This May, a Grateful Dead tribute titled Day of the Dead curated by The National’s Aaron & Bryce Dessner will be released. The project has been several years in the making, and so far sounds pretty great. The music is for a good cause, in conjunction with the Red Hot Organization. A note on the project's website reads, "This is the 20th album of original music Red Hot has produced over the past 25 years to help raise awareness and money to fight HIV/AIDS and related health issues."
Above you can listen to a 16+ minute indie rock spin on the Grateful Dead's 1977 prog-rock opus "Terrapin Station." The accompanying video gives a sneak peak of the musicians at work recording the song in what appears to be a church via black-and-white pictures.
The track was a collaboration between members of The National (Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner, and Bryan Davendorf) and Grizzly Bear (Daniel Rossen and Christopher Bear) along with some excellent musicians (see the "CREDITS" above) and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus.
Musically, they reinterpret the song beautifully while incorporating their unique twist with sound production and arrangement. Lush orchestration, rising crescendos, and psychedelic guitar riffs all play a role in delivering this stellar rendition.
Day of the Dead is scheduled to be released on May 20, 2016 via 4AD Records. Pick it up on Amazon. Last month, the record label 4AD shared five Day of the Dead songs recorded by The War on Drugs, Phosphorescent with Jenny Lewis & Friends, Bruce Hornsby with Justin Vernon and DeYarmond Edison, Courtney Barnett, and The National.
For more information about the release, check out dayofthedeadmusic.com. The latest music and news information about the Grateful Dead can be found by visiting their Zumic artist page.
Source: 4AD YouTube