Perhaps more than any track I’ve ever posted, this surprisingly fitting and beautifully lush version of Bon Jovi’s “Dead or Alive” sorta speaks for itself. PCP replaces Jon’s voice with a delicate (what else!) cello, and a flood of strings surround that central voice.

Still, is PCP doing “Wanted Dead or Alive” any different from those cheapo String Tribute to Led Zepplin discs? Well, yeah. It’s a lot different. Aside from the musical subtleties of this arrangement far outstripping the whorish tendnecies of those “tribute” discs, the Cello Project has its own role within the local music community. Two of the four songs on the group’s upcoming limited-release EP (dropping July 12 at PCP’s Doug Fir show, all 300 copies of it!) are all collaborations with local artists—Horse Feathers on “Mother’s Sick” and the Builders and the Butchers on “Down to the River.” And that’s what the group is doing a great job with—PCP gives local groups a lush string arrangement, and it also brings the kind of orchestration that usually only winds up at old people venues into Portland’s young and virile clubs. That’s just neat.

Again, July 12, Doug Fir. Expect some special guests (Horse Feathers, Blue Cranes, Point Juncture, WA are scheduled to appear).

Download audio file (deadoralive.mp3)

Links:
Portland Cello Project
Bon Jovi

Photo courtesy of PCP