V/A - Good Music to Avert the Collapse of American Democracy: Ultra condensed version (2020)

I've been toying with the idea of sharing this for what some seems like ages, but in reality it's been closer to a little over a year. In the lead-up to the 2020 general election two compilations, available as paid downloads on Bandcamp were posted in October of that year to benefit Fair Fight, a voting rights organization set up to combat voter suppression in the United States. The very notion an organization with this goal in mind would have seemed utterly preposterous even just twenty years prior, but welcome to the real world homies. Ergo the two volumes in the Good Music to Avert the Collapse of American Democracy, two-off compilation series that featured no less than 117 artists between them. Most of the contributors were of fairly un-renown indie stock (see the complete tracklists here and here), but there were a few household names too, with few limits in terms of genres, albeit nothing too left-field. The one commonality is that about 98% of the participating artists were very much current and active.

The songs contributed were virtually all-non LP material, with demos, covers and live material composing the brunt of each compilation. The draw was not only to raise funds for Fair Fight, but to treat listeners with exclusive material, the vast majority of which remains indigenous to the Avert the Collapse compilations to this day. But there was one HUGE catch. Not so much the price tag, but the limited availability to purchase them - a mere 24 hours in each case. That aspect seemed to be a bit arbitrary and shortsighted, but nonetheless, tens of thousands of dollars in proceeds were raised for the cause. Instead of taking an obvious risk in sharing the entirety of these collections, I've cherry picked 18 songs/artists that seemed most in keeping with the fare I've shared and written about on these pages over the years, just don't expect much in the way of '80s or '90s acts (though there is the occasional exception).  Enjoy.

01. Death Cab for Cutie - The New Year (Live in Seattle, WA 2020)
02. Frankie Cosmos - Another Piece
03. King Tuff - Evergreen (Demo)
04. Matt Berninger - In Between Days (The Cure Cover)
05. Surfer Blood - New Direction
06. Superchunk - Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing (Minutemen Cover)
07. Bob Mould Band - In A Free Land (Live in Seattle, WA 2019)
08. PUP - Edmonton
09. Thurston Moore - L’Ephemere
10. Guided By Voices - Game Of Pricks (Live from the Teragram Ballroom, LA on 12-31-19)
11. Old 97’s - Southern Girls (Cheap Trick Cover)
12. Nada Surf -  Stories Going ‘Round
13. Wolf Parade - ATA
14. R.E.M. - Begin The Begin (Live in Hampton, VA 1989)
15. Arcade Fire feat. David Byrne -This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) (live)
16. Real Estate - People’s Parties (Joni Mitchell Cover)
17. Perfume Genius - Jory (Demo)
18. The War On Drugs - Eyes To The Wind (Live)

Hear