Various Artists
Dark Was The Night
(4AD)
The Red Hot Organization is no stranger to compilations. On Dark Was the Night, their twentieth attempt, they have put together two discs featuring thirty-one new recordings by some of today’s more interesting bands. With the exception of a handful of covers, many of the songs are originals by the artists. That’s not to say that the covers do not also include some worthy renditions. On My Brightest Diamond’s take of “Feeling Good”, dark horns and heavy bass fill the air, like smoke in a bar, held together by the ethereal vocals of front woman Lavender Diamond. This track was most famously known for the Nina Simone recording, which was also a cover of the original written for the 1965 musical The Roar of the Greasepoint – The Smell of the Crowd.
The first disc holds a low-key tone throughout, which is unusual given the number of bands involved. Not only did Red Hot manage to compile a number of highly talented bands, but the majority of the tracks on disc one sound like they may have come from the same group mind, although this is obviously not the case. Highlights from disc one include Bon Iver’s quiet yet moody “Brackett, WI”, Feist + Ben Gibbard’s catchy “Train Song” and The Decemberists' “Sleepless”, which plays like an outtake from Picturesque, using the light strumming guitar layered with the same variety of enchanting instruments and brooding vocals that made them famous.
The Decemberists turn in one of the longer tracks (7:54), surpassed only by Sufjan Stevens “You Are The Blood” (10:14), which in all fairness plays like it could have been half as long, even coming to what sounds like a perfect ending at five and a half minutes in and then continuing on like it’s Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. The second half of Sufjan’s song consists of mostly disjointed guitar and keys, which culminate in an interesting but ultimately unnecessary build at the end. Sandwiched between these two lengthy tracks, Iron & Wine turns in what sounds like a half baked idea for a song, “Stolen House (Die)” coming in at just over one minute, but it is perhaps the only track on this disc to actually speak directly to those suffering from AIDS.
Disc Two lifts the mood, countering the mostly slow and moody tone of disc one with catchy rock beats before falling back into a slow groove. Spoon’s “Well-Alright” opens the disc, lacking some of the catchiness and grittiness of their album tracks but carrying a certain charm with its hooky guitars and simplistic lyrics. Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings play another interesting cover found on Dark Was the Night with their version of “Inspiration Information”, a cover of the title track from Shuggie Otis’ 1974 album. “Happiness” by Riceboy Dreams acts as an intermission to the disc, giving you time to reset and refocus with its transient hypnotic melodies, standing out from the majority of the indie rock-heavy bands that share the spotlight. Cat Power delivers the weakest of the covers with “Amazing Grace” a song well known by most. Her version is solid, but does not offer anything new to the countless versions out there.
Proceeds from Dark Was The Night will benefit the Red Hot Organization, an international charity dedicated to raising money and awareness for HIV and AIDS. Great music and a great cause seldom come together with such perfection. |
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