by SHANE SINNOTT

My most pleasant surprise this week, music-wise, came with the discovery that Julie Doiron is making fuzzy electric music again. It seems that a good 10 years of making music unlike that of Eric’s Trip, her former band, has made her feel the urge to revisit that sound. “Consolation Prize,” from her upcoming I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day, harks straight back to 1995 (tinyurl.com/am9vgw), compete with a noise bridge two-thirds of the way through, and the sweet, sad lyrics for which she is known.

You should also be revving yourself up for a couple of big compilation releases coming in February. War Child: Heroes is arriving Feb. 16, and features a lot of big names in a cool arrangement—iconic artists are asked to pick a favourite song and nominate a trusted modern artist to cover it. So Bob Dylan picks “Leopard-Skin Pillbox Hat,” and names Beck to cover it. Proceeds, of course, benefit the War Child organization, which works with children affected by war in Africa and the Middle East. I’m most looking forward to TV on the Radio doing “Heroes” (David Bowie) and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs covering “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker” (Ramones). Based on what’s floating around so far—Hot Chip covering Joy Division’s “Transmission” (tinyurl.com/damsgv)—it might be this decade’s If I Were a Carpenter. Check out those steel drums—dance dance dance.

The day after Heroes comes out, Dark Was the Night is being released, to benefit the Red Hot Organization (which raises funds for HIV/AIDS.) The two-disc set is organized by one of the guys from the National and will feature original material from a who’s-who of indie musicians: Iron & Wine, Spoon, Grizzly Bear, Beirut, Bon Iver etc. Here’s the National’s contribution, “So Far Around the Bend”: tinyurl.com/dfrx6r (“Take a bath/And get high through an apple.”) The Spoon track “Well-Alright,” alas, sounds like a cast-off—hear it at tinyurl.com/ap26dx. Cat Power, meanwhile, delivers with “Amazing Grace” (tinyurl.com/dgx5ac). And one more for the road—“Stolen Houses (Die)” by Iron & Wine, at tinyurl.com/cn4jak, weird mainly because it’s barely 60 seconds long.