Description:

The fit-and-they-know-it bods behind Exercise1 Records had the following brainwave: “Take 50 amazing cutting-edge cult recording artists like Daniel Johnston, MC Lars, Jeremy Warmsley, Emmy the Great, Ladyfuzz, Trademark, Hot Puppies and Piney Gir from the coolest labels like Transgressive, Truck, Fierce Panda and Drowned in Sound. Ask each of them to record an exclusive track exactly 1 minute long for an extremely good cause: The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture. Take all 50 never before released tracks and put them together on one 50-minute CD.”

Which means?

50 minutes and one second, hey my Windows Media Player don’t lie, of some of the most avant-garde artists out there. These tracks are as curious as those fellow shorties, bonsai trees. And the same amount of love and attention has gone in to cultivating them.

Is it much cop?

“Someone call 999, Richard Hawley's been robbed,” quipped Arctic Monkey Alex Turner on taking the stage to receive the £20,000 Mercury Music prize. As befits an oft-neglected function of comedy, he was making a serious point in a funny way. With sentiment-filled titles such as ‘Hate Monsters Love Shirts’, ‘Shoe People Unite’, and, possibly, ‘Kaputchawoonga’, the contributors to this compilation follow Turner’s lead.

How many good tracks?

A solid half century. Nothing more. And nothing less.

And the worst?

MC Lars’ ‘If I Had a Time Machine’ will divide the nation like Marmite. The self-styled post-punk laptop rapper cites the likes of Public Enemy, the Bloodhound Gang, "Weird Al" Yankovic, and Nine Inch Nails as influences, and boy doesn’t it show. What I can say: I like Marmite.

Biggest disappointment?

That there’s a need for The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture. There’s nothing disappointing about the album. Whatsoever.

Verdict:

Ordinarily, you’ll buy a charity album out of a sense of contrition. With the quality on this album, you’ll be rewarded for dipping into your pocket. This is one hell of a guilty pleasure.

(5/5)