Covered: Joy Division
By Tom Williams August 10, 2009 Post a comment | Email the author

So apparently I like to start new features all the time over here at Radio Exile. I thought of another good one the other day; it’s called Covered and this is the first edition of it.

Everybody loves a cover and Covered will be a feature where we round up a bunch of covers of a single artist and give them a letter grade. Today’s Covered artist is Joy Division.

joydivision_394x300.jpg

Check out the covers after the jump…

[mp3] Broken Social Scene – Love Will Tear Us Apart: BSS make Joy Divison’s best known (and most covered) song sound like one of their own creations, which is an impressive feat unto itself. The result is a hazy and densely shimmering take that represents one of the the best attempts at this song.

Grade: A-

[mp3] Hot Chip – Transmission: Mostly predictable but still enjoyable, this cover leaves you feeling slightly unsatisfying.

Grade: B-

[mp3] LCD Soundsystem – No Love Lost: One of my main issues with Joy Division is that for such powerful and kickass music, it rarely comes off sounding kickass and powerful on record. This is mainly due to the production, I believe. What’s so great about this LCD Soundsystem cover is that James Murphy evidently feels the same, as he kicks up the kickassness of this track to 11. I wish he would cover all of Unknown Pleasures in this vein.

Grade: A

[mp3] Jose Gonzalez -Love Will Tear Us Apart : Jose Gonzalez goes the opposite direction as LCD Soundsystem in this acoustic cover but with the same results. By melancholically focusing the song inward, it is imbibed with an Elliott Smith like loathing that feels more beautiful than suicidal.

Grade: A

[mp3] The Twilight Sad – Twenty Four Hours: This is a rather obvious pairing an it works rather well. They take a similar approach as LCD Soundsystem, but with slightly less successful results.

Grade: B

[mp3] Honeyroot – Love Will Tear Us Apart : A lesser know but excellent cover that feels like a spiritual forerunner of the Broken Social Scene version.

Grade: A-

Please leave suggestions for the next artist to be covered in the comments!

Last 5 posts by Tom Williams

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Posted in: Mixtapes

5 comments for “Covered: Joy Division”

  1. I thought the Killer’s cover of “Shadowplay” was pretty sweet too – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIe3IgmdSlI&fmt=18

    Posted by Mason Taylor | August 10, 2009, 6:54 pm

  2. [...] must say, giving Broken Social Scene’s Love Will Tear Us Apart cover a 3 is puzzling at best. This is a song that has been covered a ton of times and the BSS version is one of the best. Hands down. For sure. Fo shizzle. Yes yes [...]

    Posted by Best Indie Music Reviews, Interviews, and Everything Independent at Radio Exile | An Open Letter To Pitchfork RE: Love Will Tear Us Apart Covers | August 12, 2009, 1:37 pm

  3. none of the other covers could touch BBS’s genius reworking. i heard it a few days ago and it’s been on repeat ever since.

    Posted by tristanclopet | August 13, 2009, 9:29 am

  4. I really liked this cover. Broken Social Scene kept true to the original but there was definitely infused verve by the performer. I have been looking to make a cover compilation. The biggest help I’ve found so far has been this site:
    http://yeahdevelop.wordpress.com/2009/07/28/hey-yo-hey-yo-hey-yo-hey-yo/

    Posted by John | August 13, 2009, 10:35 pm

  5. You should check out The Cure’s cover of Love Will Tear Us Apart.

    They recorded it for Australian radio station triple j, back in 1999 i think.

    Posted by Bawley | November 21, 2009, 5:11 am

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