David Bowie
No Plan
(Columbia)

What might just be the very last bit of music we get from David Bowie, his No Plan EP, is from stuff he was planning to have heard in a big musical he was readying. Whether or not that musical would have happened, even if the Thin White Duke hadn’t died, is anybody’s guess. This EP has been released coinciding with what would have been Bowie’s 70^th birthday. Here we have “Lazarus” from Bowie’s last full-length album Blackstar, plus three tunes that were released on the Lazarus: Original Cast Recording. The EP opens with “Lazarus,” that long, dangerously sexy drone that’s too prophetic for repeated listenings. Then there’s “No Plan,” another languid lament showcasing Bowie at the top of his vocal form and a perfectly played ending sax solo from Donny McCaslin, and the heavier “Killing a Little Time” with some fantastic drumming. “When I Met You,” the last track here, has some dirty metallic backing, tom drums, and rhythm guitar playing with Bowie’s reaching and rocking over the top. At this stage of the game, sick and wondering over his future, David Bowie was still delivering on a level few performers ever get to. No Plan makes you miss the man even more.