In June, lo-fi innovator and New Zealand music legend Chris Knox suffered a debilitating stroke. Since then, Knox has been hard at work on the slippery slope of recovery. In aid of such, a motley crew of friends, peers, and fans have assembled two compact-discs' worth of Knox covers on a fundraising tribute record entitled, funnily enough, Stroke.Initially, super-reclusive Neutral Milk Hotel main man Jeff Mangum was lined up as a contributor, but, alas, Mangum's contribution never arrived, and he remains a figure of pure mystery. Still, indie fans will be able to comfort themselves with a line-up that includes: the Mountain Goats, Yo La Tengo, Lou Barlow, Bill Callahan, Will Oldham, Lambchop, Stephin Merritt, AC Newman, Jay Reatard, and the entire Kiwi rock royalty.
Stroke was just released this week in Knox's homeland —and you can hear one-minute teasers of its every song on the Chris Knox website— but its official world-at-large release will come via the mighty Merge Records in February.
Stroke: Songs for Chris Knox Track List:
(Yellow Disc):
1. Jay Reatard, "Pull Down the Shades"
2. The Checks, "Rebel"
3. The Bleeding Allstars, "Ain't It Nice"
4. Peter Gutteridge, "Don't Catch Fire"
5. The Chills, "Luck or Loveliness"
6. David Kilgour, "Nothing's Going to Happen"
7. The Crying Wolfs, "All My Hollowness to You"
8. Stephin Merritt, "Beauty"
9. Portastatic, "Nostalgia's No Excuse"
10. The Mint Chicks, "Crush"
11. Jay & Sam Clarkson, "I've Left Memories Behind"
12. Skygreen Leopards, "Burning Blue"
13. Shayne Carter, "The Slide"
14. Pumice, "Grand Mal"
15. Hamish Kilgour, "Knoxed Out"
Black Disc:
1. Boh Runga, "Not Given Lightly"
2. Red&Zeke ft. Bill Doss and Neil Cleary, "Bodies"
3. Bill Callahan, "Lapse"
4. Genghis Smith, "Growth Spurt"
5. Yo La Tengo, "Coloured"
6. A.C. Newman, "Dunno Much About Life But I Know How to Breathe"
7. Alec Bathgate, "Glide"
8. Don McGlashan, "Inside Story"
9. Sean Donnelly, "The Outer Skin"
10. Lambchop, "What Goes Up"
11. The Mountain Goats, "Brave"
12. The Tokey Tones (and Friends), "Round These Walls"
13. The Bats, "Just Do It"
14. Will Oldham, "My Only Friend"
15. The Finn Family, "It's Love"
16. Jordan Luck, "Becoming Something Other"
17. The Verlaines, "Driftwood"
18. Lou Barlow, "Song of the Tall Poppy"
19. The Nothing, "Napping in Lapland"
20. Tall Dwarfs, "Sunday Song"
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