4AD / Remote Control Records are pleased to announce the release of Day Of The Dead, a celebration of the Grateful Dead’s music created and curated by brothers Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National.
For both Aaron and Bryce, the Grateful Dead were a gateway to playing music together; the first music the brothers investigated deeply. The two recall their first-ever jam session at 14 years old with The National’s future drummer Bryan Devendorf playing the Dead’s ‘Eyes of the World’ for several hours in Bryan’s attic in suburban Ohio. The brothers were drawn not just to the Dead’s songwriting, but also to the detail, spontaneity, and depth in the instrumentation. A life-long love affair with the Dead, shared with the Devendorfs, was born in those teenage years and crested when The National were invited to play a HeadCount.org fundraiser with Bob Weir in March 2012. The band assembled for this event learned over 25 Grateful Dead songs, and most of those players went on to form the “house band” heard on many of Day of the Dead’s tracks.
The compilation is a wide-ranging tribute to the songwriting and experimentalism of the Dead which took four years to record, and features over 60 artists from varied musical backgrounds, 59 tracks and is almost 6 hours long.
More details can be found here.
Thunder (Vol. 1)
01. The War on Drugs Touch of Grey
02. Phosphorescent, Jenny Lewis & Friends Sugaree
03. Jim James & Friends Candyman
04. Moses Sumney, Jenny Lewis & Friends Cassidy
05. Bruce Hornsby and DeYarmond Edison Black Muddy River
06. Ed Droste, Binki Shapiro & Friends Loser
07. The National Peggy-O
08. Kurt Vile and the Violators (featuring J Mascis) Box of Rain
09. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy & Friends Rubin and Cherise
10. Perfume Genius, Sharon Van Etten & Friends To Lay Me Down
11. Courtney Barnett New Speedway Boogie
12. Mumford & Sons Friend of the Devil
13. Lucius Uncle John’s Band
14. The Lone Bellow & Friends Me and My Uncle
15. Lee Ranaldo, Lisa Hannigan & Friends Mountains of the Moon
16. Anohni and yMusic Black Peter
17. Bryce Dessner Garcia Counterpoint
18. Daniel Rossen, Christopher Bear and The National
(featuring Josh Kaufman, Conrad Doucette, So Percussion
and Brooklyn Youth Chorus) Terrapin Station (Suite)
19. Angel Olsen Attics of My Life
20. Wilco with Bob Weir St. Stephen (live)
Lightning (Vol. 2)
01. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy If I Had the World to Give
02. Phosphorescent & Friends Standing on the Moon
03. Charles Bradley and Menahan Street Band Cumberland Blues
04. The Tallest Man on Earth & Friends Ship of Fools
05. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy & Friends Bird Song
06. The National Morning Dew
07. Marijuana Deathsquads Truckin’
08. Cass McCombs, Joe Russo & Friends Dark Star
09. Nightfall of Diamonds Nightfall of Diamonds
10. Tim Hecker Transitive Refraction Axis for John Oswald
11. Lucinda Williams & Friends Going Down The Road Feelin’ Bad
12. Tunde Adebimpe, Lee Ranaldo & Friends Playing in the Band
13. Local Natives Stella Blue
14. Tal National Eyes of the World
15. Bela Fleck Help on the Way
16. Orchestra Baobab Franklin’s Tower
17. Luluc with Xylouris White Till the Morning Comes
18. The Walkmen Ripple
19. Richard Reed Parry with Caroline Shaw and Little Scream
(featuring Garth Hudson) Brokedown Palace
Sunshine (Vol. 3)
01. Real Estate Here Comes Sunshine
02. Unknown Mortal Orchestra Shakedown Street
03. Hiss Golden Messenger Brown-Eyed Women
04. This Is the Kit Jack-A-Roe
05. Daniel Rossen and Christopher Bear High Time
06. The Lone Bellow & Friends Dire Wolf
07. Winston Marshall, Kodiak Blue and Shura Althea
08. Orchestra Baobab Clementine Jam
09. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks China Cat Sunflower -> I Know You Rider
10. Bill Callahan Easy Wind
11. Ira Kaplan & Friends Wharf Rat
12. The Rileys Estimated Prophet
13. Man Forever, So Percussion and Oneida Drums -> Space
14. Fucked Up Cream Puff War
15. The Flaming Lips Dark Star
16. s t a r g a z e What’s Become of the Baby
17. Vijay Iyer King Solomon’s Marbles
18. Mina Tindle & Friends Rosemary
19. Sam Amidon And We Bid You Goodnight
20. The National with Bob Weir I Know You Rider (live)
