Various Artists / Dark Was the Night

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Artist

Various Artists

Album Title:

Dark Was the Night

Album Cover:

Primary Genre

Alternative & Punk: Alt-Folk

Format

CD (2)

Released

02/17/2009

Label

4AD

Catalog No

DAD 2835CD

Bar Code No

6 52637 28352 5

Packaging

Digipack

Tracks

Dark Was the Night [disc 1: This Disc]
1.	Knotty Pine / Dirty Projectors & David Byrne (2:23) (David Byrne/Brian McComber/Angel Deradoorian/Amber Coffman/David Longstreth)
2.	Cello Song / The Books Feat. Jose Gonzalez (3:54) (Nick Drake/The Books)
3.	Train Song / Feist & Ben Gibbard (3:02) (Vashti Bunyan/Jenny Lewis/Alasdair Clayre)
4.	Brackett, W9 / Bon Iver (4:03) (Justin Vernon)
5.	Deep Blue Sea / Grizzly Bear (3:46) (Grizzly Bear)
6.	So Far Around the Bend / The National (3:43) (Matt Berninger/Aaron Dessner)
7.	Tightrope / Yeasayer (3:18) (Yeasayer)
8.	Feeling Good / My Brightest Diamond (3:53) (Anthony Newley/Leslie Bricusse)
9.	Dark Was the Night / Kronos Quartet (3:51) (Blind Willie Johnson)
10.	I Was Young When I Left Home / Antony with Bryce Dessner (4:55) (Bob Dylan)
11.	Big Red Machine / Justin Vernon & Aaron Dessner (4:39) (Justin Vernon/Aaron Dessner)
12.	Sleepless / The Decemberists (7:53) (Colin Meloy)
13.	Die / Iron & Wine (1:06) (Sam Beam)
14.	Service Bell / Grizzly Bear & Feist (2:23) (Edward Droste)
15.	You Are the Blood / Sufjan Stevens (10:14) (Raymond Raposa)

Dark Was the Night [disc 2: That Disc]
1.	Well Alright / Spoon (2:45) (Britt Daniel)
2.	Lenin / Arcade Fire (4:06) (Arcade Fire)
3.	Mimizan / Beirut (2:42) (Zach Condon)
4.	El Caporal / My Morning Jacket (3:33) (Jim James)
5.	Inspiration Information / Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings (4:05) (Shuggie Otis)
6.	With a Girl Like You / Dave Sitek (3:26) (Reg Presley)
7.	Blood Pt.2 / Buck 65 (3:36) (Raymond Raposa)
8.	Hey Snow White / The New Pornographers (4:25) (Daniel Bejar)
9.	Gentle Hours / Yo La Tengo (5:31) (Peter Gutteridge)
10.	Another Saturday / Stuart Murdoch (2:55) (Trad arr by Stuart Murdoch)
11.	Happiness / Riceboy Sleeps (8:37) (Alex Somers/Jon Thor Birdson/Riceboy Sleeps)
12.	Amazing Grace / Cat Power & Dirty Delta Blues (3:34) (Trad arr by Chan Marshall)
13.	The Giant of Illinois / Andrew Bird (4:44) (Brett And Rennie Sparks)
14.	Lua / Conor Oberst & Gillian Welch (5:53) (Connor Oberst)
15.	When the Road Runs Out / Blonde Redhead & Devastations (3:28) (Blonde Redhead & Devastations)
16.	Love Vs. Porn / Kevin Drew (3:57) (Kevin Drew/Ohad Benchetrit)

Date Acquired

05/08/2009

Personal Rating

Acquired from

Amazon

Purchase Price

12.99

Reviews

All Music Guide Review:

Review by Heather Phares
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.

Cover 1

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