Dark was the Night

"Dark was the Night" is a compilation put out by the Red Hot Organization. The double disc album was compiled and produced by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National. Started in 1989,The Red Hot organization's mission is to raise money to help fight HIV and AIDS around the world.

Buzz on this project picked up a few months ago, gaining steam until it's Feb. release date. I literally had a post it note reminding me on my desk. It was touted to have previously unreleased tracks by; The Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, Spoon, The National, Beirut, Ben Gibbard and Feist (together), the Decemberists, etc, etc.... Just pick someone "cool"; they're on the album. The hip meter was pegged. As I've said so many times before "you had me at Arcade Fire". The anticipation was almost too much to bare. Admittedly, I had built this thing up so high, it never had a chance to get over the bar. Needless to say, when I finally got to listen to it, I was left a little disappointed. New tracks by the heavy hitters I was anticipation so much..(see list above), were less than outstanding, a few withheld. Realizing I had set the album up for failure, I wanted to spend more time with it before forming a concrete opinion.

The first couple listens were conducted on the treadmill at work. As I was increasing the mph, I found myself pushing the next track button with more and more frequency; trying to find a song with the bpm to match my footsteps. Realizing this, I then started to listen to it before I went to bed, lying in the dark with my headphones on, or threw my computer with the itunes visualizer on my monitor. After that, I started to really appreciate it's mellow tempo. My favorite tracks were not by the bands I had anticipated, instead songs by Yo La Tengo, Yeasayer, The New Pornographers, and the Dirty Projectors stood out. Even some bands that were new to me; Riceboy Sleeps and Stuart Murdoch, I found myself listening to with more frequency. There are some straight up misses, i.e.; The Kronos Quartet.

Bottom Line: While I think the album does not equal the sum of it's parts; it can certainly sit in the shadow it casts and kick out some great tunes. I recently saw this album at Borders for 13 dollars, absolutely worth the money. Plus, the money is going to a good cause (if your into that kind of stuff....you know, causes and shit.)