Benefit CDs are a dime a dozen...good benefit CDs are much fewer and further between.
When I was a teenager there were two benefits that stook out in my mind: Sweet Relief the benefit for Victoria Williams, and No Alternative, the Red Hot AIDS benefit.
Today we get a follow-up to No Alternative. In its day the album was a collection of the hottest alternative acts. Dark Was The Night, curated by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National, is an indie rock version of that album.
At first the album seems Brooklyn heavy, with bands like Yeasayer and Grizzly Bear. But we quickly discover that the cause goes far beyond that, with some of our best homegrown act, New Pornographers, Arcade Fire, Feist, and Buck 65 pitching in.
The National's stamp is all over the record, with a single from the band plus collaborations by both Dessner brothers featured prominently.
The boys did a great job in selecting a diverse set of artists for the album. We get artists like the 60s inspired Sharon Jones as the Dap King, the medieval Kronos Quartet, electro-indie artists Yeasayer, and folkies like Iron & Wine.
Some artists step out from their bands, like Stuart Murdoch (Belle & Sebsatian), David Sitek (TV On the Radio), and Ben Gibbard (Deathcab For Cutie), to provide us with something different.
The album is chock full of interesting pairings. Of course, some are better on paper than they are in real life. One notable exception is the inspired pairing for Conor Oberst and Gillian Welch on "Lua".
Being a compilation you run the risk of getting cast-offs or throwaways as contributions. For the most part the Dessners avoided that. Thankfully there weren't too many "You Are The Blood" type songs making the cut.
The quality of the tracks can be a bit patchy, but you've got a lot of tracks from a lot of indie rock's top artists, at a reasonable price, and all for a good cause.
Best tracks: "With a Girl Like You", "Amazing Grace"
Track listing for Dark Was the Night:
- Knotty Pine – Dirty Projectors + David Byrne
- Cello Song- The Books featuring Jose Gonzalez
- Train Song- Feist + Ben Gibbard
- Brackett, WI – Bon Iver
- Deep Blue Sea – Grizzly Bear
- So Far Around the Bend – The National
- Tightrope – Yeasayer
- Feeling Good– My Brightest Diamond
- Dark Was the Night – Kronos Quartet
- I Was Young When I Left Home – Antony + Bryce Dessner
- Big Red Machine – Justin Vernon + Aaron Dessner
- Sleepless – The Decemberists
- Stolen Houses – Iron and Wine
- Service Bell – Grizzly Bear + Feist
- You Are The Blood – Sufjan Stevens
- Well-Alright – Spoon
- Lenin – Arcade Fire
- Mimizan – Beirut
- El Caporal – My Morning Jacket
- Inspiration Information – Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
- With A Girl Like You – Dave Sitek
- Blood Pt 2 – Buck 65 Remix featuring Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti)
- Hey, Snow Whit – The New Pornographers
- Gentle Hour – Yo La Tengo
- Another Saturday – Stuart Murdoch
- Happiness – Riceboy Sleeps
- Amazing Grace – Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues
- The Giant Of Illinois– Andrew Bird
- Lua – Conor Oberst + Gillian Welch
- When the Road Runs Out – Blonde Redhead + Devastations
- Love vs. Porn – Kevin Drew
7.5
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