Bowie Tribute Album in aid of War Child, out 11th October

Whilst I realise that the idea of compilation tribute albums can be a bit cliché and monotonous at times, by the looks of this one it sounds more of interest. For starters, the artist these 34 strong musicians are paying homage to is David Bowie; A musician with a big enough back catalogue to not just feature adaptations of his most obvious tracks, as well as being the man who invented the art of reinvention. And also the artists that feature on this release are some of which MiddleBoop adore. Devendra Banhart, A Place To Bury Strangers, Vivian Girls, Duran Duran and Chairlift are just some of the musicians on show here.

‘We Were So Turned On: A Tribute To David Bowie’ is set for release via LA independent Manimal on the 11th October. All proceeds from the two-disc, 34-track album will go towards the benefit of War Child. A charity that is very close to Bowie's heart.

This final track listing is as diverse as it is chameleon-like, just like the thin-white duke himself, ‘We Were So Turned On’ has something for every Bowie lover.

Disc One:


1. Exitmusic "Space Oddity"

2. Duran Duran "Boys Keep Swinging"

3. Megapuss (Devendra Banhart) "Sound + Vision"

4. Warpaint "Ashes To Ashes"
5. Corridor "Be My Wife"

6. Chairlift "Always Crashing In The Same Car"

7. Vivian Girls "John, I'm Only Dancing"

8. All Leather "Fame"

9. We Are The World "Afraid Of Americans"

10. A Place To Bury Strangers "Suffragette City"

11. Tearist "Repetition"

12. Halloween Swim Team "Look Back In Anger"

13. Afghan Raiders "Fashion"

14. Polyamorous Affair "Theme From Cat People"

15. Swahili Blonde "Red Money"

16. Jessica 6 "I'm Deranged"

17. Aska & Bobby Evans (Feat. Moon & Moon) "African Night Flight"

18. Xu Xu Fang "China Girl"



Disc Two:


1. VoicesVoices "Heroes"

2. Carla Bruni "Absolute Beginners"

3. Papercranes "Blue Jean"

4. Keren Ann "Life On Mars?"

5. Lewis & Clarke "Changes"

6. Zaza "It Aint Easy"

7. Genuflex "Soul Love"

8. Sister Crayon "Bewlay Brothers"

9. Marco Benevento "Art Decade"

10. Mick Karn "Ashes To Ashes"

11. Lights (NYC) "World Falls Down"

12. Aquaserge "The Supermen"

13. Caroline Weeks "Starman"

14. Rainbow Arabia "Quicksand"

15. Mechanical Bride "Sound + Vision"

16. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros "Memory Of A Free Festival"

The next single to be released from the album will be War Paint’s version of ‘Ashes To Ashes’ in August. You can download the most recent single 'Memory of a Free Festival' by Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros from My Old Kentucky. My Old Kentucky.

FR

A Place to Bury Strangers. Heaven, London 25/5/10

Having watched A Place to Bury Strangers perform in a club basement at 1am in Shoreditch just 4 nights previous, the loudness and intensity of New York trio’s performance was so overwhelming that I had to check out their second London gig in a matter of days at Heaven on Tuesday. If anything I was as intrigued as to how APTBS would compare in terms of the difference of venue size. With both gigs being only a few days apart, it was as if their Friday night show in the CAMP venue at East London’s Stag & Dagger festival was like a secret warm up gig to this 1000 capacity show. But in many ways both sets were different yet still had me leaving the venue with a mind blowing sense of euphoria.


So anyway, we arrived at Heaven, missing the start of the first support act but did still manage to catch the last 2 and a bit songs in their set. However, I had perhaps regretted slightly not getting their sooner. The Megaphonic Thrift impressed me with their use of shared male/female vocals drowned with some extreme guitar feedback. Combining the louder elements of Shoegaze with a certain noise pop.
Crocodiles (below) were the next support act on. Now, I was pleased to notice earlier that day that they were playing this show, because I have missed out on checking them at various opportunities this year, including The Great Escape festival just the other week as well as enjoying their recent singles. And they managed to fit in with the APTBS aesthetic with their lo-fi sound and heavy pop elements yet still trying to contain as much of a rock ‘n’ roll image as possible, with the lead singer dressed in black and wearing shades in a dark room. The lighting was also impressive, focussing on the colour red to juxtapose with their dark imagery.


The closer towards the start of the main act, the more and more crowded the room had become. APTBS came onto the stage at approximately just gone 10pm and launched straight into ‘In Your Heart’. They continued their loud set with a mixture of tracks from both their self titled debut and last years incredible follow up ‘Exploding Head’, comparing to Friday night’s show which focused primarily on their latest. This performance I feel did take a few tracks before it began to replicate the energy and ferociousness of their CAMP set but once they were in full swing there was no stopping them. One thing I noticed was how much Oliver Ackermann’s vocals stood out this time. Where as a few days earlier they seemed a lot more drowned out in the mix, much to the similarity of Kevin Shields’ vocals for My Bloody Valentine. Either this or that the guitars were quieter than they intended to be at Heaven, but either way, both sounded equally amazing but for different reasons. My highlight of their set was the epic climax, with an extended performance and build up of ‘I Live My Life to Stand in the Shadow of Your Heart’ which many expected to be the finale. However, after a couple of minutes of noise the trio subtly worked their way into ‘Ocean’ which ultimately would be the set closer, meaning the crowd emphatically left the venue with their ears ringing excruciatingly, as a Bury Strangers gig should do.

My journey home left me contemplating how much of an impression APTBS leave on people. Having an extremely dedicated group of fans, I didn’t realise how popular they really are after witnessing these two gigs by them inside a week, and I firmly believe they have the ability to become a fairly massive underground alternative band for years to come. So far, they certainly have the songs and the stage performance to back that up.



Words : Freddy Rothman
Pics : Lee Massey