The latest of my weekly post for The Llano Idea centers around the two recent compilation albums that have been getting rave reviews in the press: Dark Was the Night and War Child Presents Heroes. Here is an excerpt from full article which you read here when it comes out tomorrow:

It seems that most philanthropy done these days by the music community is either in the form of mega-benefit concerts or charity compilations. Since the former has been adequately exhausted due to Obama’s campaign trail, independent music listeners will have to settle for a handful of recently released albums featuring a jaw-dropping collection of musicians. The two such pieces that have caught my eye (and no doubt others’ as well) recently have been the Dark Was the Night two-disc set benefiting the Red Hot Organization in their fight against AIDS and the War Child Presents Heroes compilation helping children who live in war-torn regions.

Dark Was the Night is the brainchild of The National’s brother guitarists Aaron and Bryce Dessner whose aim is to use “music as a great vehicle to raise both money and awareness for AIDS.” With a who’s who list of popular “indie” artists that are sure to make any music hipster giddy with joy (Andrew Bird, Beirut, and Spoon to name a few) the album was destined to move a lot of copies with or without the added incentive of helping a good cause. As a much-heralded bonus, artists featured on Dark don’t contribute throwaway tracks and forgettable B-sides but rather songs which would fit nicely on any of their individual “proper” LPs.

Switching gears a little, Heroes features fifteen music industry stalwarts selecting modern day artists to cover one of their songs. Just as compelling as the cover songs themselves are the artists chosen by the living legends, making the album interesting to listen to on multiple levels. For example, Beck’s take on Dylan’s “Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat” is killer – bringing out the bass line and exaggerating the electric guitar interjections – but the image of Bob jamming out to Guero when he’s all alone is absolutely priceless. Some of these selections aren’t too surprising (David Bowie choosing T.V. on the Radio’s after they featured Bowie on “Province” from Return to Cookie Mountain), but others certainly leave you with that WTF feeling. The most egregious of pairing has to be The Clash’s selection of Lily Allen that I am sure lead to some deceased members rolling over in their grave.