A DIFFERENT BOWIE TRIBUTE
Unexpected musicians from around the world put a different spin on late artist's songs
Various Artists
Modern Love | BBE Music Genre: Tribute album
There have been loads of David Bowie tribute shows since the star died in 2018. There have also been plenty of covers of his music, usually focusing on his Ziggy Stardust glam rock persona and music.
Modern Love was put together by Drew Mcfadden, the music exec and DJ, and Peter Adarkwah, founder of BBE Music, with the express purpose of showcasing Bowie's forays into R&B, funk, gospel, soul and jazz. The liner notes describe the project as an “interactive sonic map” where 17 artists delve into some of Bowie's lesser-known material.
Naturally, this description is bound to get fans debating whether the song selection truly suits the brief.
Here are five things to know about Modern Love.
1. The artists may be more obscure than the songs
While Meshell Ndegeocello and Khruangbin are certainly well known, Brazil's Sessa and Brooklyn's L Rain aren't exactly household names. In that sense, the project proves to be as much an introduction to some truly interesting musicians as it is an examination of Bowie's multi-faceted career.
2.
Lady Grinning Soul
One of Aladdin Sane's most shimmering songs gets turned inside out by Kit Sebastian. Rather than a soaring piano ballad, the tune is turned into a pulsing dance track that has some of the coolest clavinet to turn up in a song in many years. This version wouldn't be out of place in some go-go dancing
scene in a swinging '60s French or Italian film.
3. Panic In Detroit
Another Aladdin Sane track, in this case one of the hardest-rocking songs Bowie recorded, gets turned into a neo-bossa nova acoustic shuffle. Complete with some delightfully placed horn breaks and a breathy backing chorus behind Sessa's cool vocals, this is a fantastic cover. 4.
Modern Love
The best track on the wildly overrated Let's Dance becomes a slinky pop tune that sort of sounds like vintage Seal when Ugandan singer Jonah Mutono covers it. The use of distortion on the vocals, big washes of synth and a mechanical percussion blip far in the background works very well indeed. Extra points for the guitar solo that sounds
like something George Harrison might have cooked up for the Beatles. 5. Heroes
The album closer is from former Badbadnotgood member Matthew Tavares. He strips the original's arena theatrics away completely to offer a jazz tune complete with sax, drums, piano and a lot of empty space. Clocking in at almost nine minutes, this is one of the standouts of the entire project. As different from the guitar-driven original as anything he offered on 2020's delightfully titled Selected Ambient Squirts release.
BLACK MIDI Cavalcade | Rough Trade
Genre: Experimental rock
With the raves for its explosive debut Schlagenheim barely fading, cutting-edge U.K. rock weirdos Black Midi are back with another collection of offbeat, angular, third-person narratives on life's strange turns. This can mean delicate odes to Marlene Dietrich, whispering requiems for an undefined something in Diamond Stuff, or the big angular rock of Slow. The vocals from guitarist Geordie Greep can be like mad ravings in John L or almost like Dead Kennedys' Jello Biafra at times in Hogwash and Balderdash. Without question, this is a band that probably owns the audience in concert. But I don't expect them to ever be a singles act on radio.
CAN
Live in Stuttgart 1975 | Mute
Genre: Krautrock
Key track: Drei
This is the first in a series of coming live albums from legendary German “krautrock” act Can.
This performance, bootlegged in Stuttgart in 1975, has been tenderly updated by band member Irwin Schmidt and producer-engineer Rene Tinner to sound as if it was recorded straight off of a modern mixing board. That's great, because the five-part set — numbered in German one to five — is an exceptional showcase for the genius of keyboardist Schmidt, bassist Holger Czukay, drummer Jaki Liebezeit and guitarist Michael Karoli. Essentially one long “jam symphony,” this is a window into how far ahead of their contemporaries this group was, as it ventured into everything from psychedelic space rock to driving funk and early ambient atmospherics. The interplay between the players is telepathic, with Liebezeit deserving special mention for his incredibly elastic beats.
RAYHAN
Fragrance | bandcamp.com
Genre: Middle Eastern jazz
Vancouver multi-instrumentalist Emad Armoush draws on the traditional sounds of his childhood in Damascus, Syria, and bends it across a jazz landscape with his crack band Rayhan. Featuring a who's who of Canadian jazz musicians — trumpeter J.P. Carter, clarinetist François Houle, violinist Jesse Zubot and drummer Kenton Loewen — the material can get pretty groovy, as in Che Mali Wali, or be decidedly outside, as in The March. Throughout, the leader showcases considerable talents on the oud, ney (an ancient flute), flamenco guitar and vocals. The traditional repertoire rarely gets this kind of interpretation.
Rayhan plays the 2021 TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival at Performance Works on June 29, 2:30 p.m.