Disc 1:
[1] Knotty Pine / Dirty Projectors - 2:23
[2] Cello Song / Books, Jose Gonzalez - 3:54
[3] Train Song / Feist, Ben Gibbard - 3:02
[4] Brackett, WI / Bon Iver - 4:03
[5] Deep Blue Sea / Grizzly Bear - 3:46
[6] So Far Around the Bend / National - 3:43
[7] Tightrope / Yeasayer - 3:18
[8] Feeling Good / My Brightest Diamond - 3:53
[9] Dark Was the Night / Kronos Quartet - 3:51
[10] I Was Young When I Left Home / Antony, Bryce Dessner - 4:55
[11] Big Red Machine / Justin Vernon - 4:39
[12] Sleepless / Decemberists - 7:53
[13] Die / Iron & Wine - 1:06
[14] Service Bell / Grizzly Bear, Feist - 2:23
[15] You Are the Blood / Sufjan Stevens - 10:14
Disc 2:
[1] Well-Alright / Spoon - 2:45
[2] Lenin / Arcade Fire - 4:06
[3] Mimizan / Beirut - 2:42
[4] El Caporal / My Morning Jacket - 3:33
[5] Inspiration Information / Jones, Sharon & The Dap-Kings - 4:05
[6] With a Girl Like You / Dave Sitek - 3:26
[7] Blood, Pt. 2 [Remix] / Buck 65, Sufjan Stevens - 3:36
[8] Hey, Snow White / New Pornographers - 4:25
[9] Gentle Hour / Yo La Tengo - 5:31
[10] Another Saturday / Stuart Murdoch - 2:55
[11] Happiness / Riceboy Sleeps - 8:37
[12] Amazing Grace / Cat Power - 3:34
[13] The Giant of Illinois / Andrew Bird - 4:44
[14] Lua / Conor Oberst - 5:53
[15] When the Road Runs Out / Blonde Redhead - 3:28
[16] Love vs. Porn / Kevin Drew - 3:57
Several years since the last compilation benefiting the Red Hot AIDS
relief organization, DARK WAS THE NIGHT was compiled by Aaron and Bryce
Dessner of the National and released on the pioneering UK indie 4AD
Records. As a result, the 31 exclusive tracks on this two disc set read
like a who's who of the most vital parts of the contemporary indie rock
scene. Participants include several intriguing duets (Feist appears
with both Death Cab For Cutie's Ben Gibbard and Brooklyn indie kings
Grizzly Bear; Conor Oberst appears alongside Gillian Welch) and new
bespoke songs by the likes of the Decemberists, the New Pornographers,
Andrew Bird, Bon Iver's Justin Vernon and Broken Social Scene's Kevin
Drew.
The 20th Red Hot compilation Dark Was the Night also arrives during the
AIDS charity's 20th anniversary. Curated by the National's Bryce and
Aaron Dessner and John Carlin, this double-disc set plays like a who's
who of late 2000s indie rock, especially of the mellow and/or folky
variety: Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, Iron & Wine, Sufjan Stevens,
Feist, Ben Gibbard, and Jose Gonzalez all contribute tracks. Though
Carlin and the Dessners didn't specify a particular theme for the
project outside of updating traditional themes, Dark Was the Night's
first disc is remarkably cohesive. Bon Iver's "Brackett, WI," the
Decemberists' "Sleepless," the National's "So Far Around the Bend," and
Iron & Wine's "Stolen Houses (Die)" are quintessential examples of
what these artists are all about. Many of the brightest moments have a
spooky, strangely antique feel, particularly the Kronos Quartet's
update of Blind Willie Johnson's title track, which keeps the
ruminative soulfulness and grit of the original while transporting it
to a very different setting. Antony Hegarty and Bryce Dessner's take on
Bob Dylan's "I Left Home When I Was Young" is similarly lonely and
haunting, but the real standouts is My Brightest Diamond's ambitious
cover of "Feelin' Good," which nods to Nina Simone's classic version
while staying true to Shana Worden's chilly yet intimate musical
vision. Likewise, Feist's collaboration with Grizzly Bear on "Service
Bell" brings out an unearthly, almost unrecognizable side to her voice.
Dark Was the Night's second disc is more disjointed, but arguably a
more interesting listen -- Spoon's brash "Well-Alright," the Arcade
Fire's anthemic "Lenin," and Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings' slinky
cover of Shuggie Otis' "Inspiration Information" have little in common
other than that they're all well-crafted. Skipping from indie hip-hop
("Blood, Pt 2," Buck 65's remix of Sufjan Stevens' cover of Castanets'
"You are the Blood" featuring rapper Serengeti) to filmic Americana
(Andrew Bird's take on the Handsome Family's "The Giant of Illinois")
to roots rock (My Morning Jacket's "El Caporal"), there's little rhyme
or reason but lots of entertainment. Other highlights include the Dirty
Projects' and David Byrne's "Knotty Pine," Stuart Murdoch's simple and
beautiful "Another Saturday," and Blonde Redhead and Devastations'
dreamy, unsettling "When the Road Runs Out." Though some of the tracks
contributed by Dark Was the Night's artists are a touch too
predictable, it's uncharitable to nitpick too much when the collection
offers so much music for such a good cause.
Heather Phares - All Music Guide
"Feist flutters through a Vashti Bunyan gem with Ben Gibbard, and
Sharon Jones sanctifies Shuggie Otis' psych-soul classic 'Inspiration
Information.'"
Rolling Stone (p.69) - 3 stars out of
5
Bei Benefizsamplern sieht man oft nur für den guten Zweck übers
Füllmaterial hinweg. Doch jetzt erscheinen zwei, die nicht mal den
Appell ans Gewissen nötig haben. Für "War Child - Heroes Vol.1" durften
alte Helden Coverversionen ihrer Klassiker bei jungen Helden in Auftrag
geben. Das Ergebnis überzeugt fast immer: Duffy führt "Live and let
die" in ihren Soundkosmos, Franz Ferdinand stampfen durch Blondies
"Call me", Elbow rehabilitieren "Running to stand still" von U2. Und
wenn die Scissor Sisters "Do the Strand" von Roxy Music verunstalten,
ist das immerhin so amüsant, dass man sich nicht damit trösten muss,
durch den Kauf der CD Kinder in Kriegsgebieten zu helfen. Der Sampler
"Dark was the Night" kommt gar ohne einen Ausfall aus. Die Zwillinge
Aaron und Bryce Dessner von der New Yorker Band The National haben
befreundete Musiker gebeten, exklusive Song einzuspielen, um damit den
Kampf der Red Hot Organisation gegen Aids zu unterstützen. Herauskam
der Traum jedes Indiefans: Neben grandiosen Beiträgen von Arcade Fire,
The Decemberists oder Bon Iver stehen auch ungewöhnliche
Zusammenarbeiten: Da beweisen Feist und Death-Cab-For-Cutie-Sänger Ben
Gibbard mit "Train Song", wie gut ihr Gesang zusammengeht. Da wagen
sich The Books mit Unterstützung von José Gonzáles an Nick Drakes
"Cello Song". Den Höhepunkt des Albums behält sich Bryce Dessner dann
selbst vor: Gemeinsam mit Antony covert er Bob Dylans Folkballade "I
was young when I left Home".
(cs) - kulturnews.de
On the occasion of WORLD AIDS DAY today, December 1st a press
announcement was made with the complete list of participating artists
and cover art for the upcoming 4AD release Dark Was The Night. Dark Was
The Night will be released on February 17th, 2009. Aaron and Bryce
Dessner of The National produced the album, and John Carlin, the
founder of the Red Hot Organization was the executive producer. A total
of 31 exclusive tracks have been recorded for the compilation. It will
be available as a double cd/triple viny and will benefit the Red Hot
Organization - an international charity dedicated to raising funds and
awareness for HIV and AIDS. Red Hot was founded on the premise that
even without a cure, AIDS remains a preventable disease and music is a
great vehicle to raise money and awareness for it. Dark Was The Night
began three years ago with a casual conversation between Aaron and
Bryce Dessner of The National and John Carlin. In discussing the
project, they agreed it made sense not to do a "theme" album per se;
but something that showcased the bast in independent music, with an
emphasis on traditional themes played and arranged in a contemporary
way, and on songwriting, which is the strength of many of the artists
featured here. As Aaron and Bryce started inviting their peers to
contribute, their intuition about the pro-social disposition of so many
of them was confirmed. As a result, 31 exclusive tracks were recorded.
Amazon.com
"[T]he latest in the Red Hot series of AIDS benefit albums plays like a
musically and thematically linked NPR broadcast from a gentle corner of
indie-rock heaven."
Spin (p.82)
"Sufjan Stevens breaks his relative silence with a cover of the
Castanets' `You Are the Blood'..Infusing the track with a twitchy,
restless quality, Stevens reimagines the song - musically as well as
lyrically - as a tussle between the subject and his body."
