“It seems that music festivals have been popping out of nowhere—the Lilith Fair, HORDE and Lollapalooza, just to name a few. Another example has been the two Tibetan Freedom Concerts, put together by Beastie Boy Adam Yauch. These concerts raised money for the Milarepa Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to the freedom of Tibet, currently under Chinese rule.
For those of you who didn’t have the chance to see the concerts, check out the recently released album which includes tracks by each of the 28 artists who performed last year in New York and bonus tracks from the 1996 concert, held in San Francisco. The artists include the Beastie Boys, U2, Blur, Radiohead, A Tribe Called Quest, Foo Fighters, Bjork, Sonic Youth, The Jon Spenser Blues Explosion, KRS-One, Alanis Morissette, and Rancid. There is indeed something for everyone on this album. Some of my favorite songs are “One” by U2 and “Fake Plastic Trees” by Radiohead.
The album has three CDs, one which can be used as a CD-ROM for your computer, information on how you can get involved with many organizations helping the people of Tibet, and a letter which you can sign and send to the President of the United States asking him to address the issue of Tibet.
The songs on the album don’t all address the theme of Tibet. What counts is that the artists were helping to raise money and, at the same time, making people more aware of Tibet. Buy the album, listen to it, give it a chance. Not only will you be contributing to charity, you’ll also be getting great music. There’s been talk of a third concert sometime in 1998. Check the Milarepa web site for news about it.
For more information on the Milarepa Fund, contact: The Milarepa Fund, 443 Tehama Street, San Francisco, CA 94103.
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.milarepa.org
Phone: 888/Milarepa”
