Music for the Little Creatures

This is an excellent compilation of tunes from a decidedly diverse group of artists. For those who pay attention to categories, In Defense 2 has representatives from all over the '90s pop music spectrum. You will hear rap, techno, hard rock, instrumental, punk and fusions of any two or more of these styles.

This benefit kicks off with the short 'Brighton Rock' by Elastica, and an exclusive White Zombie re-mix of "Electric Head Pt 2". The Beastie Boys chime in with "Son of Neckbone," one of those '70s style jams they're so good at... hell, the Beasties are getting so accomplished at this type of instrumental, it seems they invented the '70s style themselves. Other contributors include Bjork with the techno 'Enjoy'; KRS One rapping 'The Truth' about God; and Belly who is holding out for a 'Spaceman'. Meat Beat Manifesto's track 'We Done It Again,' and 'Amnesty Report' from Mike Watt, each stick to the topic at hand and utilize appropriated sounds to convey their messages about human destruction and blunder.

The highlight of this release, in fact, the reason I purchased the disc at all, is a new song by one of my favorite groups, Alice Donut. "Moon Pie" is the last recording you're likely to hear from this punk outfit from New York. There's a down-home honky tonk vibe to this song at first, giving way to a more thrash-oriented anti-gun chorus. [Alice Donut broke up in late 1995 after eight years of recording and touring. All of their releases are handled by Alternative Tentacles with the exception of some compilation appearances (such as this one) and a selection of hard-to-find singles.]

To round the benefit out, there are tracks by The Chemical Brothers, Ruby, Moby, PJ Harvey, Massive Attack V Mad Professor, Aleka's Attic and Morphine.

This is a great disc. I bought it for one song and ended up liking almost the entire thing. Perhaps you will too. And, more importantly, In Defense of Animals 2 was put together in support of a great cause: to help raise funds for fighting animal abuses around the world. As you can expect from such a benefit project, the cd booklet serves as a manifesto on how to live in harmony with animals. It includes quotes on the subject from historical figures and noted authors alike including Alice Walker, Martin Luther King Jr. , Dr. Albert Schweitzer, Thomas Edison, Cesar Chavez and others.

–Mattro