Awesome mega-compilation & benefit package (to raise money for AIDS in Africa) with TONS of great artists stretching around genres like indie, experimental, noise and folk.

DISC 1
(((((1))))) Funny intro with a kid and Irr App (ext). live member Greg Schrapen talking leads to beautiful psych acoustic guitars and some organic sounds.
((((2)))) Incedible guitar twang & nice vox
(((3))) Sad, sort off-kilter cello/strings.
(((4))) Slow, driting but nice drone.
(((5))) Decent, strummy, lazy indie rock.
((((6)))) Strange, compelling, gender-bending, torch-song-y ‘ala Antony & The Johnsons
((((7)))) Nice, big beats and random chimes.
((((8)))) Layered, gltichy, samples of choral vocal tracks. Nice.
((((9)))) Odd, bouncy, Eastern drone meets crazy Western psych-dub?
((10)) Pretty standard acoustic folk guy singer
(((11))) High-pitched noises from Mars
((((12)))) Pretty nice female folksy-country waltz. Great voice!
((((13)))) Etheral/dark ambient with pinging percussion and bass.
(((14))) Droney bits and random jazz flute. Crazy but kinda works.
(((((15))))) Damn, not only could he write brilliantly but listen to the man sing! Classical Americana folk!
(((16))) Decent strummy acoustic folk.
((17)) Dancey, hazy pop. Meh. – Ragnar of Ravensfjord

DISC 2
COLL: Not Alone – Medicins Sans Frontiers/Doctors Without Borders (Dutro)
((((1)))) Breathy vocals, minimal repetitive piano. Quite pretty good late night listening.
(((2))) Lo-fi, ethereal mix of birds, simple random psych guitar bits and low mixed male vocals.
((3)) “Just ok” indie folk. Kinda “meh” vocals.
(((4))) Weird, sci-fi laser noise and other alien reptilian beings.
(((5))) Hippie folk with Tiny Tim-like vocals. Pretty groovy.
(((6))) Mellancholly sounds strolling through the piano.
(((7))) Slow moving, sad movie soundtrack-like piece with mourning gender-bending vox.
(((8))) Judas Priest’s “Metal Gods” riff mixed with looped beats, random samples, and industrial rock vox.
((((9)))) Fantastic, repeating cycles of guitar chords eventually turning into a loud-ish drone.
((10)) Sad, sullen female vocal folk. Not far off from a current-era Joan Baez?
((((11)))) Twangy guitars, slow tempo and Michael Gira’s always enticing vox.
(((12))) Noise – the first hall is annoying as fuck but the other is a ethereal pop weirdness.
(((13))) Somewhat haunting, twangy dark, minimalism.
((((14)))) Very nice accordian drone (‘ala “Sleep Has His House” Current 93)
(((15))) Pretty low in the mix cycling drone ambient building up to loud rumbling noise waves.
((((16)))) Multi-layered washes of electronic sounds and dancey beats. Not far off from Carbaret Voltaire.
(((17))) Audio dementia sludgy, loud kinda heavy guitars and twisted male vox. Like Tiny Tim crossed with the Brainbombs! ---Ragnar of Ravensfjord

DISC 3
COLL: Not Alone – Medicins Sans Frontiers/Doctors Without Borders (Dutro)
(((1))) Decent hippie folk-rock.
((2)) OK but generic indie folk/pop with female vox.
(((((3))))) Awesome, local freaky folk/psych hazy and ever addictive.
(((4))) Kinda soulful & rather groovy, catchy pop soaked in organ. Sounding similar to Squeeze.
((5)) Lots of weird experiment with vocals but sounds more like bored, crazy ranting to no one but himself.
((6)) Waaay low in the mix, floating ambience and whispered vox.
(((7))) Minimal torch song oddness but continually compelling from Mr. Antony.
(((((8))))) Very nice psych-ambient-drone with animal sounds (donkeys, birds).
(((9))) Roustabout, drunken dual vocal laden trad. folk with hints towards 60’s psych or even the Kinks?
((10)) Slight 70’s rock swagger – too close to the Eagles & the Dead to be worth repeat listens.
(11) Boring-ass folk guy singing. That’s all.
((12)) Slinky beat-laden pop with acoustic guitar.
((((13)))) Pleasant, ambient sounds like a parade of bats mixing with Biosphere.
((((((14)))))) One of the most BEAUTIFUL songs EVER recorded! Ms. MacDowell (Death In June, Boyd Rice) easily makes way into your heart. Pure sweetness and yes, sorrow.
((15)) 70’s folk-pop with too much “pa-pa-pa” Beach Boys/Big Star silliness.
((16)) Good, loud guitars but flat female vox that come across like some lame mainstream “tough chick” singer. ((((17)))) Goofy but fun cover of the only “rockin” Osmonds song. ---Ragnar of Ravensfjord

COLL: Not Alone – Medicins Sans Frontiers/Doctors Without Borders (Dutro)
((((1)))) Awesome strummy, 60’s psych/ur-punk ‘ala Velvets by way of “swiingin’ London”
((2)) Alt.country lameness. Some OK guitars but nevermind the vox.
((3)) Acoustic guitar rambling and an irritating guy singing the title over & over.
((((4)))) Great soaring drone kinda druggy, too.
((5)) Similar to a 60s folkie like ‘ala Joan Baez with a lot of echo or resonation on her voice.
(((6))) Fried egg static, soundtrack-like strings conjuring up rainy days in the North of England.
(7) Borning sad ballad like some outrtake from a shitty Randy Newman song from some shitty new movie.
(((8))) Pretty decent, honest and straight ahead Americana-folk.
((9)) Off-kilter indie rock with occasionally interesting female vox.
(((((10))))) Awesome “cartoon robot” vocals and the ever present NWW blankets of drone.
(((11))) Accordian laden, slow moving pop with loud, layered female vox. Nice.
((((12))))) Pretty, medieval English folk with harpsichord. Dunno what it is but EVERYTIME this lady sings it just sound right. (She’s been at it since the 60’s, too).
(((13))) Disjointed Oakland-based no-wave/post-punk. Good guitar & drum parts just a little too disjointed.
((14)) Lo-fi, slightly annoying 60’s pop-rock.
(((15))) Modern folk-rock with a streak of the singer’s personal disappointment.
(((16))) Nice guitars but mostly flat female vox thankfully overshadowed by the trippy chimes near the end.
(((((17))))) PERFECT! Poetic, storytelling from Mr. Tibet & co. with slow, sullen acoustic guitars & strings.
((18)) Pretty bland 60’s “street corner” folk. Not too different from Chuck Manson’s ramblings.
((19)) Random, “everything but the kitchen sink” noises from Mr. Moore. High on the pain enduncing factor though. Far from his best. ---Ragnar of Ravensfjord

COLL: Not Alone – Medicins Sans Frontiers/Doctors Without Borders Disc 5 (Dutro)
((1)) Yep. Marc Almond of Soft Cell but this time totally 70’s folk.
(((2))) Interesting folk with often male vocals that are often shifting in voluime and cadence.
((((3)))) Shimmery, other-world-like ethereal pop with very high female vox. Just hits the right way.
(((4))) Uptempo rock with a serious Lou Reed fixation.
((((5)))) Random waves of sound with Genesis P-Orridge on telling a story in both left & right channels.
((((6)))) Pretty sounding Americana folk guitar. Would go great on Bruce’s show.
(7) Ick. It’s like someone’s embarrassing relative singing some 70’s hit (“Babe” by Styx?) at karoke night.
((8)) Mimimal so-so English folk
((9)) Kinda ok-English sounding vocal with female vox & sad fiddle.
((10)) OK mix of beats and looped movie samples.
((11)) Flute-laden, female fronted folk.
((12)) Pretty good minimal drone but doesn’t find a way to captivate and gets stuck to easily.
(((((13))))) 40+ seconds of floppy electronic space age moog ‘ala Perry-Kingsley.
(((((14))))) Weird but funny story from the late, great John Balance mixed with “woo” noises and whatnot.
(((15))) Neat, sly slight psych rock with a tempo that grabs at The Fall and jazz. Features Carl Blake (Lemon Kittens, Death In June, Sol Invictus).
((((16)))) Gyoto monk jams and ehteral piano and layers of ambience. Hawkwind on a Buddhist groove?
---Ragnar of Ravensfjord