She is young, she is fun, she is deadly

Because I'm a complete slut for all things Belle & Sebastian, I hauled off half-drunk last night and bought the entire War Child benefit compilation, which is apparently all these bands recording a song on the same day. I was planning on only buying the B&S (only .99 pence, which I believe coverts to about $78 American), but the lineup is impressive, so I went for the whole thing. It'll probably put me into debt thanks to the exchange rate, but it's for a good cause.

The music is about what you'd expect, and about the best you could hope for: a bunch of songs that sound like average-to-good-quality b-sides, ones that surely prompted the bands to exclaim "Enh: it's done" when they were finished recording. But while the quality meter may not soar, it's actually a really pleasant listen. The recording features:

• A typical don't-wake-the-neighbors snore-fest from Radiohead Classic (aka "Radiohead").
• A typical very-nice-but-not-thrilling song from Radiohead Lite (aka "Coldplay").
• A nice song from some band that I know nothing about called Hard-Fi.
• A bordering-on-great instrumental from the Go! Team that (and I know I'm pulling out the predictable comparison here) sounds like it could be a TV show theme song; maybe to, say, M.A.S.H.: The Gulf War. I'm really beginning to love this band.
• Another stoner epic from Gorillaz that's actually kind of pretty.
• A reverbed-out Bloc Party track that's pretty good, but definitely sounds like an album outtake.
• A shoddily-recorded Maximo Park track that's pretty good, but definitely sounds like an album outtake.
• A version of "Happy Xmas War Is Over" by (Boy) George and Antony (sans Johnsons) that I can't decide whether it's unspeakably bad or quite nice. Predictably, Antony makes George sound like absolute shit.
• No lie: a version of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" by Kaiser Chiefs. I'm really beginning to hate this band.
• No lie: a version of "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" by Keane (ooh!) and Faultline (who?). It's really good, actually, but it always bores me a little when bands just pick some unimaginatively-chosen cover when they need to have something for a benefit comp.

It's a rarity: a compliation that's well worth picking up...for the music! But the main attraction for me is the Belle & Sebastian track, "The Eighth Station of the Cross Kebab House". It sounds well-constructed and decent, but maybe a little underwhelming? Then again, that was exactly my first impression of "Take Your Carriage Clock and Shove It", which grew on me enough to take a place in my cherished Best of Belle & Sebastian playlist. This new song features lyrics that are alternately heavy-handed and brilliant, but the last couple of lines are great.

It's in the jukebox, but before you start it up, just guess what style of music they're going for on this one? I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.