Amnesty International
Music for Human Rights
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This compilation of previously issued tracks is available free to anyone who joins the venerable human rights organization. It features a who’s who of adventurous, talented artists.
David Gray offers one of the better tunes from the underwhelming A New Day At Midnight. Radiohead contributes the Hail to the Thief track “Sail to the Moon.”
A couple of tunes, despite not being penned exclusively for the compilation, comment on the world events with which Amnesty International deals. “Look at earth from outer space / Everyone must find a place,” Coldplay’s Chris Martin sings on “Politik.” And Beth Orton’s “God Song” offers, “My House was built for loving / Not a theatre of war.”
But apolitical, inventive pop songs are more the order of the day here, with contributions from Aimee Mann, Ryan Adams and Badly Drawn Boy. Keeping the compilation from being a lily-white affair is the world beat infused hip hop groove of 1 Giant Leap’s “Braided Hair.”
Unfortunately, the concluding track nearly mars what is a listenable, though superfluous, collection. It’s a song called “Lean On Me” by Revboy, who, according to a press release, is a collective of musicians who have chosen to remain anonymous “for politically sensitive reasons.” Of course, it could just be because they suck.
Music for Human Rights: http://www.musicforhumanrights.com/
