The Llano Idea

It seems that most philanthropy done these days by the music community is either in the form of mega-benefit concerts or charity compilations. Since the former has been adequately exhausted due to Obama’s campaign trail, independent music listeners will have to settle for a handful of recently released albums featuring a jaw-dropping collection of musicians. The two such pieces that have caught my eye (and no doubt others’ as well) recently have been the Dark Was the Night two-disc set benefiting the Red Hot Organization in their fight against AIDS and the War Child Presents Heroes compilation helping children who live in war-torn regions.

Dark Was the Night is the brainchild of The National’s brother guitarists Aaron and Bryce Dessner whose aim is to use “music as a great vehicle to raise both money and awareness for AIDS.” With a who’s who list of popular “indie” artists that are sure to make any music hipster giddy with joy (Andrew Bird, Beirut, and Spoon to name a few) the album was destined to move a lot of copies with or without the added incentive of helping a good cause. As a much-heralded bonus, artists featured on Dark don’t contribute throwaway tracks and forgettable B-sides but rather songs which would fit nicely on any of their individual “proper” LPs.

With a collection of 31 songs total, each as impressive as the next, finding favorites proves to be the most formidable task when listening. Opening the collection is a Dirty Projectors and David Byrne collaboration entitled “Knotty Pine” that, in a just world, would be on constant rotation on top-40 stations due to the catchy-as-hell guitar line. You like collaborations you say – well Dark Was the Night is chalk-full of them! Antony Hegarty’s one-of-a-kind voice is paired with Bryce Dessner’s best Dylan impersonation on guitar to make a very unique cover of Mr. Zimmerman’s “I Was Young When I Left Home.”  Feist has double-duty on the CD, dueting with both Grizzly Bear and Ben Gibbard, with the latter sure to make the Starbucks-drinking iPod generation go wild.  The combination that is most deserving of a round of applause is the cover of Nick Drake’s “Cello Song” by Swedish singer/songwriter Jose Gonzalez and The Books – not because of the obvious Gonzalez/Drake comparison but because it reintroduced me to overall badassery that is The Book’s 2002 Thought for Food LP (I’m sensing another Dusted Off the Shelf article…).

However, the brightest highlight from this dense collection has to be Sufjan Stevens’ mind-blowing ten minute overture “You Are the Blood” which is single-handedly worth the price of the entire compilation. Combining the electronic elements off his overlooked 2001 LP Enjoy Your Rabbit with his talent of musical composition from his equally impressive folk albums, “You Are the Blood” is a mash-up of Stevens’ discography in one song that is sure to satiate any ardent fan’s appetite for new Sufjan material.

And if you need more convincing on how great this album is, all of the songs mentioned prior are only from disk 1! Disk 2 features The Arcade Fire, The New Pornographers, Yo La Tengo, Conor Oberst & Gillian Welch, and many, many more, which only an article of biblical proportions could describe adequately.

Switching gears a little, Heroes features fifteen music industry stalwarts selecting modern day artists to cover one of their songs. Just as compelling as the cover songs themselves are the artists chosen by the living legends, making the album interesting to listen to on multiple levels. For example, Beck’s take on Dylan’s “Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat” is killer – bringing out the bass line and exaggerating the electric guitar interjections – but the image of Bob jamming out to Guero when he’s all alone is absolutely priceless. Some of these selections aren’t too surprising (David Bowie choosing T.V. on the Radio’s after they featured Bowie on “Province” from Return to Cookie Mountain), but others certainly leave you with that WTF feeling. The most egregious of pairing has to be The Clash’s selection of Lily Allen that I am sure lead to some deceased members rolling over in their grave.

Just like Dark Was the Night, there are some really great things going on in Heroes. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs make a worthwhile cover of The Ramones’ “Sheena is a Punk Rocker,” with Nick Zinner’s thrashing guitar taking the lead while Karen O’s always intense vocals coming in at a close second. Taking a break from singing about drugs, drinking, and drinking while doing drugs, The Hold Steady lament the plight of the working class in true Springsteen fashion with “Atlantic City”. Hell, even Estelle’s rather vocally subdued cover of Stevie Wonders’ “Superstition” is enjoyable, spinning a song most could repeat by heart into one of her own.

So, judged on music quality alone, Dark Was the Night and War Child Presents Heroes are definitely worth your hard-earned, recession-proof dollars. Factor in the goose-bumpy feeling of helping out those in need, and what you’ve got is an absolutely must-get duo of albums.

Here is a blog-friendly track off of Dark Was the Night:

The Dirty Projects + David Byrne // Knotty Pine

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

UnclePhil Column, Music, review Bob Dylan, Compilation, Dark Was the Night, Every Mainstream Indie Artist You Can Think Of, mp3, War Child Presents Heroes