It's been a long while since the Wrens offered their fans new sounds. In January 2009 they let us premiere "Marked Up" -- and that was that. This new track "Crescent," a demo for a song that'll show up on the band's followup to the Meadowlands, appears on Dear New Orleans, a 31-track New Orleans benefit compilation arriving on the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. I've only listened to it a couple of times, but it exudes an assured pulse and overall warmth that makes it feel like a familiar, well-worn classic.
(Via P4K)
Dear New Orleans is out 8/24 via Air Traffic Control. Proceeds go to a number of NO nonprofits. The tracklist:
01 OK Go - "Louisiana Land"
02 The Mendoza Line - "Catch a Collapsing Star"
03 The Nightwatchman (Tom Morello) - "Midnight in the City of Destruction"
04 Janet Bean and the Concertina Wire - "My Little Brigadoon"
05 Matt Sweeney and Bonnie "Prince" Billy - "Love in the Hot Afternoon"
06 Paul Sanchez - "Don't Be Sure" (Feat. Shamarr Allen)
07 Alec Ounsworth - "Dr. So and So" (Feat. Al "Carnival Time" Johnson and John Boutte)
08 Steve Earle - "Dixieland"
09 Luke Reynolds - "Flood"
10 Jon Langford - "Last Fair Deal Gone Down"
11 Laura Veirs - "I Can See Your Tracks"
12 Vijay Iyer - "Threnody"
13 Jill Sobule - "Where Is Bobbie Gentry?"
14 Flobots - "Stand Up"
15 Rebecca Gates - "Doos"
16 The Wrens - "Crescent"
17 Indigo Girls - "Kid Fears" (Feat. Brandi Carlile)
18 Timothy Bracy's Collection Agency - "Matching Scars"
19 Nellie McKay - "Late Again"
20 Blind Pilot - "I Buried a Bone"
21 Mirah - "NOLA" (Feat. Thao Nguyen)
22 Allison Moorer - "A Change Is Gonna Come"
23 2nd Chief David Montana - "The Change of Heart Man"
24 Wonderlick - "The American Way"
25 Bonerama - "Mr. Go"
26 Thao Nguyen and Bonerama - "Body"
27 Erin McKeown and Bonerama - "Blackbirds"
28 Nicole Atkins and Bonerama - "When the Levee Breaks"
29 Mike Mills and Bonerama - "Ohio" (Feat. Wayne Kramer and Dave Herlihy)
30 Wayne Kramer and Bonerama - "Kick Out the Jams" (Feat. Mike Mills, Erin McKeown, Nicole Atkins, and Martin Perna)
31 My Morning Jacket and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band - "Carnival Time"
