Tvotr's War Child Heroes In Top Ten Covers Of 2009

Just for one year…

Over at NPR’s All Songs Considered Blog, TVOTR‘s version of David Bowie’e “Heroes” has been selected as one of the best ten cover versions of 2009.

Here’s the full top ten…

1) Beck — “Sunday Morning” from Record Club on beck.com (Originally by The Velvet Underground)
2) The Flaming Lips — “Borderline” from Covered, A Revolution in Sound: Warner Bros Records (Originally by Madonna)
3) Thom Yorke — “All For The Best” from Ciao My Shining Star: Songs of Mark Mulcahy (Originally by Mark Mulcahy/Miracle Legion)
4) The Books + Jose Gonzalez — “Cello Song” from Dark Was the Night (Originally by Nick Drake)
5) The National + St. Vincent — “Sleep All Summer” from SCORE! 20 Years of Merge Records: THE COVERS! (Originally by Crooked Fingers)
6) TV on the Radio — “Heroes” from War Child Presents Heroes (Originally by David Bowie)
7) Yim Yames (Jim James) — “Long Long Long” from Tribute To (Originally by The Beatles\George Harrison)
8) The Bad Plus — “Comfortably Numb” from For All I Care (Originally by Pink Floyd)
9) Taken By Trees — “My Boys” from East Of Eden (Originally by Animal Collective)
10) Marianne Faithfull — “The Crane Wife 3” from Easy Come Easy Go (Originally by The Decemberists)

And here’s the entry for “Heroes” by Michael Katzif.

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War Child Presents Heroes is a benefit album produced by the War Child organization with proceeds devoted to the charity’s aid efforts in war-stricken areas like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Uganda. Thematically the record features musical icons who selected one of their own songs and then nominated a new artist from the “next generation” to create a modern reworking. It’s a smart concept that yielded Beck covering Bob Dylan, Yeah Yeah Yeahs covering The Ramones and TV On The Radio covering David Bowie’s “Heroes.”

There is a strong connection between TV On The Radio and Bowie, considering he sang backup on Return To Cookie Mountain’s song “Province,” so it feels natural for them to tackle this classic anthem. Their use of fuzzy synths and blankets of washy guitar feedback give the song a jolt of energy, while the electronic beats feel like an homage to Bowie’s late ’70s and early ’80s sound.

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So there you have it…well done boys, well deserved and a very deserving cause to boot.

Speaking of best Bowie covers…