Various - Thirty One

  by Spencer Robertshaw

published: 28 / 2 / 2012

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CALM is charity set up to deal with depression, and in particular the deep horrendous type of depression that drives young sensitive and talented young men under the age of 35 to commit suicide. Suicide is the single biggest killer of young men in the UK. CALM has its roots in Manchester and its freephone number is currently is open on Saturday, Sunday, Mondays and Tuesdays, but their aim is to run the helpline service every day and every hour of those days so if someone needs to reach out and get that help it could be the difference between life and death. All the bands on this CD have donated the tracks so that any profits can help with the long term aims of CALM. When the project was first launched in 1997, it had the backing and help of the great late Tony Wilson from the legendary Factory Records. He was an incredible man who always focused on the people and never the pound note – Some may say that’s the wrong way round things, but Tony Wilson went on to become the founding trustee of the charity, and it helped to raise money to help these unfortunate young men . Wilson saw first hand what depression can do when Ian Curtis from the band Joy Division and Factory’s first big signing took his own life in 1980. If CALM had been around, then we would probably still have Curtis today, and that band which would go on to further fame under the new name of New Order would not have had to change its name and to suffer so much sorrow. Unfortunately Tony Wilson passed away from cancer in 2007. He only had 57 years on this earth, and I think the adage “Only the good die young” fits him perfectly. 57 is young and Wilson was one of music’s good guys. And so on to ‘Thirty One’. £7.00 from the sale of each CD go directly to the charity which is a sizable amount, and if sales figures get near expectations CALM will meet its goal and keep its freephone lines open 24/7 - 365 days a year. The lives it will help to save will probably be many, but even if it is only one life that it saves then it will all be worth it. The pressures of living in today’s society are tremendously large and unrelenting, so it is easy to see why a young man could be put under so much pressure that he takes his own life. It, however, is a permanent solution to a temporary problem, and if somehow someone can get that person to pick up the phone and dial then that could be all that was needed to save that life, and also stop the tremendous pain and pressure it must put on the partners and family/friends of that individual. Is the album any good? Bloody hell, it is bloody good. It is a compilation of tracks by well-known bands and the not so well known, but the quality of each and every track is superb. Alongside artists like Elbow, Mr Scruff, Durutti Column and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, there are other acts like the Beating Wing Orchestra, the Whips and No Ceremony. I have named just a handful, but please do not think that any other band on this album doesn’t deserve to be here. The mixture and quality of every track on here is first-rate. It is put together with the love and stylings that made the original Factory ethos so beautiful, even involving Factory’s original sleeve designer, Peter Saville. If the always high quality BBC 6 Music and Factory (with a tiny little input from Radio One) made a compilation, then this would undoubtedly be it. I cant recommend this double cd highly enough. It is thirty one tracks of pure excellence which you will never get bored of listening to. It is such a shame that Tony Wilsn is no longer here to listen to this cracking album ,and a shame that Ian Curtis was a generation behind where he needed to be, but CALM is here and with a good wind behind them they have a good chance of helping in these tough times.

Track Listing:-

1 The Sun & The Sea
2 Lippy Kids
3 Carry Me Home
4 Spider Glider
5 Undoneath
6 Never
7 Chin Up
8 Marble
9 Requiem Away
10 Wake
11 Sema
12 Wearme
13 Start You Again
14 Crystalline/Dawn Chorus
15 Bigger Wheels
16 Feed The Fire
17 Washed Out
18 Secret Weapon
19 Reason I Feel Like An Alien
20 Summertime
21 La Luna
22 Band Murder
23 Paperweight
24 The Ink
25 Put It On
26 Rise Fast, Fall Slow
27 Oh Brother
28 Fear Of Landing
29 Let The Lord Shine A Light On Me

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