Do Good Things With Music

On October 16, 2007 New Jersey's Eyeball Records released Eyeball Awareness Volume 1, an indie rock music compilation that donated part of its proceeds toward To Write Love On Her Arms, a non-profit group that offers hope and help to young people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. The comp featured tight melodic tracks from Baumer, New Atlantic, Sleep Station, Jettie and others. While Awareness was by no means the only benefit collection released in '07, it capped off a renewed period of aural artist activism.

From Al Gore's Live Earth concerts to smaller events happening at local community and all-ages spaces around the country, to the myriad consciousness-raising albums and comps, bands and musicians are once again on the frontlines of social change making noise and being heard.

In that spirit comes The Green Owl Comp: A Benefit for the Energy Action Coalition, dropping April 8, with proceeds going to a collective that comprises more than 40 organizations from across the U.S. and Canada, founded and led by youth to help support and strengthen the student and youth clean energy movement in North America. New York-based Green Owl is run by musicians Ben Brewer (The Exit, The Appletrees), Ellenike Abreu (The Appletrees) and Stephen Glicken who aim to find ways to present art in a sustainable way. Yeah, it's for a good cause, but is the music hot?

The two-disc set features Canada's Feist, Wu-Tang emcee Ghostface Killah, a new remix of Bloc Party's "The Prayer," noise-experimentalists Deerhoof, Of Montreal, The Exit, Pete Yorn and many more. So, yeah, I'd say its worth the price of admission!

Also in April, Shout Factory will issue In The Name of Love: Africa Celebrates U2. Say what you want about Bono Inc. but the man was instrumental in putting poverty and debt relief on the G8's table. And this ain't no dodgy set of covers, it's a largely traditional set featuring Africa's best, including Mali's Vieux Farka Toure, Cameroon's Les Nubians, Nigeria's Tony Allen and Angelique Kidjo among many other big names. Each artist interprets the Irish rock group's music via African styles, including both modern and traditional Afrobeat, Highlife, Makossa and Wasoulou rhythms mixed with soul, R&B and hip-hop elements.

The liner notes include demographic information, e.g., each artist's country of origin, date of independence, population size, main export, major issue facing the region, recent actions taken to improve its current state, and relevant websites with additional information. A portion of In The Name proceeds will directly benefit The Global Fund, the world's largest international financier of the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

As young people continue to rock the vote, run the primaries and generally drive change in our world, it's good to note that we can have a good time, and do good things with music too!