Various Artists - Life Beyond Mars: David Bowie Covered (Album)
At first I honestly didn’t know what to expect when throwing on the first spin of this album. Eclectic electronic and indie artists cover their chosen David Bowie song and some really make a fantastic interpretation, and others, well, do their covers. Panning across the list of songs on the album, three of the twelve tracks are from Bowie’s memory-free recording session of Low. Ironic?
American indie pop chick outfit, Au Revoir Simone, open with the angelic cover of (the foundations of the Ziggy Stardust persona begun with this album…) Hunky Dory’s Oh! You Pretty Things with 80’s soaked keys. It’s very stripped back-much like the original, with it slowly building through the song. This one reaches a very sweet note with sparse, harmonising vocals.
An 80’s adrenalin opens Loving the Alien. This song didn’t quite top the charts as the title track of the album this was released on, Tonight. Heartbreak do a fresh cover of Loving the Alien with plenty of cheesy synth.
New York DJ, Kelley Polar fits his cover of Magic Dance off the Labyrinth. A twisted dance cover is not a surprised for Kelley’s chosen track. Filled with layers of straight 4?4 beats-it’s not a wonder how he scored the chance to remix a track for Caribou.
At the sunrise of the 80’s the Ashes to Ashes single was released off Scary Monsters. The fantastic slap bass on the original is more sorely missed soft spot for the song. Like a lot of the covers on the album, it’s very 80’s and creamed our with layers synth. Matthew Dear’s take on Sound & Vision is very much the same with vocals echoing Bowie’s swooning voice.
Funnily enough, techno producer, Carl Craig’s (…Presents Zoos of Berlin) covers the disliked Looking for Water off the Reality album. With little tone in the rhythm, the psychedelic lead fits sound with the beats and vocals. A lot of work went into this cover; compared to the soft popster Drew Brow, his cover of Sweet Things is quite unbearable.
The disco pop of Susumu Yokota’s take on Golden Years tops the acoustic pop. There’s plenty going on in Yokota’s cover and it’s an understatement to say his touch cannot be heard in the take.
Emperor Machine don’t take away the Eno-Bowie flavour of Repetition. Keeping it simple, these guys haven’t gone wrong with the bass driven take.
A modern take on Be My Wife is the small gem by Richard Walters & Faultline on this album. Simple melodies and song meant no disaster to one of my favourite tracks off Low.
Crazy avant-garde Norwegian jazz trio, The Thing, do a different take on Life on Mars. Fittingly, it’s a considerable effort on such an awesome song. It’s not to say that it’s for eclectic tastes, as Bowie himself has spanned a career in all sorts of weird and wonderful music and it’s been hard to follow every corner of his albums. The Thing do their thing on their cover, with dissipated bass and percussion all throughout the track.
Maybe the die-hard fans should steer clear from this album, but if you’re a little open minded to hear some takes on some of your favourite Bowie…or less favourite Bowie songs, then maybe you should check this album out. It’s filled with some creative takes on his songs, and some unfortunately do not quite get the touch…though for me? I’m just going to go back to listening to Hunky Dory.
