War Child - Heroes Volume One
Charity War Child, who raise money to help children across the world afflicted by war, release fundraiser “Heroes”, released on Parlophone on February 16th.
In a compilation of 'Various Artists', what forgiveness was once afforded to lesser album tracks is now completely eradicated in these mp3 dominated days. Each track must stand on its own merit, or fall forgotten by the wayside. With a covers compilation, the pressure is exacerbated by the way that we are attracted to re-versions: when there exists the possibility to hear Hot Chip covering Joy Division, the temptation to skip through more predictable efforts - Elbow doing Joshua Tree-era U2 - is almost too much.
This particular War Child compilation reveals who has the imagination to do this kind of thing well. Beck turns the boogie of Dylan's Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat into a wonderful muddy funk, and Hot Chip humour up Transmission like a sleazy Kraftwerk. TV on the Radio have a history of great covers, with versions of Pixies and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs tunes gracing previous singles, and here they give Bowie's Heroes the fuzzy, drum machine throb that serves them so well. Conversely, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs dare not mess with the Ramones, as most wouldn't, so their lackluster Sheena is a Punk Rocker is forgivable.
Less so are the Kooks and a quite literal mimic of the Kinks Victoria, and the Hold Steady's plugged-in take on Atlantic City, which, considering their constant comparisons to Springsteen, one would assume they'd avoid emphasising. Glossy but dull efforts such as Duffy's Live and Let Die, and Estelle's Superstition, are too easy to ignore, but you can't help but feel their necessity. With the War Child charity needing to maximise their message, the obvious thing to do is enlist as many artists who have previously sold large numbers of records to - in turn - sell large numbers of this one, and while the presence of bands such as TV on the Radio or Hot Chip serves to improve the product overall, their presence does strike as being a little gestural.
One conspicuous absence is Radiohead, a group whose political work includes support for a number of anti-war movements, and who have served this title so well in previous volumes. They might have been a worthwhile inclusion, both ideologically and commercially, in place of the comparatively vapid Lily Allen and The Like.
Nevertheless, it's apparent that War Child have attempted to make this is a good listen and, while it is hardly their priority, they might have coaxed out more artists who could have made this a showstopper.