Thursday, April 30, 2009

Dark Was the Night


Going off of my recent Dirty Projectors obsession, I must shed some light on the newly released "Dark Was the Night" compilation. The Dessner brothers of the National joined forces with the Red Hot Organization who promotes HIV and AIDS awareness. Huge names are involved with the tracklisting of this album in cluding the following:


"THIS DISC"
"Knotty Pine" - Dirty Projectors and David Byrne – 2:23 (mp3)
"'Cello Song" (Nick Drake) - The Books featuring José González – 3:54
"Train Song" (Vashti Bunyan) - Feist and Ben Gibbard – 3:02
"Brackett, WI" - Bon Iver – 4:03
"Deep Blue Sea" - Grizzly Bear – 3:46
"So Far Around the Bend" - The National and Nico Muhly – 3:43
"Tightrope" - Yeasayer – 3:18
"Feeling Good" (Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse) - My Brightest Diamond – 3:54
"Dark Was the Night" (Blind Willie Johnson) - Kronos Quartet – 3:51
"I Was Young When I Left Home" (Bob Dylan) - Antony Hegarty with Bryce Dessner – 4:55
"Big Red Machine" - Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner – 4:39
"Sleepless" - The Decemberists – 7:54
"Stolen Houses (Die)" - Iron & Wine – 1:07
"Service Bell" - Grizzly Bear and Feist – 2:23
"You Are the Blood" (Castanets) - Sufjan Stevens – 10:14

"THAT DISC"
"Well-Alright" - Spoon – 2:46
"Lenin" - Arcade Fire – 4:06
"Mimizan" - Beirut – 2:43
"El Caporal" - My Morning Jacket – 3:33
"Inspiration Information" (Shuggie Otis) - Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – 4:06
"With a Girl Like You" (The Troggs) - Dave Sitek – 3:27
"Blood Pt. 2" (Castanets) - Buck 65 Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti) – 3:36
"Hey, Snow White" (Destroyer) - The New Pornographers – 4:26
"Gentle Hour" (Snapper) - Yo La Tengo – 5:31
"Another Saturday" - Stuart Murdoch – 2:56
"Happiness" - Riceboy Sleeps – 8:37
"Amazing Grace" - Cat Power with Dirty Delta Blues – 3:34
"The Giant of Illinois" (The Handsome Family) - Andrew Bird – 4:45
"Lua" (Bright Eyes) - Conor Oberst with Gillian Welch – 5:54
"When the Road Runs Out" - Blonde Redhead with Devastations – 3:28
"Love Vs. Porn" - Kevin Drew – 3:57


This compilation is exceptional to say the least. The incessant acoustic guitar on the first track featuring David Byrne and Dirty Projectors is amazingly simple. While TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek does a tremendous job with his Trogg's cover. This album is truly a jem in the pile of releases from this year already. The album was recenlty performed in its entirety at Radio City Music Hall.

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