I really don’t know where to begin here. This “review” is the very first I ever write without having listened to the album at least a few times.
So, more than usual, this is not a review but a recommendation. How can anyone éver review a 255 (two hundred and fifty five) track compilation that presents 22 (twenty two) hours (and 45 minutes) of music from all kinds of of artists and bands from the contemporary electronic, ambient and modern classical field?
Charity compilations come in all forms & sizes, but “Touched Two” is one of truly megalomaniac proportions. Even its predecessor, last year’s “Touched” ‘only’ featured half the tracks (123).
(I don’t suppose this means that next year will see a third edition with more than 510 tracks?? Impossible!)
The sheer size of this compilation is the first thing you will notice: be prepared for a massive download of 3.1 Gb for the MP3 version – for the FLAC version you’ll have to reserve more than 12 Gb of disk space.
But, as is always the case: it’s not just the size, it’s what you do with it!
All of these 255 artists have contributed their music for free – all proceeds from this album are donated to Macmillan Cancer Support.
You can help donate by buying this album for GBP 12 (= EUR 16, USD 19) – which is only GBP 0,05 (EUR 0,06, USD 0,07) per track! Or you could pay/donate some more, of course.
A perfect way to end the year!
I guess this is simply enough for a recommendation.
It’s impossible to list all artists, but you can check out the full list (and preview all tracks) on the bandcamp page.
As an appetizer, here’s a (not very representative) selection of some of the better known artists:
808 State, Antonymes, Arovane, Autechre, Bengalfuel, Brambles & Nest,Clem Leek, Dean DeBenedictis, Dub Tractor, Future Sound of London, Hecq, Higher Intelligence Agency, Luke Vibert, Marsen Jules Trio, Mira Calix & Ulrich Schnauss, Offthesky, Olan Mill, Orbital, Plaid, Pleq+Lauki, Porn Sword Tobacco, Port-Royal, Red Snapper, Richard Devine, Richard H. Kirk, Sun Electric, Will Bolton, u-Ziq.
And that’s just to name a few!