Jherek Bischoff & Amanda Palmer “Strung Out in Heaven” a Bowie tribute. 2016. Eight Foot Records. A tribute to Bowie today on what would have been his 77th birthday. Strung Out in Heaven is an EP of Bowie songs (Side A), all on orchestral strings conducted by composer Jherek Bischoff (who also performs double bass) and sung gorgeously by Dresden Dolls’ Amanda Palmer. The project came together and was recorded within just two weeks following Bowie’s death on January 10th, 2016 and the digital version released on February 5th 2016.  The complexity of most Bowie songs lend themselves well to orchestral interpretation and Palmer’s rich voice blends perfectly with the strings. My top track on the Bowie side is “Space Oddity” which I’m guessing was super-fun to conduct, with its time-changes and sad-string vibes.  The runners-up are “Ashes to Ashes” and the instrumental-only “Life on Mars?” is gorgeous: the conversion to a string quartet arrangement seems perfectly obvious. Also of note is performer John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) who sings on “Heroes.”

The vinyl release came out in November 2016 and includes a cover of Prince’s “Purple Rain,” a tribute to Prince who died in April 2016. The track begins with a whispery recreation of the intro to “Let’s Go Crazy,” backed by ambient strings, before segueing into a delicate rendition of “Purple Rain.” It’s pretty OK but the Bowie side is better.