Spring Break
'Dark' raises funds to light the way for AIDS study
by Andrea Fineman
Managing Editor
Arts | 2/10/09
Posted online at 1:03 AM EST on 2/10/09
It's hard to walk into a store or open your e-mail inbox without being asked to contribute to organizations working to fight AIDS. Not a day goes by that one doesn't receive e-mails from friends or Brandeis figures announcing the gravity of the fight against the disease. The Gap has been selling items as part of the Product Red campaign, such as T-shirts emblazoned with slogans like "INSPI(RED)" and "DESI(RED)," for almost three years. These charitable efforts are certainly noble, but at this point it's difficult to stand out in the sea of anti-AIDS products available to American consumers. Aaron and Bryce Dessner's upcoming independent music compilation, Dark Was the Night, which hits stores next Tuesday, is a unique fish in that sea.
The Dessners, two brothers who make up part of Brooklyn rock band The National, are something of men-about-town in the music world. Despite their rock band's relative obscurity until the advent of their most recent album, May 2007's Boxer, the two men have been involved in organizing music festivals, collaborating with artists as varied as Philip Glass and New York City music organization Bang on a Can Allstars, and now have delved into charity efforts with Dark Was the Night. The two-disc compilation, produced in cooperation with Red Hot Organization, a charitable AIDS foundation, features original songs, covers and collaborations by and between notable independent rock musicians.
While many compilation albums of this type feature one or two standout tracks by blockbuster names along with a collection of songs by minor acts, Dark Was the Night manages to keep the quality and the starpower going until the end of the second disc. The album starts off with a collaboration between the Dirty Projectors, an experimental Brooklyn-based band, and David Byrne, formerly of the Talking Heads. From there, the first disc continues with a cover of a song by 1960s folk singer Vashti Bunyan performed by Feist and Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie followed by a song by The National arranged by contemporary composer Nico Muhly, then a song by Sufjan Stevens-and the list goes on. The second disc includes works by Spoon, Arcade Fire, My Morning Jacket, TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek and Andrew Bird.
The Dessners, two brothers who make up part of Brooklyn rock band The National, are something of men-about-town in the music world. Despite their rock band's relative obscurity until the advent of their most recent album, May 2007's Boxer, the two men have been involved in organizing music festivals, collaborating with artists as varied as Philip Glass and New York City music organization Bang on a Can Allstars, and now have delved into charity efforts with Dark Was the Night. The two-disc compilation, produced in cooperation with Red Hot Organization, a charitable AIDS foundation, features original songs, covers and collaborations by and between notable independent rock musicians.
While many compilation albums of this type feature one or two standout tracks by blockbuster names along with a collection of songs by minor acts, Dark Was the Night manages to keep the quality and the starpower going until the end of the second disc. The album starts off with a collaboration between the Dirty Projectors, an experimental Brooklyn-based band, and David Byrne, formerly of the Talking Heads. From there, the first disc continues with a cover of a song by 1960s folk singer Vashti Bunyan performed by Feist and Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie followed by a song by The National arranged by contemporary composer Nico Muhly, then a song by Sufjan Stevens-and the list goes on. The second disc includes works by Spoon, Arcade Fire, My Morning Jacket, TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek and Andrew Bird.
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