Friday was a hard day for a lot of us.
One shining beacon of hope to come out on Friday January 20th, 2016 was SAD! (A Barsuk Compilation for the ACLU). It’s a collection of seven previously unreleased tracks from Barsuk artists like Say Hi, David Bazan, The Long Winters, and Nada Surf covering other Barsuk artists like Deathcab For Cutie and John Vanderslice.
It’s no secret that we here at Rocktographers love a good cover, but give us seven and we are in heaven. In fact, we’ve Got Ya Covered monthly.
The Commander Thinks Aloud has always been a heartbreaking tale of the tragic Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. It’s one of the rare songs that I’ve seen bring a crowd to tears live when John Roderick of The Long Winters performs it. It perpetually raises all the hairs on the back of my neck and chill runs down my spine. I also recommend listening to the Song Exploder episode about the song.
David Bazan‘s cover brings me new chills with his haunting rendition of The Commander Thinks Aloud in ways only he can. Letting the piano slip further into the background and focusing on vocal harmonies. If you enjoyed his cover of Read My Mind by The Killers you will enjoy this Long Winters cover.
With each song taking timeless songs seamlessly from my own personal discography and being made anew. It’s very hard for me to not talk about every song on this album, because it is filled with some of my absolute favourite musicians and songwriters.
It’s not often that I get to hear artists I love so much covered so well. This is very much a compilation for fans of this genre and this era of indie rock, as it is for those of us who are heartbroken by Friday’s events and what’s to come over the next four years.
100% proceeds from SAD! will go to the American Civil Liberties Union, which works in the nation’s courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve individual working rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and the laws of the United States. Buy it here for $7.
As an added bonus, all digital sales on Basuk’s Bandcamp will go to the ACLU for the entire month of January 2016. Go buy some music and feel good knowing you are helping the good fight.
Let’s have more days like Saturday.