I found myself at another benefit for Oxfam, Darfur, and friends that were dubbed Causes. On the auction block were fourteen tracks from well-respected Dukes of the independent music scene. I crowded in a low-key coffee bar and registered my number for the bidding. First to be sold was a noise epic (9:24) “Safer” from the Animal Collective. It was soon evident that the goods to be sold were mostly for mantle piece than for iPod.
Looking through the sale-list provided by Waxploitation, the backer of this fine cause, I found that the word “exclusive” was used nine times and “rare” once. That left four tracks that were just straight up tracks. The Black Keys, Bloc Party, Bright Eyes, Death Cab for Cutie, The Cure, The Shins, Spoon, and others all were part of this giant effort to help the oppressed. Old feelings from the Cake Sale came back as I prefer a trophy that can be enjoyed many times over rather than one that sits to impress peers with my ability to gather rare performances. However I purchased them all.
Sitting at home in my smoking jacket, my evening found this collection being repeated for four hours. Still there was not one individual that took me to hit the repeat function. At that moment I realized that perhaps that was the beauty of this compilation. All things were in balance together, and like a true humanitarian effort (are you taking notes Bono?) it doesn’t seek to feed in the spotlight. The efforts were noble, the cause is noble, and the results are notable. I would endorse taking these tracks home and enjoying the way they all run in a raw low-key manner. I can’t say your experience will be the same, but you will have nine exclusive and one rare track to show off.
Bright Eyes “Coat Check Dream Song” MP3
