The Big Noise

Disclaimer: this post was written in December 2023, and scheduled for future posting. Its contents may no longer be accurate or appropriate.

Remember when broadsheet newspapers used to give CDs away at weekends? Those were good times, weren't they? So often the source of new music or, as is the case for this post, rare tracks or curios from established acts.

All of which pre-amble leads us to a cardboard slipcased CD entitled The Big Noise, given away by The Guardian exactly 21 years ago today. It was produced in collaboration with Oxfam, to highlight the latter’s “Make Trade Fair” campaign. Amongst other things, the CD included tracks from Coldplay, Lemon Jelly, The Chemical Brothers, Mali Music (featuring Damon Albarn and Afel Bocoum), The Sakala Brothers and Ladysmith Black Mambazo (featuring, somewhat incredibly, Archbishop Desmond Tutu). That's quite the line-up. However, it was the other two tracks I was interested in. First up, a rare-ish demo version of Where I End And You Begin by Radiohead.

And as if that wasn't enough, there was also a rare-ish live recording of The Lifting from REM. Originally the opening track on the album Reveal, this version was recorded live by Pat McCarthy at the Museum of Television and Radio, New York City, on May 18th, 2001 (four days after Reveal was released).

There, that was good, wasn't it? Which did you prefer? I miss free CDs... I miss broadsheet freebies in general... but then, what don't I miss? Sigh.