The Cake Sale (album)

The Cake Sale is a 2006 charity album involving the collected works of a group of Irish and international musicians calling themselves The Cake Sale. The album features artists such as Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody, Lisa Hannigan, Damien Rice, Josh Ritter, Glen Hansard, Neil Hannon, members of Bell X1 and Nina Persson of The Cardigans. These were brought together by Brian Crosby, a member of Bell X1 at the time. The album had sold 35,000 copies and raised over €250,000 in Ireland by November 2007.[6] That month it was announced that the album would be released globally to increase donations.[7] It peaked at #3 in the Irish Albums Chart, having spent eighteen weeks there.

The Cake Sale
Studio album by
The Cake Sale
Released10 November 2006 (Ireland)[1]
10 September 2007
(United Kingdom)
16 October 2007
(United States)
RecordedWestland Studios, Dublin, 2006
Length35:00[2]
LabelOxfam Ireland,[2] Yep Roc Records
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
RTÉ[3]
New Noise(favorable)[4]
Pitchfork Media(4.8/10)[5]

Album information

The album was recorded by a group of Irish and international musicians to raise funds for the charity Oxfam Ireland's Make Trade Fair campaign.[7] Proceeds are added to the charity's “unrestricted fund” to support projects in ten African countries, countries such as Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda and Sudan.[7] Crosby said the album's success “completely exceeded expectations”, with the artists hoping it would go gold to cover their costs.[7] All the publishing royalties raised by the album benefit Oxfam as well, an unusual occurrence for a charity album.[7] Worldwide rights were negotiated and a label, Oxfam Publishing, was established to administer the royalties.[7] Oxfam Ireland had little experience in such dealings and left it to the musicians to negotiate the project.[7] Crosby says the album's success has raised the charity's profile and it was released digitally in the United Kingdom on 10 September in the United States on Yep Roc Records on 16 October 2007.[7]

Track listing

The album contains nine tracks and is thirty-five minutes in length.[2]

No.TitleWriter(s)Artist(s)Length
1."Last Leaf"David GeraghtyLisa Hannigan3:07
2."Vapour Trail"Paul NoonanJosh Ritter3:32
3."Black Winged Bird"Emm GrynerNina Persson4:07
4."Some Surprise"Paul NoonanGary Lightbody/Lisa Hannigan3:18
5."All the Way Down"Glen HansardGemma Hayes3:20
6."Too Many People"Ollie ColeGlen Hansard3:42
7."Good Intentions Rust"Conor DeasyConor Deasy3:01
8."Needles"Damien RiceLisa Hannigan4:06
9."Aliens"Matt LunsonNeil Hannon6:31
Total length:35:00

Reaction

The national broadcaster RTÉ gave the album a five star rating, describing it as "a commendable effort by a large group of musicians who genuinely want to help" and saying it was deserving of its rating "if not always for the music then definitely for the effort".[2] "Some Surprise" and "Too Many People" were deemed the type of songs most of the artists would be happy to have as singles.[2] However, RTÉ questioned some of the album's weaknesses such as "Vapour Trail" – described as "not Paul Noonan's best song nor is it Josh Ritter's best performance" – and the Conor Deasy–penned "Good Intentions Rust" – dismissed as "just as lightweight as anything The Thrills have produced".[2]

Live performances

Plans for a full live performance of the album proved difficult to negotiate, with so many artists involved and so much difficulty with scheduling.[7] However, Gary Lightbody and Lisa Hannigan performed an exclusive live duet of the song "Some Surprise" at the 2008 Meteor Awards in Dublin.[8][9]

Chart performance

The Cake Sale spent eighteen weeks in the Irish Albums Chart, peaking at #3.[10]

Chart (2007) Peak
position[10]		 Sales Certification
Irish Albums Chart 3 30,000 2× Platinum[11]

References
  1. "Cake Sale". Archived from the original on 29 December 2008. Retrieved 17 March 2009.
  2. "The Cake Sale". RTÉ. 6 November 2006. Retrieved 14 March 2009.
  3. "RTÉ review". RTÉ.ie.
  4. New Noise review
  5. "The Cake Sale: The Cake Sale". Pitchfork.
  6. "Grey's Anatomy gets an Irish flavour". RTÉ. 23 November 2007. Retrieved 14 March 2009.
  7. "Sweet charity as Cake Sale goes global". The Irish Times. 29 June 2007. Retrieved 14 March 2009.
  8. "Gary Lightbody Surprise". BBC Northern Ireland. 24 January 2008. Retrieved 27 January 2008.
  9. "Watch Meteor Ireland Music Awards on RTÉ.ie". RTÉ. 19 February 2008. Retrieved 14 March 2009.
  10. "Cake Sale – The Cake Sale – Music Charts". acharts. Accessed 17 March 2009.
  11. "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". www.irishcharts.ie.
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