Alert: Planned Site Outage Tonight: Tue. July 28th, 9pm-Midnight PST
my care2
make a difference

community

shares

share your passions, stories, inspirations, and more

Colours are Brighter.Children's songs to Save the Children.
Oct 11, 2006


Colours are Brighter is a thirteen track compilation of children's songs recorded by the likes of Belle and Sebastian, Snow Patrol, Franz Ferdinand, Four Tet, Kathryn Williams and The Divine Comedy. It will be released on Rough Trade Records on 16th October 2006 and all the proceeds go to Save The Children.

Colours are Brighter - Save the Children

Franz Ferdinand, Snow Patrol, The Kooks and Four Tet are amongst the artists contributing to a collection of childrens songs curated by Belle and Sebastian, to raise funds for children's charity, Save the Children. Colours are Brighter will be released on Rough Trade on October 16th, with all profits and artist royalties from the record being donated to the charity.

A while in the making, but well worth the wait, the album contains twelve tracks, the vast majority of which have been specially recorded for the project over the past two years. The full track listing hides a number of stories
1. Four Tet featuring Princess Watermelon - Go Go Ninja Dinosaur
2. Rasputina - A Skeleton Bang
3. Franz Ferdinand - Jackie Jackson
4. Snow Patrol - I Am An Astronaut
5. The Divine Comedy - Three Cheers For Pooh, Cottleston Pie, Piglet Ho
6. The Kooks - The King & I
7. Half Man Half Biscuit - David Wainwright's Feet
8. The Barcelona Pavilion - Tidy Up Tidy Up
9. Jonathan Richman - Our Dog Is Getting Older Now
10.Belle and Sebastian - The Monkeys Are Breaking Out The Zoo
11.Ivor Cutler Trio - Mud
12. The Flaming Lips - The Big Ol' Bug Is The New Baby Now
13. Kathryn Williams - Night Baking

Snow Patrols track is a cover version of a much sought after 7 recorded in 1972 by the then 11 year old Ricky Wilde, brother of Kim, son of Marti, who is also the author of the song. The Ivor Cutler track was produced by George Martin and featured on the Apple-released album, Ludo. Permission for its use on The Colours Are Brighter was given by Cutlers son, Jonathan. Neil Hannon of the Divine Comedy performed a medley of three pieces from the pen of A.A.Milne for the release, whilst Jonathan Richman flouted medical advice to record his track. He had been ordered to give his voice full rest after a problem with his vocal chords had been diagnosed, but ventured on for the cause.

Alex Kapranos, Franz Ferdinand, on the band's involvement:-
"We were very happy to record for Colours are Brighter album since, like most people in bands, we tend to think like children anyway. When I was a kid I hated songs that were too nice. I didn't care about whether the wheels on the bus went round or if we were going to the zoo tomorrow. Me and my brother used to make up revolting words for pop songs instead. I used to love stories that were gory, particularly Roald Dahl, Shock Headed Peter and Grimm Fairy Tales. Jackie Jackson is from that world - he's a horrible boy who meets a horrible end. It's also an amazing honour to be on the same album as Ivor Cutler, Jonathan Richman and Half Man Half Biscuit - all musical icons. I had a safe and happy childhood, but not everyone is that lucky. Save the Children is a charity that quietly works hard at making life better for children around the world who suffer because of the situation around them."

Kieran Hebden, AKA Four Tet, on Go Go Ninja Dinosaur:-
"My basic idea for the track was to get straight to the point and really do something that I thought little kids would like, rather then just take a childrens song and produce it in my normal adult style. I came up with the idea for Ninja Dinosaur from thinking about ideas in cartoons and stuff that I was into when I was a kid... Bananaman, Super Gran, Mysterious Cities Of Gold, Dogtanion...all pretty mental concepts really. I would be heavily into the theme tunes from these things, and would usually be perfectly happy if the song was just the name of the character repeated again and again over some cheap casio keyboard sounds. So with all this in my head I made Go Go Ninja Dinosaur."

Gary Lightbody, Snow Patrol, on I Am An Astronaut:-
"We wanted to make our version of the song sound as if it was made in space primarily. There are two ways to do this. You can make it in spacealthough this is tricky as it involves actually becoming an astronaut. The training alone takes years and I've heard you need to be very good at mathematics for some reason, and I'm not very good at maths at all. This only leaves one other optionthat we give the song a spacey feel. So we sprinkled some space dust (that we bought at a special market) on top of the song, and now it sounds like it was made far above the earth. Really it was made in a studio in Ireland, but if you don't tell anyone I won't either."
Hmmm now theres a man with an overactive imagination.

The Monkeys Are Breaking Out The Zoo is the first Belle and Sebastian track ever to have featured Mick Cooke (bassist/trumpet player, and the Belles band member primarily responsible for envisaging/bringing together this fantastic release) on lead vocals. He describes it as his "own Ringo-esque contribution to the band". Monkey noises are courtesy of bandmates, Chris Geddes and Richard Colburn. The Belles track in fact provided the impetus for the album to come together, as Cooke explains:
"I woke up one morning with a song in my head about monkeys breaking out of the zoo. We recorded the song at our own studio in Glasgow, which turned out to be a lot of fun, as I found myself chucking bricks into Glasgows river Kelvin, minidisc recorder in hand, and screaming like a monkey with Chris and Richard. Having recorded the song, the band began to decide what on earth to do with it. Someone suggested compiling an album of songs for children by lots of different bands, with the proceeds going to charity. So that's what we did."

On completion of that particular track, other artists were approached with a view to contributing. Most were intrigued by the challenge of writing a song for children that would not irritate their existing, adult fans (and parents).

"It wasn't too difficult in the end," says Cooke. "It basically involved speaking to friends, bands we had toured with and people, like Kieran Hebden, Half Man Half Biscuit and The Kooks, that we thought would get the idea and come up with something unique and original."

"Save the Children were an instant and obvious choice of beneficiary, as they are, perhaps, the best childrens charity," explains Cooke. "The work they do is global, concentrating on helping children in developing countries, and in areas which have been torn apart by war. Their workers put their lives at risk every day to save lives and educate."


Save the Children fights for children in both the UK and around the world who suffer from poverty, disease, injustice and violence, working with them to find lifelong answers to the problems they face. Funds raised from the sale of Colours Are Brighter will go straight to Re-write the Future, a global Save the Children campaign aimed at providing eight million children living in conflict-affected countries with education, offering them protection, stability and opportunities where they would otherwise have none. Almost half a million children live in conflict affected countries where they are at risk of being displaced, forced to fight, sexually exploited or used as labour. Many see friends and relatives die and are more vulnerable to malnutrition and disease. Schools provide children with a safe place which equips them with the skills to look after themselves, and provides them with better prospects for their future.

Colours are Brighter is released by Rough Trade on 16th October.
Visibility: Everyone
Posted: Wednesday October 11, 2006, 12:53 am
Tags: children music charity poverty [add/edit tags]

Group Discussions start a discussion
Comments
Or, log in with your
Facebook account:
Compose your comment and submit:

Author

Shalott T.
Author Tools:
Compose New Share
female , single
Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
SHALOTT'S SHARES
Jan
23
(0 comments  |  discussions )
Season For Non-violence : changing the world one person at a time Inspired by the 50th and 30th memorial anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi and and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,the Season For Non-violence will take place around the world from January 30th...
Dec
27
(0 comments  |  discussions )
Reclaiming the season from adbusters.org "Inspired by the international successes of Buy Nothing Day, and disgusted with the personal debt, spiritual emptiness, and ecological damage that the holiday season now entails, writers and activists bega...
Oct
31
(0 comments  |  discussions )
The state of our planet is a little spooky right now. Human activity and modern conveniences are taking a significant toll on the plants, animals, and natural resources we rely on. Climate change, species extinction, and other urgent environmental iss...
Oct
16
(0 comments  |  discussions )
October 16 ~ End Hunger DayThere is more than enough food in the world so that no one need ever go hungry. Those who wish for a more peaceful, just and sustainable world are helping to make ending world hunger a major priority. In fact, all of the wor...


ads keep care2 free
SHARES FROM SHALOTT'S NETWORK
Nov
9
by Team O.
(0 comments  |  discussions )
Anders als allseits erwartet, hat die Quote die 10%-Marke überschrit ten und das ist ein erneuter harter Schlag für Obama.http://www.heise.de /tp/r4/artikel/31/31460/1 .htmlhttp://freepage.twod ay.net/search?q=Obamahttp ://fre...
by Team O.
(0 comments  |  discussions )
Ein Grund, so eine Studie, könnte sein, dass die US-Medien sehr einseitig berichten und damit die Wahrnehmung des Krieges stark beeinflussen.http://www.h eise.de/tp/r4/artikel/31/ 31458/1.html
by Team O.
(0 comments  |  discussions )
LA Times 11/08/09 The Afghan Foreign Ministry says a U.N. envoy’s demands ‘violated respect for Afghanistan’s national sovereignty.’ A NATO airstrike that killed Afghan soldiers and police threatens to w...
by Team O.
(0 comments  |  discussions )
Straits Times 11/07/09 THOUSANDS of residents of JapanÂ’s southern island of Okinawa Saturday staged a protest against the presence of the US military on the eve of a major rally against a controversial airbase.Some 2,500 people living in K...
by Team O.
(0 comments  |  discussions )
Fox News Forum by John Tantillo 11/04/09 Folks, weÂ’re at the one year mark. ItÂ’s been exactly a year since Barack Obama was elected president and the question must be asked: How is Brand Obama doing? Take a look through the mar...


ads keep care2 free
MORE MESSAGE
Nov 8
Message: Sammie needs you today by Its Meow or Nev A.
(0 comments  |  discussions ) — Sammie was born feral and we've done a lot to make sure she's adoptable. She is still very shy but very gentle, like her mama, Kira. Because she has spent most of her young life running away from people, her first instinct is to hide from you, but onc... more
Message: Kira needs you by Its Meow or Nev A.
(0 comments  |  discussions ) — Kira is a sweet, loving, and communicative kitty. She is a Calico, and appears to have been abandoned since she's very trusting now of people and not at all skiddish like she used to be. She's always purring, always down for a petting. She's box train... more
Message: ChipIn Page 4 My Sister Shannon's Leukemia Expenses by Rebecca E.
(0 comments  |  discussions ) — Please contribute if you can. I am also looking for a bed for her, she is sleeping on the floor right now and she only lives on ssi so she can not afford a bed. I wish I could help her but I have no income and I have lupus and 3 special needs children... more
Message: daily Bible verse by Ingrid F.
(0 comments  |  discussions ) — Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what ... more
Message: thanks for the heads up on the "netfirstplatinum by Barbara P.
(0 comments  |  0 discussions ) — i would have been stuck if it was't for 345879625 thanks again111 more
 
Content and comments expressed here are the opinions of Care2 users and not necessarily that of Care2.com or its affiliates.
Copyright © 2009 Care2.com, inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved