DELACROIX ET RAMOS

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros - Memory of a Free Festival (David Bowie Cover)

With the release of their sophomore LP Here, it would probably be more befitting to rant and rave about Alex Ebert and company’s second take at power pop Americana. However, it seemed more interesting to share Alex Ebert taking on the messianic persona of Edward Sharpe taking on the iconoclastic androgyny of rock sovereign David Bowie (Oof. Twisted, if not gutsy.).

Along with artists such as Exitmusic, Chairlift, We Have Band, A Place to Bury Strangers, and even Duran Duran, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros are featured in We Are So Turned On: A Tribute to David Bowie. Released in September of 2010 in benefit of children’s charity organization War Child, the tribute compilation is an extensive cover album spanning tracks at the height of Bowie’s prominence.

From his 1969 release Space Oddity, ”Memory of a Free Festival” was the finishing track ending an album that marked his first successful reinvention of himself. From mod to folk psychedelic, Bowie’s ”Memory of a Free Festival” is a gleaming pastoral narrative finishing with an incendiary spirituality. Undergoing a similar transfiguration from the prog-rock vocalist of ImaRobot to folk mystic Edward Sharpe, Alex Ebert with support from Jade Castrinos and crew creates a cosmic homage filled with laughs and cries but also fun, trumpets, and sunshine.

And where is the warmth on a June gloom LA afternoon? Here.