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Next week sees the release of !K7's Life Beyond Mars compilation, featuring a wealth of modern artists covering - you guessed it - the songs of David Bowie.
The album - available on CD and LP - is released on July 14 and has its own microsite right here.
Album artwork
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The compilation features a range of interpretations from the likes of Matthew Dear, Carl Craig, Joakim, Kelley Polar, Susumu Yokota and Au Revoir Simone. The latter act is questioned below the tracklisting.
Which runs as follows:
Au Revoir Simone – 'Oh! You Pretty Things'
Heartbreak – 'Loving The Alien'
Kelley Polar – 'Magic Dance' (Harold and Baby O in Italy version)
Leo Minor – 'Ashes To Ashes'
Carl Craig presents Zoos Of Berlin – 'Looking For Water'
Drew Brown – 'Sweet Thing'
Matthew Dear – 'Sound & Vision'
Susumu Yokota – 'Golden Years'
The Emperor Machine – 'Repetition'
Joakim & The Disco – 'A New Career In A New Town'
Richard Walters & Faultline – 'Be My Wife'
The Thing – 'Life On Mars'
Au Revoir Simone
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Why did you chose to cover ‘Oh! You Pretty Things’?
Heather: Annie, Erika and I are all really big Bowie fans, so it was hard to choose a favorite amongst all of us. However, this song is so special to us both musically and lyrically that we were all really excited to get the chance to cover it.
How did you approach the track? What did you hope to achieve with
the cover?
Heather: We approached the track with a profound amount of respect for the original song - I mean, it’s a little intimidating to cover Bowie! You want to do a good job, and express something differently, or reveal something about the song that hadn't been revealed before, but you're already working with a masterpiece so it’s difficult. Our version is obviously more feminine and understated than Bowie's - we couldn't help that.
What’s your favourite Bowie album or track?
Heather: I really love Low - especially the track ‘Sound and Vision’ - that whole album is a synth dream.
Erika: My favorite album is Scary Monsters but my favorite song these days is ‘Moonage Daydream’. I think the lyric "keep your electric eye on me babe" is so perfect.
Why is Bowie still so relevant?
Heather: Genius never goes out of style.
How big an influence has Bowie been on your band?
Heather: It would be pretty impossible to live in this world and have never heard a Bowie song at least once in your life; he's a part of the international musical landscape, like The Beatles, or The Rolling Stones. I've heard men doing renditions of 'Hey Jude' on pan flutes in the jungles of Peru, and I've heard girls singing 'Let’s Dance' in karaoke bars in Japan - I think you're beyond being influenced by a musician when that musician has defined what music actually is.
Erika: I didn't think a lot about David Bowie until I suddenly became obsessed right around when I turned 22, moved to New York, started the band, and started collecting synths. I started buying his records on vinyl and ordering posters of him from eBay. I think for Christmas that year I gave my sister a poster of Bowie as Ziggy in a gilded-looking frame. I thought it was the best gift, like I was inducting her into a cult and he was our leader. I wanted her to love him as much as I did. In our band, I don't think we ever tried to make music like Bowie, but he is an inspiration. He represents passion and artistry and a very open, giving form of performance and songwriting.
