Search - Not Alone :: Not Alone

The best-priced box-set I've seen; high-quality music donate

Nicholas Soucy | Lansing, Mi United States | 04/06/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Handsomely packaged in a white slide-open box, the set comes with 5 discs and one rather thick liner book.



Unfortunately, we don't get the lyrics in this book. However, there is a nice description of the charity and of the genesis of this compilation project. The important thing to remember is that the proceeds from this generous 5-disc box set go to the noble non-profit group, Doctors Without Borders (or Medecins Sans Frontieres, hence MSF), an independent humanitarian medical group which targets the African HIV/AIDS epidemic amongst dozens of other international emergency health crises.



By my count, there are 86 songs total. How many of them do I like? About half, so far, which isn't bad. 43 excellent songs for $33 is a tremendous deal. You might dig all the tracks; who knows?



"Not Alone" is a solid collection of artists who donated their songs for a good cause. Think of it as a benefit fundraising concert that you get to take home with you. The vocal tracks range from good to amazingly beautiful, and the genre spread is comfortably diverse. You'll find a swooning song from Antony of "Antony of the Johnsons," a tune from the prodigious Devendra Banhart, one from our old friend Marc Almond, the sublime psychedelic-folk group Pearls Before Swine and several others like Current 93, Vashti Bunyun, Angels of Light, Baby Dee, William Basinksi (who sounds a bit like Bowie) along with many more. Genres include rock, alternative, electronica, neo-folk, prog-rock, cabaret, and other categories.



I was admittedly a bit dissatisfied that nearly half of the songs are instrumental; lyricless. I don't have an automatic aversion to instrumental songs, but a good chunk of the instrumental tracks are just synthesized computer noise. But don't let that discourage you, because you will certainly enjoy many of the instrumental songs as much as the gorgeous vocal tracks. I just wish Jnana Records had told me up front that not all of the songs had vocalists.



All in all, it's worth the asking price, because many of the songs are excellent and the proceeds go to a magnificent charity.



A hint: buy it from the Jnana Records website. Currently, it's $32.50 including shipping/handling."

A Good, Diverse Collection

Logan Albright | Marietta, Georgia USA | 04/10/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This set really is a bargain. Where else can you get such a high quanity of music for such a low price? But what's really amazing is the diversity of the songs included. There really is something for everyone, regardless whether your tastes lean towards pop, folk, ambient, rock or noise. Of course this means that most everyone will be dissatisfied with a number of the tracks as well. I myself find some of the neo-folk and Canadian pop/rock a bit tedious. However the tracks by Colin Potter, Black Noise, Thighpaulsandra, William Basinski, Mirror and many others are wonderful. I was rather disappointed with the tracks by Nurse With Wound and Coil, though. They are two of my favorite groups, but their contributions here are underwhelming. the NWW track is nothing more than the lyrics to "Black is the color of my Love so Fair" recited into a vocoder, and Coil's Broccoli is a live recording that consists mainly of John Balance talking about being abused by his stepfather.

Overall, though, it is well worth the cost and you will likely discover some new favorite artists."