The San Francisco-based Shanti Project is such a worthy cause (supporting people living with AIDS and breast cancer) that I'd even recommend a mediocre compilation. Fortunately, this one's pretty damn strong. Like the first two volumes, it collects new and rare tracks from a small assortment of like-minded artists. It took compiler Dylan Magierek four years to follow up the all-female second volume; he was clearly holding out for some choice cuts!

I can't quite put my finger on the theme this time out; after all, what do Arab Strap, Sigur Rós, Califone, Kinski and The Black Heart Procession have in common? Each band contributes two tracks, and there's barely a weak one in the bunch. The truly impressive thing is how well it all fits together, temperamentally speaking. Sigur Rós's "Bium Bium Bambalo" and Arab Strap's "We Know Where You Live" were recorded in different years and countries, yet both are ethereal and languorous, gradually shifting from somber to menacing. On the other hand, Kinski's dark, tremolo-heavy "Semaphore (KEXP radio version)" plays like the inverse opposite to The Black Heart Procession's awakening, sweetly glistening "Exit Out".

Apart from a ringer like Califone's delirious, rousing version of the traditional "Cluck Old Hen", this is melancholy, reflective stuff, yet it's anything but depressing or low-key. Such is the beauty of a life-affirming compilation that benefits a lifesaving organization.