A couple weeks ago I reviewed the Rock Back for Nepal Volume 2 and, after hearing Volume 3, now think Volume 3 is the strongest of the three. But not by much as all three are well rounded in their own way. What really drew me to 3, however, was the intensely strong opening by Un.Reason with their track “Blinks”. Their are plenty of hot spots on this well produced third outing such as “Happy Endings (No), Best Selling Dreams”, “Morphosis”, and others. This is truly an international album geared for a multitude of audiences and much more diverse than the previous installments. This is one of those rare occasions that you could say that anyone in the world would find something to their liking on this album. Well done!
About Rock for Nepal:
All three compilations are being supported by several luminaries of the independent rock and shoegaze scene, among others. “Whenever Tom Lugo reaches out to his musical family, you know it’s for a crucial and essential cause. The Rock Back for Nepal CD compilation is no exception,” explains Dean Garcia of seminal shoegaze bands Curve and SPC ECO. “I’m proud to be part of this relief effort / fund raiser for anyone affected by the recent earthquake disaster in Nepal and if I can help or contribute in some way to aid support and assistance to the many displaced people, I will without question. Please support this cause and donate as generously as you can”
Perhaps one of the most renowned personalities in the shoegaze / noise rock spheres, Oliver Ackermann (A Place To Bury Strangers, Skywave) has also lent his support to the cause. “It is a horrible tragedy this destruction of culture and life. I feel lucky that I can use my craft and contribute a song to this fund to help them raise money for relief. If we can all do something to help and give relief for the people of Nepal we should do it now.”
“Great to be among this sparkling array of brilliant artists, coming together for a great cause,” says Marc Joy of Welsh outfit Lights That Change. Alexx Kretov of Canadian-Ukrainian duo Ummagma also expressed hope. “May the common freebie attitude towards indie music fall to the wayside. We hope people will support a higher cause by spending a few dollars and spreading this music far and wide.”
All three volumes are being released at the same time, and will be available through Bandcamp and Amazon.com exclusively, both digitally and on CD. The album artwork and design are by Gardy Perez.
The concept of the Rock Back compilation series was born in 2011, when disaster hit Japan and Tom Lugo, Patetico Recordings’ label owner acted on his empathy for charitable causes and non-profit organizations by reaching out to the community of artists he has in his network. They collectively put together a compilation and the profits were donated to relief efforts. The response was overwhelming, over 100 artists from across the globe joined in the efforts. What was to be a single CD compilation grew into the 8-disc compilation Rock Back for Japan. The compilation series hit the top 10 Indie Rock releases on Amazon.com’s chart for several weeks, with certain volumes holding the number 1 spot.
VOLUME 3 features
Novanta (Italy)
Lunar Twin (USA)
Joaquim Barato (Portugal-Peru)
Withershins (USA)
Un-Reason (Italy)
The Long Knives (USA)
Lazarus (USA)
Salvia (Chile)
This Forever Sky (UK)
Clarence Mayhew (USA)
Corrosive Water (USA)
Sonora Coisa (Brazil)
The Paper Road (Portugal)
Hijos de Paul (Argentina)
Drass (Argentina)
Cthulhu Martini (USA)
Fovea (USA)
Matotumba (Puerto Rico)
Bergegas Mati (Indonesia)
Get Lost, Wire Avenue (Slovakia)
