This forthcoming album on Rapster closely follows their Prince cover version album and you’ll recall they’ve previous done the same with Radiohead with Exit.

Bowie is credited for many innovations in popular music from his use of make-up, cross dressing, electronic collaborations with Brian Eno to the father of the nu-romantics. For me, I’d say his most remarkable contribution was to make soul and disco acceptable to white kids with the album Station To Station in the mid 70’s. Don’t forget, this is a period after he killed off his glam alter ego Ziggy Stardust (with his backing band, The Spiders From Mars) and when punk was starting to emerge as the youth culture that would take over the world.

With this in mind, it’s a same they didn’t ask Emanative (son of former Spider From Mars, Mick Woodmansey) to contribute (as an aside, on Simon S’s podcast with Gilles Peterson, the said Peterson raved about the forthcoming release on Futuristica Music by Emanative, ‘Petite Planet’ and I’m told there even a vocal version by Deborah Jordan!)

Anyway, there’s no future space jazz version a la Cosmic Lounge on this CD which is a bit of a shame but it ends with freestyle instrumental of ‘Life On Mars’ by a Norwegian/Swedish experimental jazz band. Also, as Carl Craig has recently started a jazz focused History Of Detroit project with founder members of Tribe Records, it would have been awesome if they’d have covered ‘Looking For Water’. That said, Craig’s Zoos Of Berlin actually come out with quite a rockin’ version that’s a bit of a grower as it’s not such a obvious choice.

Of the Bowie Greatest Hits, I’ve never heard of Drew Brown but he does a minimal Tunng-ish ‘Sweet Thing’ whilst Matthew Dear who comes from “the doorsteps of the minimal-but-funky regime of techno music”, slows ‘Sound & Vision’ to a winey snails pace. Au Revoir Simone also slow down the classic pop of ‘Oh! You Pretty Things’ and it really suits their indie-synth leanings.

Other highlights are Joakim (he of last years’ Monsters & Silly Songs) & The Discos’ rework of ‘A New Career In A New Town’ (a favourite of Mercury Rev) and one of Japan’s “finest gifts to the electronic music”, Susumu Yokota’s cover of ‘Golden Years’ (from Station To Station) that’s already had a massive Re:Edit a couple of years ago. With all of Yokota’s pseudonyms, in his own name he’s probably best known for ‘King Of Darkness’ and his leftfield cover of the disco classic ‘Could Heaven Ever Be Like This’ on Exceptional and the remix of the Cinematic Orchestra’s ‘Breathe’ that is featured on You Don’t Know: Ninja Cuts. For more music from Japan, see HERE).

For a modern day disco exponent it’s hard to beat Kelley Polar (‘Magic Dance’) who was magnificent at Bestival a couple of years ago and The Emperor Machine has a sort of Devo/B52 approach to ‘Repetition’.

Of course, this isn’t the first or the last time Bowie catalogue will be re-interpreted. Seu Jorge came to the general public’s attention with his Bowie covers sung in Portuguese throughout the film The Life Aquatic whilst on the BBC, they used Life On Mars to the retro police drama set in the 70’s show of the same name which has to be one of the best things they’ve done in years.

Life Beyond Mars is a fitting tribute to Bowie and his music as his legacy. David Robert Hayward Stenton Jones we salute you.

Reviewed: Various - Life Beyond Mars - Bowie Covered (Rapster Records) Cat. No. RR0077CD Release date: July 2008
Tracklisting:
1 Au Revoir Simone - Oh! You Pretty Things (4:17)
2 Heartbreak - Loving The Alien (7:17)
3 Kelley Polar - Magic Dance (5:17)
4 Leo Minor - Ashes To Ashes (3:21)
5 Carl Craig Presents Zoos Of Berlin - Looking For Water (5:05)
6 Drew Brown - Sweet Thing (2:55)
7 Matthew Dear - Sound & Vision (4:26)
8 Susumu Yokota - Golden Years (3:29)
9 The Emperor Machine - Repetition (6:05)
10 Joakim & The Disco - A New Career In A New Town (6:01)
11 Richard Walters & Faultline - Be My Wife (3:28)
12 The Thing - Life On Mars (4:36)
Links
www.rapsterrecords.com
www.aurevoirsimone.com
www.myspace.com/aurevoirsimone
Heartbreak : Ali Renault & Sebastian Muravchik www.myspace.com/heartbreak1
www.kelleypolar.com
www.myspace.com/kelleypolar
www.myspace.com/carlcraig
www.matthewdear.com
www.myspace.com/matthewdear
www.myspace.com/jimibazzouka
www.joakimikaoj.com
www.susumuyokota.org
www.myspace.com/emperormachine
www.davidbowie.com
www.myspace.com/futuristicamusic
Mail on Sunday gives away iSelect, Bowie’s own choice of his all-time favourite hits on 9th June “Including rarities, classics and spanning decades of hits, iSelect comprises tracks that Bowie describes as, ‘Twelve songs that I particularly like. Few of them are well known, but many of them still get sung at my concerts… usually by me!’
Christchurch Festival 2008 July 4-6th (Saturday @ 9pm: Bowie Experience) www.christchurchfestival.co.uk