Future Soundtrack for America

Infobox Album | Name = "Future Soundtrack for America"
Type = Compilation album
Artist = Various artists


Released = August 17, 2004
Recorded = Various
Genre = Alternative, Indie rock, Folk, Hip-hop
Length =
Label = Barsuk Records
Producer = Various
Last album =
This album = "Future Soundtrack for America"
(2004)
Next album =
Reviews =
*"Rolling Stone": Rating|4|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/_/id/6422374 link]
*Allmusic: Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:dm6zefek4gf5~T1 link]
*Pitchfork Media: (7.4/10) [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/comp/barsuk/future-soundtrack-for-america.shtml link]

"Future Soundtrack for America" is a benefit album for Music for America and MoveOn.org released in 2004 by Barsuk Records and McSweeney's and compiled by Spike Jonze and They Might Be Giants' founding member John Flansburgh. Each CD bore the legend, "100% of our profits from this CD will go to non-profit progressive organizations working to involve more Americans in our political process, to advocate for ordinary people and traditional American values, and to help keep the United States a country all of us can be proud of. Thank you for your support." Most songs were either rare or exclusive to this compilation album at the time it was released. The CD was also included in "The Future Dictionary of America", published simultaneously by McSweeney's.

At a They Might Be Giants concert at The Catalyst in Santa Cruz, California, the night before its release, Flansburgh had this to say about the album:"We made some very, very cold, cold calls to our...fake, fake rock friends that we don't even know, to talk them into being on this thing, ladies and gentlemen." He then added, "One more thing: If you're not registered to vote, what's up with that?"

Track listing

# "This Will Be Our Year" - OK Go (a cover of a song by The Zombies)
# "Ain't Got So Far to Go" - David Byrne
# "Game of Pricks" (BBC Evening Session) - Jimmy Eat World (a cover of a song by Guided by Voices)
# "This Temporary Life" - Death Cab for Cutie
# "I Miss You" (James Guthrie Mix) - Blink-182
# "Move On" - Mike Doughty
# "Jerry Falwell Destroyed the Earth" - Ben Kweller
# "Off With Your Head" - Sleater-Kinney
# "Final Straw" (MoveOn mix) - R.E.M.
# "Going for the Gold" (Live) - Bright Eyes
# "The Commander Thinks Aloud" (Future Mix) - The Long Winters
# "Money" - will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas
# "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" - They Might Be Giants (a campaign song from the US presidential election of 1840)
# "The Ballad of David Icke" - Clem Snide
# "Date With the Night" (Live) - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
# "Everything's Ruined" (Acoustic) - Fountains of Wayne
# "Your Legs Grow" - Nada Surf
# "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" (Live on the BBC) - The Flaming Lips
# "Northern Line" - Old 97's
# "Sam Stone" - Laura Cantrell (a cover of a song by John Prine)
# "Day After Tomorrow" - Tom Waits
# "A Distorted Reality Is Now A Necessity To Be Free" - Elliott Smith

External links

* [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000558508 "Billboard" article about "Future Soundtrack for America"]
* [http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2004/7/11.html "The Future Dictionary of America] ", the companion book from McSweeney's