An impressive line-up of well-known artists have contributed tracks to two charity compilations, in an effort to raise funds and increase public awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Sudan. Below are two press release from two recent compilation efforts.

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New Album Released To Raise Money For Sudan Crisis

Music industry stars including David Gray, R.E.M., Badly Drawn Boy, Ash and Faithless are today releasing a new album, 'Songs for Sudan' to raise money to help the people of Darfur, Western Sudan.

As the crisis in Darfur continues and as the international community seems unable to take firm action to stop it, 'Songs for Sudan' has been released to raise money for the work Oxfam is doing to help the victims of the conflict.

Releasing 'Songs for Sudan' Badly Drawn Boy (Damon Gough), who has contributed a track for the album said, "Men, Women and Children are still dying everyday in Sudan. People like us might not have the power to stop the violence but at least we can try and help the people who are affected by it. Oxfam is already saving lives, the least we can do is help them to save more."

The new album contains 14 tracks and features exclusive tracks from David Gray, Jet, Ash, and R.E.M. Other artists on the album include Badly Drawn Boy, Futureheads, Faithless and many more.

All artists and record labels donating tracks to this album are forgoing their royalties. The purchase price is £7.99 and £5.00 will go directly to Oxfam Sudan appeal which could provide 15 people with clean drinking water.

The crisis in Darfur has led to over a million people fleeing their homes in the face of fighting and insecurity. Over two million people are affected with hundreds of thousands of refugees moving into neighbouring Chad.

Oxfam is working to help over a quarter of a million people in Darfur and Chad, focusing on providing clean water, sanitation facilities and hygiene training. The situation in many places continues to get worse. In Chad conditions are rapidly deteriorating with more people still arriving and with a real threat of a cholera outbreak.

In order to save on costs and deliver more money to the victims of the conflict, the album is available by download only from www.bignoisemusic.com

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Waxploitation Set To Release CD To Fight Genocide In Sudan

System Of A Down, Gorillaz, Jurassic 5, Jill Scott, Bad Religion, Kinky Donate Songs

Waxploitation Records, a leading record label for hip hop and electronic music, announced today that it will release a charity CD in an attempt to assist in the fight against the Genocide taking place right now in Sudan.

The CD, titled Genocide in Sudan, is slated for a late November release and includes System of a Down, Gorillaz, Jill Scott, Jurassic 5, Thievery Corporation, Kinky, X-ecutioners, Bad Religion, Tortoise, Yoko Ono, Danger Mouse & Murs, Tweaker, The Pretenders, Mark Farina, Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, DJ Spooky featuring Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Toots and The Maytals featuring Bunny Wailer, Teargas & Plateglass, The Nightwatchmen and Rise Against amongst others. More than half the album includes exclusive songs and rarities.

According to the UN, the conflict in Sudan has created the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with more than one million people driven from their homes and up to 50,000 people killed by government supported militias (CNN 8/31/04). The systematic rape of women and the murder of children has been widely reported.

"We're trying to address two things with this CD," says Waxploitation CEO Jeff Antebi, the album's executive producer. "The first is to get the United Nations to declare the ongoing atrocities a genocide, so that real action can take effect to stop what is obviously an ëethnic cleansing' taking place, in violation of the 1948 Geneva Convention. The second is to raise money for the dire relief situation effecting over 1 million innocent civilians who might die from starvation and disease if aid does not reach them right now."

In 1994 in Rwanda an estimated 800,000 people were killed in just 100 days, in one of the worst genocides of the last century. One of the primary reasons cited for why this happened was a lack of outside intervention by the United Nations. Even with UN troops on the ground in Rwanda, they were unable to intervene because it was not legally declared a Genocide until too late.