November 22, 2024

Skylight Webzine

Online since 2000

Indie Rock Superstars Salute The Thin White Duke With All New Interpretations Of David Bowie’s Best!


David Bowie’s career has been defined by his unique ability to make artistically complex and challenging music sound like mainstream pop…ok, maybe pop music from an entirely different planet, but pop music all the same. As a result, the definition of rock music has expanded; Bowie never went mainstream, the mainstream always came to him. For these reasons and more, he is one of the most deeply revered and profoundly influential artists in modern rock. And nowhere can Bowie’s influence be felt more than in the world of indie rock, where bands and artists have taken Bowie’s fiercely independent streak, commitment to artistic integrity, and a diverse array of musical styles into the 21st century and beyond. Now, a truly impressive gathering of indie and modern rockers have gathered to pay tribute to the man with A Salute To The Thin White Duke – The Songs Of David Bowie to be released on both CD & vinyl as well as mp3s on October 2 courtesy of Cleopatra Records.
Among the participants is the all-girl alt metal Canadian quartet Kittie who expressed a sentiment shared by many of the artists here, “We are so excited to be able to contribute to this amazing tribute album. ‘Space Oddity’ is arguably one of David Bowie’s most well known songs so we put all of our efforts into doing all of its intricacies justice, while still retaining our signature, heavy sound.’ Meanwhile, Detroit’s own Electric Six made no bones about their preferred Bowie era, saying “We had to do ‘80s Bowie because frankly, we couldn’t trust the earlier Bowie. And the ‘90s Bowie is, well…So ‘80s Bowie was the one for us, and ‘Blue Jean’ was just sitting there waiting for us to club the shit out of it, and, man, did we club it!” Similarly, Zach from Rogue Wave had this to say of “Modern Love,” the song that opens the album, “My favorite Bowie song from his tailored suit era. All that uptempo beat and those chugging horns couldn’t hide the sadness of what it means to come down to earth.”
Jared Artaud from The Vacant Lots succinctly expressed the challenges of approaching Bowie’s music, “It’s hard to touch Bowie. He’s an architect. What he’s done, you can’t make it better, so we wanted to reconceptualize it & approach the song from another point of view.” And The Tulips offer this entirely accurate description, “Covering a Bowie tune was like jumping into a cab and realizing there’s a tiger sitting shotgun, and no one says a word.” A wild ride indeed! And fans of Bowie will find this collection of covers equally as thrilling!
Track List
1. Modern Love – Rogue Wave
2. John, I’m Only Dancing – Jesca Hoop
3. Letter To Hermione – Dum Dum Girls
4. Heroes – The Tulips
5. Ashes To Ashes – Icky Blossoms
6. Starman – The Deer Tracks
7. Rebel Rebel – The KVB
8. Cat People (Putting Out Fire) – Magic Wands
9. Blue Jean – Electric Six
10. Jean Genie – Heartless Bastards
11. Suffragette City – Ume
12. Fame – The Vacant Lots
13. Space Oddity – Kittie
14. Moonage Daydream – Boy Hits Car
15. Absolute Beginners – Coves
16. Changes – The Muffs
Buy the digital album: http://flyt.it/SaluteToTheThinWhiteDuke

Source: Cleopatra Records