Though the Grateful Dead has its own humble, timid fanbase, it’s never really achieved much popularity with the indie-rock set, most of whom regard the jam bands it’s spawned about as hostilely as its fans regard people who listen to “indie-rock.” So give credit for bravery to The National for possibly trying to bridge that long-standing divide with a new compilation record of Dead covers performed by the band and its friends. As bassist Scott Devendorf revealed in an interview with Spinner, the group is currently prepping a follow-up to its 2009 compilation Dark Was The Night that will similarly benefit the AIDS charity Red Hot, and while Pitchfork says that its label will only confirm that a sequel is in the offing, Devendorf claims that he’s “shadow curating” (like shadow dancing, only with picking music, we guess) a full-on Dead tribute, one that will shy away from using direct descendants of Jerry Garcia & Co. toward “unusual” artists such as Crystal Castles and Steve Reich. Some slightly more obvious musicians such as Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver have also reportedly expressed interest, while The National itself is considering doing a version of “Box Of Rain” or possibly “Unbroken Chain.” So in short, get ready for all of your friends to reveal suddenly that they were “always into The Dead.”
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