Dark Was the Night
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Free Music Notes for Dark Was the Night
Free Music Review: To find a cure... Staggeringly Brilliant!
Hit: 5 Stars
"Dark was the night" is the latest in the Red Hot series of CDs to raise money for AIDS. First of all, that's good enough reason to get this CD. However, even better is that this is such an amazing album.
Comprising 31 tracks on 2 discs, I had never heard of most of the artists here. Indie acts contributing new recordings for a good cause.
The sound is largely Acoustic and Folk-y. Feist appears on the tender "Train song" (with Ben Gibbard. This reminds me of stuff by Beth Orton), as well as on the slow shuffling "Service Bell" with Grizzly Bear. Bon Iver sings the hushed "Brackett, WI". Antony sings the mournful country-ish "I was young when I left home" with Bryce Dessner. The stark yet beautiful acoustic/Cello driven "Sleepless" is performed by The Decemberists.
The gloomy electronic effect-peppered "You are the blood" is by Sufjan Stevens and is truly staggeringly beautiful, with lovely piano and horn flourishes. Sufjan also appears on "Blood, Pt 2" featuring Buck 65 and Serengeti. It is a Rap with electronic Hip Hop sounding beats against a swirling electronic backdrop. Arcade Fire sing the driving Lo fi Rocker "Lenin", the creepy atmospheric "When the road runs out" is by Blonde Redhead and Devastations, while Cat Stevens and Dirty Delta Blues sing the organ Hymn "Amazing Grace".
That's it as far as the artists I know or have heard of. The rest of the album comprises awesome songs by acts unknown to me like the soulful horn sprinkled "Inspiration Information" by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, the Blues/Jazz-tinged cover "Feeling good" by My morning Diamond featuring a stunning vocal performance and an amazing horn coda (truly brilliant. Prior to this, the only other version I'd heard was Randy Crawford and Joe Sample's), the dreamy Surf feel of "Gentle hour" by Yo La Tengo, the electronic instrumental "Happiness" by Riceboy Sleeps, or the spare plucked guitar/Sitar instrumental "Dark was the night" by Kronos Quartet.
I truly love everything on this album, but selected just a few tracks showcasing the diversity of the disc. This was recommended to me by Amazon and and I'm glad I got it as it introduced me to loads of new acts I am going to look into. What is also great about CDs such as this is there is something for everyone. If music could cure disease, it would be CDs like this one. Brilliant!!
Free Music Review: Great music, great cause, great price
Hit: 5 Stars
Ever since I saw the tracklisting for this compilation a few months ago, I've been really excited to see if it measured up to the hype. Needless to say, it does. Not only is this a fantastic double disc set with some of the best indie artists releasing music today for a low price, but all the proceeds go to AIDS research. It's win-win, so go out and buy it already.
This comp pulls together a wealth of previously unreleased tracks from Beirut, Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, the Decemberists, Kevin Drew, Yo La Tengo, and Blonde Redhead, among others. All of these tracks would be standouts had they been pulled from full length releases. This is what makes Dark was the Night stand out as much as it does. It's not a half-hearted release. I think the most stunning song is the Iron and Wine track though. The track is barely a minute long, but I didn't know this the first time I listened to it. When I realized the song was so short, but so powerful, I felt sad that I was in my car by myself and had no one to share that moment with.
I think the covers on this comp really stand out. Andrew Bird contributed a stunning version of the Handsome Family's 'The Giant of Illinois." Feist and Ben Gibbard's version of Vashti Bunyan's 'Train Song,' and Sufjan Stevens's take of the Castanets track 'You are the Blood' are also stunning.
Unfortunately, there are a few duds and they come at the beginning of both discs. The Dirty Projectors lead off the first disc with a cameo from David Byrne, but not even the Talking Heads legend can save that band. Disc two starts with one of the weirdest Spoon songs I've ever heard. It sounds more like the singer messing around with pre-programed instruments and a laptop, not anything that should show up on a Spoon record. Following that track is a dud from Arcade Fire. I was really worried that the track was a taste of things to come from the follow-up to Neon Bible, but thankfully it turns out the the track "Lenin" is an unreleased song that predates Funeral. The only other disappointing track is Cat Power's rendition of Amazing Grace. The vocal pacing is odd and distracting, and I think it's one of her worst songs.
These duds aside, this is still an amazing collection of great songs that will be in heavy rotation for many months to come.
Free Music Review: A Great Compilation for a Great Cause
Hit: 5 Stars
I am usually wary of compilations, but this album, produced by the National's Bryce and Aaron Dessner and John Carlin for the Red Hot Organization and the AIDS charity's 20th anniversary, surprised me. With a line-up of some of the best indie artists of the late 2000s, there is a little something for everyone. Bon Iver, Iron & Wine, Sufjan Stevens, Feist, Ben Gibbard, and Jose Gonzalez are just some of the great artists who contribute mostly new compositions. Some of my favorites were Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings covering Shuggie Otis' "Inspiration Information", David Byrnes' weird but awesome "Knotty Pine", and the haunting, always melodic Bon Iver track "Brackett, WI". The incredibly talented indie-siren Feist pairs with lo-fi Grizzly Bear on "Service Bell" to create a song which brings out a side of Feist's beautiful vocals that aren't always present in her solo material. Amazingly coherent for a collaboration, Dark Was the Night should be picked up by anyone who is even remotely interested in any of these artists, and the fact that it is for a good cause should make you that much more inclined.Free Music Review: Complete
Hit: 5 Stars
This compilation is a great idea overall. It is made for a good cause, and it brings a great selection of current artists of similar musical trends, in a double album for a fair price.
It is filled with rare tracks made for this occasion. It even includes music from recently established artists such as Riceboy Sleeps (Sigur Ros's singer side project), Stuart Murdoch (Belle and Sebastian).
There are some great collaborations in here too, such as: David Byrne with the Dirty Projectors, Jose Gonzalez and The Books, Feist and Ben Gibbard, and Catpower and Dirty Delta Blues, to name a few.
Most of the songs capture the essence of the idea and focus more on the feeling rather than the words.
In Short, it is a very romantic and compassionate soundtrack, mainly for a select age group, perhaps more young adult contemporary.
(It should be noted that on the second cd track list, the song "Amazing Grace" should be reversed and should come before "Happiness". "Another Saturday" comes after "Happiness", where "Amazing grace" is said to be).
Free Music Review: Very good comp...but...
Hit: 5 Stars
I give this one five stars because it is one of the best comps I've seen in a while. Two discs of my favorite bands performing interesting covers and originals and all for a worthy cause. Amazon's sale price made the deal even better. I do have one possible complaint, though I still give the cd five stars. My complaint is this: Like many/most people these days I rip all of my cds into iTunes so that I can listen to my music on my iPod and computer. But disc 1 of this comp does not play in my Mac computer. When I insert the disc it spins around for a few seconds and then gets spit out. I did not have this problem with disc two(?). I have not had this problem with any of my other cds except some of those old Sony dual disc sets which I promptly returned. If you've had a similar problem with this cd please leave a comment (or if you have this cd and were able to rip it into iTunes, please also leave a comment...I'd like to know if I have a defective disc or computer or if they are all this way. Thanks! Well, aside from that issue, this is a great cd. A must buy!!!