North American Halloween Prevention Initiative

All-Star indie benefit band for UNICEF.

See Arcade Fire, Beck, The Postal Service, Rilo Kiley

Information: Vice Recordings
Suggested First Purchase: "Do They Know It's Halloween?"

"Do They Know It's Halloween?" (2005) -- A satire of all-star benefit songs (especially, of course, "Do They Know It's Christmas?") while also being one, this song was made for UNICEF. Instead of being sappy ("We are the World," even though I like that song) or just dumb ("Do They Know It's Christmas?"--which shows how far celebrities heads are up their asses by not realizing that "they" are not Christian, even though I like this song too), this single is just fun and semi-smart. The song's very messy, trying to fit everyone in (it features people from Beck, The Arcade Fire, Sonic Youth, The Postal Service, Rilo Kiley, and tons more), and it takes a few listens to even figure out what they're trying to say. But the song is cute and good and, besides, we need more Halloween songs. The single disc also contains a radio mix of the song and two remixes.