Some of the finest names in corporate rock are offering their songs for a cause greater than themselves or their rankings in Q polls. Acts like Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, U2, Coldplay, Sting, Jack Johnson, and Kaiser Chiefs are collaborating with Buena Vista Social Club members for Afro-Cuban takes on some of their best known tracks; the original vocals in place, with the Social Club weilding their magic on top.
It's the last-ever recording from legend Ibrahim Ferrer, which is something in itself. And the cause is great; the album is in support of Artists Project Earth (APE), which aids natural disasater relief and climate change awareness, and some US proceeds will go to Music Rising, which replaces instruments for disaster-stricken musicians in the Gulf. Here's your tracklist:
1. Clocks (Coldplay)
2. Better Together (Jack Johnson)
3. Dancing Shoes (Arctic Monkeys)
4. One Step Too Far
5. As Time Goes By
6. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (U2)
7. She Will Be Loved (Maroon 5)
8. Modern Way
9. Killing Me Softly
10. Ai No Corrida
11. Fragilidad
12. Don't Know Why
13. Hotel Buena Vista
14. The Dark Of The Matinee
15. High And Dry (Radiohead)
16. Casablanca (As Time Goes By)
More information and streaming tracks here (Mac users, we're typically out of luck).
Rhythms Del Mundo - Cuba is out 11/14 on Hip-O Records.
And it wouldn't be an artist-led, environmental-relief effort without the increasingly green Mr. Yorke, whose contribution of "High And Dry" is just the tip of the melting iceberg. He just told the Guardian that he was through with flying on tour, saying it was a "ridiculous consumption of energy." So he's trying to come up with another way to Japan -- he even likes the idea of train, although the "Trans-Siberian whatsitsname" is "apparently a bit scary." And for American tours?
Some of our best ever shows have been in the US, but there's 80,000 people there and they've all been sitting in traffic jams for five or six hours with their engines running to get there, which is bollocks.
It's all completely la-la. It's daft. When you discuss it you feel like a prat because you're saying I'm not happy with that and I want to do it another way. I want to go to the US by ship. The Cure did that years ago because Robert Smith refused to fly, and then I get told that if you take the ship, that's as much carbon usage.
But the rest of the band isn't so gung-ho, so tours will continue. More of Thom's ranting here. And hey, they're finally recording that new album! Wonder what it's gonna be about?
