On July 19th, and imprint called Greyday Records will release a second volume of its “Live From Nowhere Near You” charity compilation. Looking through the first one, out in 2003, a few artists jump out: Spoon, Emily Haines, Brad Hargreaves of Third Eye Blind.
For “Live From Nowhere Near You, Vol. 2,” many of the names may be familiar to you.
Over three discs, musicians including Elliott Smith, Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst with Spoon’s Britt Daniel, the Strokes’ Julian Casablancas and Fabrizio Moretti, Modest Mouse, the Shins’ James Mercer, Wilco, Ryan Adams, Josh Homme (hi, Josh), Sleater-Kinney’s Corin Tucker, the Decemberists’ Chris Funk and John Moen, Daniel Johnston and Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder make up the contributors to tracks. Each song is a collaboration street musicians; the set serves to benefit a Portland, Ore., non-profit Outside In, which aids homeless youth.
A partial list of contributors is available on the Greyday website. It mentions “many” of the songs are previously unreleased or rare.
Two interesting inclusions both set their sites on one particularly dystfunctional arm of the goverment: no, not Congress. The United States Postal Service.
Modest Mouse and “Queens of Country” composer Isaac Brock have “Dead End Job at the Dead Letter Office.” It was recorded back in 1993. It very much sounds like something recorded in 1993. [Via CoS]
And Elliott Smith may be almost eight years dead, but a track of his has been brought back up. Pitchfork has a preview of “Untitled (Mailman Thinks Me Dumb),” a “DAT mix taken from the original recording; a different mix will appear on the album under the title ‘The Real Estate.'”
There’s a good story there, too, on how “Nowhere Near You” organizer Kevin Moyer knew Smith.
Best part? The whole set is $15.