Artist: V/A
Title: Dark Was the Night
Being of an age that No Alternative was a big deal to me when it came out, I felt a twinge of anticipation for its successor, despite feeling the particular sort of ambivalence that one generally reserves for compilations. At worst a dumping ground for not-quite-b-sides (or, worse, for remixes, uninteresting covers or superfluous live versions), a comp'll sometimes click and provide both nuggets by well-loved bands and signposts towards things to explore.
This one falls somewhere in the middle. Listening on my walk without the tracklist handy, I found, on examination after the fact that the stuff I liked most was largely the bands I could identify right away, and as for signposts, there were a lot more warning me away than beckoning on.
The first disc is especially underwhelming, frontloaded with a bunch of this season's sensitive crooners — Bon Iver, for example, not winning me over any more here. Only a couple songs towards the middle really stick, with a decent entry by The National and a solid Antony track covering Dylan covering Trad. Arr. A bit of increased regard towards the back end is negated by the set's nadir, "You Are the Blood" (a Castanets cover, apparently), a dreadfully indulgent ten-minute effort by Sufjan Stevens that supplements a couple minutes of song with a lot of would-be avant plunking around that gets turgid five minutes in and invites despondent thoughts by its end.
The second disc is an improvement, with more material that at least invites re-listening. Dave Sitek (of TV on the Radio) surprises with a Troggs cover that sounds more like a Magnetic Fields cover, and there is a genuine hot streak in the middle, with a warm hug from Yo La Tengo (making an onscurity by Snapper their own), followed by some folksy goodness from Stuart Murdoch (of Belle and Sebastian fame) and then a wonderfully woozy bit of ambiance from Riceboy Sleeps, which turns out to be a side project of Sigur Rós vocalist Jónsi Birgisson, and sounds not at all unlike his band doing an instrumental Amiina cover.
So a bit of a muddle then, which might simply indicate how out of touch I am with the zeitgeist. But some worthy stuff here.
Track picks: On disc two: 6 - "With a Girl Like You" (Dave Sitek), 9 - "Gentle Hour" (Yo La Tengo), 10 - "Another Saturday" (Stuart Murdoch), 11 - "Happiness" (Riceboy Sleeps)
Title: Dark Was the Night
Being of an age that No Alternative was a big deal to me when it came out, I felt a twinge of anticipation for its successor, despite feeling the particular sort of ambivalence that one generally reserves for compilations. At worst a dumping ground for not-quite-b-sides (or, worse, for remixes, uninteresting covers or superfluous live versions), a comp'll sometimes click and provide both nuggets by well-loved bands and signposts towards things to explore.
This one falls somewhere in the middle. Listening on my walk without the tracklist handy, I found, on examination after the fact that the stuff I liked most was largely the bands I could identify right away, and as for signposts, there were a lot more warning me away than beckoning on.
The first disc is especially underwhelming, frontloaded with a bunch of this season's sensitive crooners — Bon Iver, for example, not winning me over any more here. Only a couple songs towards the middle really stick, with a decent entry by The National and a solid Antony track covering Dylan covering Trad. Arr. A bit of increased regard towards the back end is negated by the set's nadir, "You Are the Blood" (a Castanets cover, apparently), a dreadfully indulgent ten-minute effort by Sufjan Stevens that supplements a couple minutes of song with a lot of would-be avant plunking around that gets turgid five minutes in and invites despondent thoughts by its end.
The second disc is an improvement, with more material that at least invites re-listening. Dave Sitek (of TV on the Radio) surprises with a Troggs cover that sounds more like a Magnetic Fields cover, and there is a genuine hot streak in the middle, with a warm hug from Yo La Tengo (making an onscurity by Snapper their own), followed by some folksy goodness from Stuart Murdoch (of Belle and Sebastian fame) and then a wonderfully woozy bit of ambiance from Riceboy Sleeps, which turns out to be a side project of Sigur Rós vocalist Jónsi Birgisson, and sounds not at all unlike his band doing an instrumental Amiina cover.
So a bit of a muddle then, which might simply indicate how out of touch I am with the zeitgeist. But some worthy stuff here.
Track picks: On disc two: 6 - "With a Girl Like You" (Dave Sitek), 9 - "Gentle Hour" (Yo La Tengo), 10 - "Another Saturday" (Stuart Murdoch), 11 - "Happiness" (Riceboy Sleeps)
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