Red Floor Records
2007
Here Is What Is
About This Album
Here Is What Is is the soundtrack to a documentary film of the same name that basically follows artist Daniel Lanois around the world for a year. The album was originally released in late 2007 from Lanois Red Floor records website in DRM-free download versions -- the same price was charged for both the MP3 and FLAC lossless versions. The street date for the CD was March 17, 2008, along with the DVD and a few select screenings of the actual film. The CD comes alone, or in a deluxe, numbered, 3,000-copy "Goldtop Edition" which contains both the CD and an extended cut of the film -- more than an hour of extra footage, a Moleskine Cahier notebook embossed with the title, and three of 12 collectible 5x7 photographs (one signed by Lanois) for $59.99. Ultimately, while packages are nice for the sake of the collector and super fan, and the download concept is great -- offering two different resolutions for the same price (DRM-free of course, take that iTunes) -- it's the music that matters. There are 18 cuts here, some new tracks, and some different versions of old ones. There are a slew of familiar names in the "band" here including Brian and Brady Blade, Garth Hudson, and Daryl Johnson, among others.
Track List (try tracks 2,3,4,6,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15 and 16)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.