For Unicef - Tsunami Relief Fund Compilation

Sure, compilation discs are typically glorified versions of a mix tape. Nowadays if listening to entire albums isn’t your thing, they make pretty good iPod bait. In the wake of the recent tsunami disaster in southeast Asia, hipster clothing chain Urban Outfitters along with Filter Magazine have assembled a benefit compilation of their own – For Tsunami Relief. 100% of the proceeds from the sale of this 27 track album will go to UNICEF to help victims of the recent Tsunami disaster. The CD features rare, unreleased and live tracks donated by some of rock’s finest including: Franz Ferdinand, Mercury Rev, My Morning Jacket Wilco, Death Cab For Cutie, Grandaddy, Kaiser Chiefs, Bright Eyes, Interpol M83, Mercury Rev and Hot Hot Heat.

Standout tracks include Death Cab for Cutie’s cover of the Cure classic “Love Song,” as Ben Gibbard’s sensitive voice gives the song a reworked flair. A live version of Wilco performing their soulful gem “Jesus, etc,” featuring Nels Cline’s serene pedal steel guitar is a sweet catch for Wilco fans. Among other nice live finds are French Kicks’ version of “The Trial The Century” and The Futureheads kick at Neil Young’s garage rocker “Piece of Crap.” Magnet’s once previous outtake “Heaviest Heart” is full of 70’s swoon and heartache, making for another lost find.

Disc Two is a bit hit or miss. “Huddle Formation” by the Go Team! is revved up 1981 Tony Basil, and Grandaddy’s light sing-along “Nature Anthem” proves why it was originally chosen as a B-side. Perhaps the compilation’s strongest track is The Faint’s “I Disappear” form the Omaha band’s 2004 album Wet from Birth, proving why Joel Peterson is the next genius on board. LCD Soundsystem and M83 contribute more beats and experimental house nods, closing the album in electronic fashion.

Aside from the obvious Pitchfork enthusiast, this compilation has just enough diversity to please any music nut. In case you live somewhere like Little Rock, Arkansas and Urban Outfitters is about as foreign as Bloomingdales, you can purchase it on-line.

Track List

Disc 1

Death Cab For Cutie – Love Song

Interpol – Slow Hands (Britt Daniel Mix)

Bright Eyes – We are Nowhere and it’s Now

Desert Sessions 7 &8 – Hanging Tree

Wilco – Jesus, etc. (Live)

Hot Hot Heat – Act 101

French Kicks – The Trial of the Century (Live)

The Futureheads – Piece of Crap

My Morning Jacket – The Bear (Live)

Magnet – Heaviest Heart

Rilo Kiley – American Wife

Elbow – Fugitive Motel (RJD2 Remix)

Clinic – Fingers

Mercury Rev – In A Funny Way

Disc 2

Franz Ferdinand – The Dark Of The Matineee ( Headman Remix)

The Go! Team – Huddle Formation

Grandaddy – Nature Anthem

Kaiser Chiefs – Take My Temperature

Earlimart – Lullaby

The Faint – I Disappear

Caribou – Barnowl

Eisley – Lost at Sea (Remix)

Dios Malos – Everyday

Adam Arcuragi &Royalty – The Song the Sinner Sings

Juana Molina – Isabel

LCD Soundsystem – Yr City’s A Sucker

M83 – A Guitar and a Heart

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