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Various artists/Red Hot compilations

Steamboat Springs — "Dark Was the Night"

Charity compilation albums are shotgun blasts of pop. Some of the songs are going to be right on target, cutting through the anonymity and filler that is the hallmark of the genre. Some will miss the mark completely.

"Dark Was the Night," a compilation by Red Hot, manages to produce far more hits than misses by packing both barrels with enough indie sweethearts to make misfires nearly impossible.

It doesn't hurt that there are 31 tracks on the dual CD set, curated by the Dessner brothers from the band The National.

Even the track listings are exciting. Ben Gibbard singing with Feist? The Dirty Projectors with David Byrne? These do not disappoint.

Gibbard backs Feist on "Train Song," bringing more depth and range than the original 1970 version by Vashti Bunyan. Antony Hegarty (of Antony and the Johnsons) brings a remarkably appropriate sadness to a cover of the Bob Dylan track "I Was Young When I Left Home."

But it would not be a true indie behemoth without Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, who continues his breakout year with two tracks on the album and his first collaboration. He still sounds as if he's living in a cabin in Wisconsin - especially when he sings "Brackett, WI," - but what are compilation albums for if not the worthy b-sides omitted from the albums?

As expected, there are some misses in the two tracks - most notably the clinical title track by the Kronos Quartet, devoid of the emotion that made the original by Blind Willie Johnson a classic. But with this many tracks, it is easy to skip.

By purchasing this album, listeners are also supporting AIDS and HIV research.

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