Publications
Partners
New York - Top names in indie rock including The National, Grizzly Bear and Courtney Barnett will cover the Grateful Dead on a giant album to raise money to fight HIV Aids.
Day of the Dead, a five-CD set that will come out worldwide on 20 May and be followed by a limited-edition vinyl edition, is the latest project to benefit the Red Hot Organisation which raises awareness and fights the effects of HIV Aids worldwide.
Brothers Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National organised the album, saying that the Grateful Dead, the legendary hippy-era jam band, had a massive impact on them as they were growing up in Ohio.
"The brothers were drawn not just to the Dead's songwriting, but also to the detail, spontaneity and depth in the instrumentation," a statement announcing the album said on Thursday.
The album is divided into three themes - thunder, lightning and sunshine - and closes with Dead guitarist Bob Weir joining The National on I Know You Rider, a blues standard that the San Francisco band regularly played in concert.
Among other highlights, Bruce Hornsby - a singer who has frequently performed with the Dead - collaborates with DeYarmond Edison, the predecessor band to introspective folk rockers Bon Iver.
Other major names include the ethereal-voiced Anohni, best known for Anthony and the Johnson; flamboyant psychedelic rockers The Flaming Lips; Kurt Vile - who performs with grunge godfather J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr - as well as Stephen Malkmus of 1990s indie rock icons Pavement.
Grammy-winning folk revivalists Mumford & Sons will perform one of the Dead's best-known songs, Friend of the Devil, and alternative rockers Wilco will also team up with Weir.
The Grateful Dead were one of the most influential bands that emerged from the 1960s counterculture, developing an unprecedented relationship with fans who would avidly travel from show to show.
The Grateful Dead - whose most famous member, Jerry Garcia, died in 1995 - last year performed in California and Chicago what they said would be their final shows, although most members keep touring under the name Dead and Company.
The Dessner brothers earlier organised a 2009 compilation for the Red Hot Organisation, Dark Was the Night, that focused on American roots music and also brought in major indie rockers.
That album raised more than $1.5m, the organisation said.
The charity's first album, 1990's Red, Hot and Blue, focused on covers of Cole Porter and produced hits for U2 and Neneh Cherry.
Check out the album artwork and tracklist below:
Day of the Dead:
Thunder (Vol. 1):
01 The War on Drugs: "Touch of Grey"
02 Phosphorescent, Jenny Lewis & Friends: "Sugaree"
03 Jim James & Friends: "Candyman"
04 Moses Sumney, Jenny Lewis & Friends: "Cassidy"
05 Bruce Hornsby and DeYarmond Edison: "Black Muddy River"
06 Ed Droste, Binki Shapiro & Friends: "Loser"
07 The National: "Peggy-O"
08 Kurt Vile and the Violators: "Box of Rain" [ft. J Mascis]
09 Bonnie "Prince" Billy and Friends: "Rubin and Cherise"
10 Perfume Genius, Sharon Van Etten & Friends: "To Lay Me Down"
11 Courtney Barnett: "New Speedway Boogie"
12 Mumford & Sons: "Friend of the Devil"
13 Lucius: "Uncle John's Band"
14 The Lone Bellow & Friends: "Me and My Uncle"
15 Lee Ranaldo, Lisa Hannigan & Friends: "Mountains of the Moon"
16 Anohni and yMusic: "Black Peter"
17 Bryce Dessner: "Garcia Counterpoint"
18 Daniel Rossen, Christopher Bear and the National: "Terrapin Station (Suite)" [ft. Josh Kaufman, Conrad Doucette, So Percussion and Brooklyn Youth Chorus]
19 Angel Olsen: "Attics of My Life"
20 Wilco and Bob Weir: "St. Stephen (Live)"
Lightning (Vol. 2):
01 Bonnie "Prince" Billy: "If I Had the World to Give"
02 Phosphorescent & Friends: "Standing on the Moon"
03 Charles Bradley and Menahan Street Band: "Cumberland Blues"
04 Tallest Man on Earth & Friends: "Ship of Fools"
05 Bonnie "Prince" Billy & Friends: "Bird Song"
06 The National: "Morning Dew"
07 Marijuana Deathsquads: "Truckin'"
08 Cass McCombs, Joe Russo & Friends: "Dark Star"
09 Nightfall of Diamonds: "Nightfall of Diamonds"
10 Tim Hecker: "Transitive Refraction Axis for John Oswald"
11 Lucinda Williams & Friends: "Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad"
12 Tunde Adebimpe, Lee Ranaldo & Friends: "Playing in the Band"
13 Local Natives: "Stella Blue"
14 Tal National: "Eyes of the World"
15 Bela Fleck: "Help on the Way"
16 Orchestra Baobab: "Franklin's Tower"
17 Luluc With Xylouris White: "Till the Morning Comes"
18 The Walkmen: "Ripple"
19 Richard Reed Parry with Caroline Shaw and Little Scream: "Brokedown Palace" [ft. Garth Hudson]
Sunshine (Vol. 3):
01 Real Estate: "Here Comes Sunshine"
02 Unknown Mortal Orchestra: "Shakedown Street"
03 Hiss Golden Messenger: "Brown Eyed Woman"
04 This Is the Kit: "Jack-a-Roe"
05 Daniel Rossen and Christopher Bear: "High Time"
06 The Lone Bellow & Friends: "Dire Wolf"
07 Winston Marshall, Kodiak Blue and Shura: "Althea"
08 Orchestra Baobab: "Clementine Jam"
09 Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks: "China Cat Sunflower - I Know You Rider"
10 Bill Callahan: "Easy Wind"
11 Ira Kaplan & Friends: "Wharf Rat"
12 The Rileys (Terry and Gyan Riley): "Estimated Prophet"
13 Man Forever, So Percussion and Oneida: "Drums - Space"
14 Fucked Up: "Cream Puff War"
15 The Flaming Lips: "Dark Star"
16 s t a r g a z e: "What's Become of the Baby"
17 Vijay Iyer: "King Solomon's Marbles"
18 Mina Tindle & Friends: "Rosemary"
19 Sam Amidon & Friends: "And We Bid You Goodnight"
20 The National With Bob Weir: "I Know You Rider (live)"
