It's perhaps to be commended anytime someone uses their public profile to raise funds or awareness for a worthy cause, even if it's sometimes seen as somehow self-serving or trite. But rarely does an artist use their place in the spotlight as tirelessly as has Otomo Yoshihide in the wake of the Fukushima meltdowns. He has coupled his concert tours with speaking engagements (including an appearance on my show on WFMU) and even carrying a Geiger counter with him to check radiation levels around Japan. His message hasn't been one of protest � he's not saying the government has been negligent but that support is needed to find a solution to the biggest nuclear disaster in 25 years and to make sure attention is paid so that the solution is implemented.

The double CD set Fukushima! doesn't contain any contributions from Yoshihide, which in a sense speaks to the esteem with which he's held by his many contemporaries around the world. The compilations, according to the brief liners, was inspired by one of Yoshihide's lectures and features ten tracks by 16 artists from Asia, America, Australia and Europe.

These artists, too, are to be commended for their involvement. One hundred percent of proceeds from sales of the set are going to Japanese nonprofits. So in a sense picking the disc apart seems contrary to the spirit of the effort. Some tracks, however, do stand out. Magda Mayas provided a wonderful nine minutes of fluid playing inside the piano case, using (it seems) e-bows to create drones alongside her harplike playing of the prepared strings. Chris Abrahams and Annette Krebs donated an all-too-short ghostly duet. Krebbs also turned in a field recording from an Occupy Wall Street demonstration in Berlin, inviting speculation about corporate motivations in general. Dave Smith played a composition for piano by John Tilbury (at 34 minutes the longest piece on the set) and Michael Pisaro submitted a beautifully open percussion track composed by Greg Stuart

Overall it's a richly varied and nicely sequenced couple of hours, inviting repeat listens, which will also serve as a very gentle reminder.