Dark Was The Night
Details
Compilation / Format
4AD / Label
Tags
Your Review
Sign In to rate and review
CRITIC REVIEWS
86
Charity albums all start wonderfully-- with good intentions and noble causes. Alas, they frequently end poorly, entering the world as collections of outtakes, abandoned ideas, and uninspired covers. Whether that matters is another thing: If you share Natalie Portman's
interest in the value of microcredit, or any number of executive producers' hope for more Darfur awareness or money for Doctors Without Borders, getting a decent Death Cab song or Afrobeat comp should simply be a bonus "thank you" for your minimal contribution.
I finally listened to "Earth" by Lil Dicky and I had to re-listen to this entire album just to reassure myself that charity music can sound decent. With that being said, this album is amazing even if it wasn't for charity (which is honestly what all charity albums should strive for).
Dark Was the Night is undoubtedly the most indie-scene-sounding album I've ever heard. It features so many indie artists (I despise using the term "indie hipster") that thrived at the time, and ... read more
Dark Was the Night is undoubtedly the most indie-scene-sounding album I've ever heard. It features so many indie artists (I despise using the term "indie hipster") that thrived at the time, and ... read more
4AD's charity compilation for the Red Hot Organization collects the cream of indieland in a pretty emotive set.
Become a Donor
Donor badge, no ads + more benefits.
Donor badge, no ads + more benefits.
Year End Lists
| #17 | / | Stereogum |
| #18 | / | NPR |
| #23 | / | Amazon |
| #24 | / | Paste |
| #24 | / | Pretty Much Amazing |
| #44 | / | Treble |
| #45 | / | No Ripcord |
Track List
This Disc:
- Dirty Projectors and David Byrne: "Knotty Pine"
- The Books [ft. Jose Gonzalez]: "Cello Song" (Nick Drake cover)
- Feist and Ben Gibbard: "Train Song" (Vashti Bunyan cover)
- Bon Iver: "Brackett, WI"
- Grizzly Bear: "Deep Blue Sea"
- The National: "So Far Around the Bend" (arrangement by Nico Muhly)
- Yeasayer: "Tightrope"
- My Brightest Diamond: "Feeling Good" (Nina Simone cover)
- Kronos Quartet: "Dark Was the Night" (Blind Willie Johnson cover)
- Antony and Bryce Dessner: "I Was Young When I Left Home" (Bob Dylan cover)
- Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner: "Big Red Machine"
- The Decemberists: "Sleepless"
- Iron and Wine: "Stolen Houses (Die)"
- Grizzly Bear and Feist: "Service Bell"
- Sufjan Stevens: "You Are the Blood"
That Disc:
- Spoon: "Well-Alright"
- Arcade Fire: "Lenin"
- Beirut: "Mimizan"
- My Morning Jacket: "El Caporal"
- Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings: "Inspiration Information" (Shuggie Otis cover)
- Dave Sitek: "With a Girl Like You" (The Troggs cover)
- Buck 65 [ft. Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti]: "Blood Pt 2" (based on "You are the Blood" by Castanets)
- The New Pornographers: "Hey, Snow White" (Destroyer cover)
- Yo La Tengo: "Gentle Hour" (Snapper cover)
- Stuart Murdoch: "Another Saturday" (traditional)
- Riceboy Sleeps: "Happiness"
- Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues: "Amazing Grace" (traditional)
- Andrew Bird: "The Giant of Illinois" (Handsome Family cover)
- Conor Oberst and Gillian Welch: "Lua"
- Blonde Redhead and Devestations: "When the Road Runs Out"
- Kevin Drew: "Love vs. Porn"
In Library (6)
