ElevenPercent Of EarthPercent

The biggest digital purchase I made during Bandcamp Friday was the EarthPercent x Earth Day compilation album, (re)released for 24 hours only, offering up 100 songs for £25.00. I took the plunge, figuring at best that 25p per track was a pretty good deal and if even a third of them were halfway decent, it was still a decent price. 

 

There were enough artists to pique my curiosity - JARV IS..., Dry Cleaning, Peter Gabriel, James, Brian Eno, The Weather Station - as well as a few that I'd heard of but not heard much by, plus many that were completely new to me.

 

The track listing has changed slightly since the previous release, swapping out some tracks and replacing them with new additions. It's meant that I've been spared Coldplay's contribution so I'm not complaining.

 

A whopping 17 of the 100 are given to Anna Calvi's soundtrack album for Peaky Blinders Season 5 which, isolated from the BBC TV series, has already had a few plays in it's own right so I'm already feeling that this was a worthwhile purchase.

I'm about a quarter of the way through the remaining songs and, unsurprisingly, it's a bit hit and miss. As the album is sequenced alphabetically by the artists' first names/words, I've gone for a random shuffle, listening to 45-minute, album-sized chunks over the past few days.

The big draw is perhaps Michael Stipe, who has released very little solo music since R.E.M. ended in September 2011. Future, If Future is a co-write with producer Andy LeMaster, who's only other appearance in my collection is a rejig of R.E.M.'s The Lifting, which appeared on their free download R.E.M.IX album in 2002. On a couple of listens, it's...okay. I'll leave it at that.

Today's selection is 11 songs that I've enjoyed listening to so far. I really like The Big Moon, who I've not heard before, and The Pictish Trail, JARV IS... and The Weather Station do not disappoint. Dry Cleaning made me kick myself again that I didn't see them live earlier this year. Nick Mulvey is a name that I've often seen but not heard. A Prayer Of My Own seemed like a natural choice for a closing song and I'm encouraged to check out more.

 

I've said very little about EarthPercent itself, the environmental charity founded by Brian Eno - you can read more here.

 

1) Act Now: Hannah Peel ft. Ulster Orchestra

2) Leaving (Niklas Paschburg Rework): Hania Rani

3) Her Hippo (Live): Dry Cleaning

4) This Way: The Weather Station

5) Beautiful Beaches (Conservatory Version): James

6) Nuclear Sunflower Swamp (Acoustic): The Pictish Trail

7) BIG: The Big Moon

8) Growing Pains: tummyache

9) Future, If Future: Michael Stipe

10) Depressive Disco: JARV IS...

11) A Prayer Of My Own (LaJoya Remix): Nick Mulvey ft. Liz Wathuti

ElevenPercent Of EarthPercent (45:09)