AA.VV.
Dark Was The Night

Since 1990, the Red Hot Organization has been raising funds for the fight against AIDS by channeling what they define as pop culture, i.e., through the creation of musical works, cinematic, television, etc., etc. For their latest undertaking, Ryce and Aaron Dessner of The National were tasked with creating a compilation.
One might say the two have failed, "Dark Was The Night" is not a compilation but a small handbook (to avoid using the word masterpiece) of the current Indie scene, obviously as representative as 31 songs on 2 CDs could be for a musical scene.

I admit I approached this work with a pinch of goodwill due to the infinite esteem I have for the record label; when I see 4ad, I feel assured about the content, but the good closed-box premises turned into enthusiasm once I started listening.

The Dirty Projectors and David Byrne kick off the album's unique moments in grand style, followed closely by The Books with José Gonzalez, who manage to breathe new life into Nick Drake's wonderful "Cello Song."
The first CD offers more magic with the atmospheres of Grizzly Bear framing Feist's splendid voice in "Service Bell," the blues reinterpretation of Blind Willie Johnson that gives the album its title by the Kronos Quartet, but especially with the grand closure by Sufjan Stevens. In You Are The Blood by The Castanets, he once again demonstrates his ability to distribute dreams lavishly. The same Sufjan who on the second CD reinvents and adapts the same song to the hip hop stride of Buck 65.

The second disc launches with a perfect trio by Spoon, Arcade Fire, and Beirut, but then reaches the less convincing moment of the collection with My Morning Jacket opening a small parenthesis of boredom. Fear not, the mood quickly climbs back up to reach new heights on the notes of the traditional "Amazing Grace" interpreted by Cat Power alongside the Dirty Delta Blues and on those of The Giant Of Illinois covered by Andrew Bird amidst floods of magnificent strings.

We often make our own playlists at home for the current mp3 player; this is an example of how I would have wanted to create one myself, but someone else already did it. There's a good cause, and there's great music.
A must-have if the "INDIEpendent" spirit lingers within you.

Since sometimes names are a guarantee, I'll add the complete tracklist of the two CDs:
Knotty Pine – Dirty Projectors/David Byrne
Cello Song – The Books/Jose Gonzalez
Train Song – Feist/Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie)
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 and Bryce Dessner
Big Red Machine – Justin Vernon/Aaron Dessner
Sleepless – The Decemberists
Stolen Houses (Die) – 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 (feat Sufjan Stevens/Serengeti)
Hey, Snow White – 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