David Lynch Releases Star-Studded 'Download for Good' Charity Compilation

If anyone can change the world, it's David Lynch. The celebrated director has been doing just that for nearly 40 years, delighting both fringe film fanatics and mainstream movie-goers with curious cinematic masterpieces like 'Eraserhead,' 'Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me' and 'Blue Velvet.' So it seems fitting that Lynch -- whose career has hit new, uh, peaks thanks to his recent foray into the music world -- would title his star-studded charity compilation 'Download for Good: Music That Changes the World.'

"The artists who have shared their music are spreading happiness," Lynch wrote in a July 11 press release announcing the 33-track album, now available exclusively on iTunes. "When you download these songs, you'll get to enjoy great music and also know that you are bringing happiness to someone, somewhere in the world. Great artists, great mood, great music, great good is going to come. I encourage you to download for good."

The special release, which features performances by Tom Waits, Peter Gabriel, Maroon 5, the Police's Andy Summers, Eurythmics's Dave Stewart, Iggy Pop, Alanis Morissette, Moby, Nancy Sinatra, Jakob Dylan and Daryl Hannah, among others, comes courtesy of the David Lynch Foundation Music, a not-for-profit educational organization which exists to spread the gospel of transcendental meditation, which was invented by the Beatles' own guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and requires practitioners to get their zen on twice a day for twenty minutes.

Lynch first embraced the magic of T.M. in 1977 while working on 'Eraserhead,' and he's certainly not the only one involved in the project who's a mediation master.

"Being a yogi and a meditator, my interest was really piqued just by the existence of the foundation," the Dresden Dolls' Amanda Palmer, who contributed the song 'In My Mind' to 'Download for Good: Music That Changes the World,' tells the Huffington Post. "What really inspired me was reading David Lynch's book a couple years ago when it came out -- 'Catching The Big Fish.' A fantastic book. "['In My Mind'] is a commentary on the act itself of living in total distraction, so I thought it was perfect for the compilation."

So while some might feel Lynch's cause is a little hippie-dippie, what's the harm in rolling out your yoga mat, throwing on the disc and trying to reach nirvana as Donovan croons 'Listen' or Au Revoir Simone delivers 'Boys of Summer.' Even if you don't, y'know, get all transcendental, you're making Lynch happy on his quest to bring mantra mediation to the masses. And if Lynch is happy, chances are we won't have to wait too long for the next star-studded disc.

Watch an Interview With David Lynch About Transcendental Meditation