dork

Yeah, these things are usually cynical, slapdash attempts to mine more moolah from the back catalog (watch for A Hip-Hop Tribute to Rick Astley on store shelves any day now), but call me a gullible fool but I'm really looking forward to the upcoming Kinks tribute CD due April 1 from Rykodisc.

The lineup looks pretty strong for one of these things: Fountains of Wayne (whose performance of "Better Things" on Conan a few days after 9/11 was more cathartic than the entire 2-hour-long "A Tribute to Heroes" concert), Jonathan Richman, Ron Sexsmith, Matthew Sweet, Tim O'Brien, Yo La Tengo, Bebel Gilberto and others, including "Waterloo Sunset" done as a duet by Damon Albarn and Ray Davies. (I think "Waterloo Sunset" would have been perfect for Yo La Tengo, but I'm curious to hear what Albarn does with it.)

Full tracklist here.

I don't know, I'm thinking it could be good. On the other hand, there's Rob Zombie's Ramones tribute....

Yancey

Did you know that Yo La Tengo and Ray Davies have recorded an album together? It will come out later this year. They play together here in NYC fairly frequently.

I am one of the Kinks' biggest fans and I am guardedly optimistic about this comp.

dork

No, I didn't! Thanks, that's a definite must-buy for me.

Yeah, the talent is certainly above average and they seem to have avoided the obviousness of "You Really Got Me", "Lola", "Come Dancing", etc. Who knows, maybe they'll do it right.