts have time to brush up on Gregorian chants as a point of reference while introducing the track."

Bowie is also working on an off-Broadway production called Lazarus, which is based on his film The Man Who Fell to Earth. For now, it is undetermined if the songs from the new album will be featured and part of the production.

Word of the album has created a media frenzy as little details have been disclosed. So while Bowie remains tight-lipped on the subject, check out Ziggy Stardust below.

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