Album Review: Live From Nowhere Near You: Volume 2

Few things inspire pride in the human condition more than when people lend not only their time to worthy causes but their talents as well.  The charity album is not a new idea, but few have the twist of musicians being on the album with many of the very people they are working to help.  This is the concept of Kevin Moyer's "Live From Nowhere Near You: Volume 2".  It is described on the cover as "A Benefit Concept CD: Collaborating Street Musicians + Professionals with the Profits Going to the Homeless and Street Youth Programs of Charity OUTSIDE IN".  A worthy cause indeed, and with 3 CDs, 64 songs, 80+ contributors, and over 3 and half hours of music, many hours and talents were lent in the making of this project.

The album has a jaw dropping line up including: The Strokes, Modest Mouse, The Dandy Warhols, Ryan Adams, Bright Eyes, The Helio Sequence, Wilco, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and members of many other popular bands like Pearl Jam, The Shins, Menomena, and The Decemberists.  Much of it is brand new music, but there are also special previously unreleased demos and acoustic versions of old favorites.

Of course it falls into the common pitfalls of any compilation albums, with artists of such variety and differing genres, of inconsistency and frantic concerns of where it is going next.  But considering the subject matter of the album these issues are not only appropriate but add a tangible feel to the sense of immersion.  "The Streets" are woven throughout and are a reoccurring character reminding the listener not to assume they know what is coming around the next corner.  Musical interludes like the take off of the Jimi Hendrix classic "Little Wings" called "Winging it" by Skeeter, and "A Piano in New York" by Thomas Lauderdale of Pink Martini move the story forward as the journey from block to block continues.


From solid instrumental hip-hop beats like "One Violin, One DJ", to the playfully downtrodden country twang of "Two Tavern Town" the songs are as diverse and individual as the people who will benefit from them.  Daniel Johnston's sweetly disarming version of his classic song "Grievances" filled with raw emotion, brutal honesty, and wide-eyed hope is an unlikely centerpiece for such a grand and vast project, but it just fits, and seems to best describe the tenor of the entire album.  Other acoustic stand outs include Joe Whaley's "Save Me From Destruction", "One Fine Day" by Matt Brown of The Robots, and a version of "Caring is Creepy" by James Mercer that every self respecting fan of The Shins had better have in their library.

Float With Me - The Columbia River

Wilco's cover of Woodie Guthrie's "Someday Some Morning Sometime", Tyler Coyle's "Scaffolding", Joe Purdy's "Troubadour", Jordan White's "Frank and Judy", and "The Best Noise" by Nathan Jr. of Duover are all supremely lovely examples of chilled out, new millennium, alternative music.  While the simple slow pace of "The Columbia" by Danny Seim of Menomena is so reminiscent of lazing down current in an inner tube that you might need a towel and sun block.

Some of the more upbeat tunes include the cover "Mercy, Mercy Me (The Ecology)" by Eddie Vedder, The Strokes, and Josh Homme of QOTSA and TCV (that's a helluva line up), the wonderful bluesy romp "Ain't that Loving You" by Carlos Guitarlos and Mike Watt, and the jangling "Heart Disease" by The Helio Sequence that elicits thoughts of a certain mop top foursome when they were still in The Cavern Club and couldn't yet shave.

Live From Nowhere Near You: Volume 2 is extensive and eclectic but never loses focus on the topic at hand.  Great thought and care was put into both the performances and the production.  It is well worth the time and effort.  If people sharing their time and talents for worthy causes should inspire pride, then Kevin Moyer and every contributing artist should be quite proud of this album.  But just as much for the quality of the product as for the reason they made it.

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