Much of mainstream music, in contrast to the indigenous, organic sound the producers of Playing for Change seek to capture during their globe-trotting recording sessions, is produced as commodity. Though this CD’s heart is in the right place, it too falls into the trap of creating an impressive but unimaginative monolith of re-packaged music. Music as a healer of all wounds and an international language—a concept emphasized by the socially conscious organizers of the Playing for Change Foundation—is only repeated as an echo of great original tracks by musicians from New Orleans to Capetown.

Capitalizing on communication technologies, the CD’s producers juxtapose musicians’ performances from all corners of the world on famed songs such as “One Love.” The result is often cacophonous and disconnected, as in the envoy track, “Stand by Me,” in which the simple lyrics of a classic are undermined by a bombardment of multifarious sounds with each passing minute.

Within any compilation, there has to be some cohesive force that holds the tracks together. That cohesion is especially difficult if the contributing artists are not only separated by hundreds of miles, but are also rehashing classics that resist augmentation. What Playing for Change offers is regurgitation and mimesis, two qualities that are, ironically, not at all in the spirit of change. The CD’s conceit is that music unites, but it is undermined by the fact that none of these artists actually recorded with one another in studio. Technology makes it possible to bring people from all continents in contact, but it can also open gulfs of distance between groups of people that are only blocks away from one another.

The result of these digital contributions is a sterile collection that blinks in reverie at classic tracks that have been toyed with a thousand times by stronger musicians. A true revolutionary compilation this is not, and though the Foundation is well-meaning, it has nothing original to offer on the subject of how musical narratives can enlighten and heal. Where Playing for Change was largely organized and produced, more venerable compilations such as The Harder They Come grow out of a palpable social restlessness and larger creative vision. To experience a musical conflagration that remains unequaled in narrative force, revisit the Jimmy Cliff-dominated classic and dispense with the sincere but inauthentic Playing for Change jumble.