Arist: Various Artists
Album: Dark Was The Night
Year: 2009
Grade: 4.5 pretzels
The year is 2035. My kids are studying history with their full-immersion, virtual-reality headsets. Suddenly, they stumble across a reference to a wacky type of music that was popular decades ago.
“Dad,” they ask, “what is ‘indie rock’?
“Well, that’s a complicated question…,” I reply.
“Is it anything like the New Wave electro-rap-folk that’s all the rage these days?”
“Not exactly,” I say, searching through my ancient collection of CDs (which my kids make fun of endlessly. Apparently, the new mp6s are way more reliable) for something that can explain the vast scope and range of indie rock, the music I enjoyed so much in my college days. Then, suddenly, I find exactly what I'm looking for.
“Kids, if you want to understand indie rock, you should listen to this album.”
I hand them Dark Was The Night.
Now, to my continuing amazement, Dark Was The Night wasn’t intended as the definitive compilation on indie rock. As a matter of fact, it was assembled by the Red Hot Organization, which raises global awareness about HIV and AIDS. This in and of itself is tremendously admirable. I’m very glad that the money made by this album is going to a good cause. However, it just so happens that the collection of songs here, chosen and produced by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of the National, capture the entirety of the indie rock aesthetic.
The idea behind the album is very simple. The Dessner brothers cornered virtually every prominent voice in the vast indie rock community and asked for an original song to be recorded and added to the two-disc album. Everyone, from Feist to Conor Oberst, from Spoon to Arcade Fire, is present and accounted for. Any artist you’ve heard on a college radio station recently is somewhere on this album. David Byrne even shows up, acting as the spiritual godfather for the entire genre by collaborating with Dirty Projectors. The sheer amount of people the Dessner’s got involved in the project is staggering and gives the album a distinct sense of importance.
It also helps that the songs aren’t explicitly about AIDS. While using the proceeds from the album to fight this horrible illness is a wonderful thing to do, thirty-one original songs about AIDS would have been either obnoxiously heavy handed or soul-crushingly depressing. Instead, we get a fascinating range of material, reflecting the diverse nature of indie rock as a genre while still having a discernible identity over the course of the two CDs. To top it all off, the album’s consistency is just as impressive as its all-star lineup. With thirty-one tracks to choose from, the standouts will probably change from listener to listener. My personal favorites include “Train Song”, a delicate ballad sung by Feist and Ben Gibbard, and Spoon’s wiry “Well-Alright”.
Being a zealous album-format purist, I tend to dismiss compilation albums as needless rehashing and re-packaging aimed at people who don’t have the patience or drive to hear songs in their natural, album-centric habitats. However, Dark Was The Night seems to be an impressive exception. I commend the Dessners for creating an album of 100% original recordings, instead of poaching album tracks from the artists they wanted to work with. I also hope that those artists refrain from releasing these songs on future albums. As it stands right now, Dark Was The Night feels wonderfully complete and concise. Plus, besides being an admirable political fundraiser, the historical function of this compilation should not be ignored. This is the neatest, most organized distillation of indie rock the world might ever get.
“Dad,” they ask, “what is ‘indie rock’?
“Well, that’s a complicated question…,” I reply.
“Is it anything like the New Wave electro-rap-folk that’s all the rage these days?”
“Not exactly,” I say, searching through my ancient collection of CDs (which my kids make fun of endlessly. Apparently, the new mp6s are way more reliable) for something that can explain the vast scope and range of indie rock, the music I enjoyed so much in my college days. Then, suddenly, I find exactly what I'm looking for.
“Kids, if you want to understand indie rock, you should listen to this album.”
I hand them Dark Was The Night.
Now, to my continuing amazement, Dark Was The Night wasn’t intended as the definitive compilation on indie rock. As a matter of fact, it was assembled by the Red Hot Organization, which raises global awareness about HIV and AIDS. This in and of itself is tremendously admirable. I’m very glad that the money made by this album is going to a good cause. However, it just so happens that the collection of songs here, chosen and produced by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of the National, capture the entirety of the indie rock aesthetic.
The idea behind the album is very simple. The Dessner brothers cornered virtually every prominent voice in the vast indie rock community and asked for an original song to be recorded and added to the two-disc album. Everyone, from Feist to Conor Oberst, from Spoon to Arcade Fire, is present and accounted for. Any artist you’ve heard on a college radio station recently is somewhere on this album. David Byrne even shows up, acting as the spiritual godfather for the entire genre by collaborating with Dirty Projectors. The sheer amount of people the Dessner’s got involved in the project is staggering and gives the album a distinct sense of importance.
It also helps that the songs aren’t explicitly about AIDS. While using the proceeds from the album to fight this horrible illness is a wonderful thing to do, thirty-one original songs about AIDS would have been either obnoxiously heavy handed or soul-crushingly depressing. Instead, we get a fascinating range of material, reflecting the diverse nature of indie rock as a genre while still having a discernible identity over the course of the two CDs. To top it all off, the album’s consistency is just as impressive as its all-star lineup. With thirty-one tracks to choose from, the standouts will probably change from listener to listener. My personal favorites include “Train Song”, a delicate ballad sung by Feist and Ben Gibbard, and Spoon’s wiry “Well-Alright”.
Being a zealous album-format purist, I tend to dismiss compilation albums as needless rehashing and re-packaging aimed at people who don’t have the patience or drive to hear songs in their natural, album-centric habitats. However, Dark Was The Night seems to be an impressive exception. I commend the Dessners for creating an album of 100% original recordings, instead of poaching album tracks from the artists they wanted to work with. I also hope that those artists refrain from releasing these songs on future albums. As it stands right now, Dark Was The Night feels wonderfully complete and concise. Plus, besides being an admirable political fundraiser, the historical function of this compilation should not be ignored. This is the neatest, most organized distillation of indie rock the world might ever get.
"thirty-one original songs about AIDS would have been either obnoxiously heavy handed or soul-crushingly depressing" (ie: RENT)
ReplyDeleteCheck out "Home Alive: The art of self-defense," similar concept except it was all grunge artists and was a benefit for the self-defense program set up after Mia Zapata's murder. Also check out "Evil Stig!" which is a remake of Gits songs with Joan Jett.
ReplyDeleteI have this one on repeat. So much good stuff.
ReplyDelete-Sam