A new charity album sees the best rock and dance acts from Irish independent labels collaborate on tracks. All the profits from ‘Collaborations: The Best of the Irish Independent Music Scene’, released by Crimson Entertainment, will go to the Chernobyl Children's Project, an Irish-based charity which has links to Bono's wife, Ali Hewson.
Among the artists involved is Pogues frontman Shawn MacGowan, who has re-recorded that band's classic ‘A Rainy Night In Soho’ set to a dance backdrop from the project's coordinator, Liam Clarke of Dublin's Sound Training Centre and his musical partner, Tom Watson. Indie rock outfit Sack is given a complete dance makeover by Dublin-based electro experimentalists Decal, while Northern Irish acoustic-based singer/songwriter Juliet Turner is remixed by Dublin dance mainstay Razor. And of particular interest is the collaboration between Cara Dillon - a singer of traditional Irish ballads – and a bunch of beat-oriented studio boffins (Daniel Figgis, Dave Donahue, and Mark Clarke), transforming the traditional ‘Spencer the Rover’ into a club-friendly dance anthem.
Talking about the project to Billboard, Liam Clarke said: "I had observed that a lot of Irish artists had been either dropped from their major label deals or else were finding it difficult to get signed. So there seemed to be a kind of development of the independent attitude where they were starting to do it themselves. First of all, they would collaborate with other artists and would financially pitch in to release stuff. So I decided to put together an album to celebrate this vibrant independent scene. On top of that, I wanted to help out the Chernobyl Children's Project. The artists agreed that all money raised would go to the charity. It meant that the artists had an impetus to try and do the best that they could with their tracks, so egos were left to one side."
Collaborations’ is currently only available in Ireland, but Clarke hopes to negotiate a UK and if possible Europe-wide release soon.