Starting today, a compilation of 30 new songs by some of Seattle’s latest and greatest bands — including the Dutchess and the Duke, Throw Me the Statue, and Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard — will be available to download for only $7.

Even better? All the proceeds go to charity.

Welcome to Give Seattle 2009, a benefit conceived of and organized by Caffe Vita to raise money for Arts Corps, Seattle’s largest nonprofit arts educator, and area food banks.

Consider the compilation a Seattle music sampler — if you’re new to the area, or just don’t follow local bands as religiously as The Stranger, it’s a pretty sick primer to the city’s current music scene. We’re going to listen to the tracks available now (some artists are still recording, with about 40 songs total set to be finished and online by mid-December) and will let you know what we think over the next day or two.

But honestly, what’s not to like? I can barely buy lunch downtown for $7, and this investment helps feed a lot more people.

Here’s the current track list, with artists still in the studios listed below:

Arthur and Yu, "Magic Mountain"
The Blakes, "Parking Lot"
The Cave Singers, "Growing Palm"
Champagne Champagne feat. Fences, "Victim of the Modern Age"
Common Market, "The Picture of My DeLorean Gray"
D. Black, "On the Go"
Fatal Lucciauno, "Gangsta"
Fences, "Sadie"
+ Fleet Foxes, "Mykonos"
Fresh Espresso, "Gettin Money"
Gabriel Mintz, "Safeway"
Grand Archives, "Wake Up"
Head Like a Kite, "Director’s Cut"
Hey Marseilles, "From a Terrace"
+ J. Tillman, "Earthly Bodies"
Joshua Morrison, "Mammoth Cave"
Kinski, "Whatever Happened to Madeleine Stowe"
The Lonely Forest, "I Don’t Wanna Live There"
Le Loup, "Forgive Me"
Mad Rad, "Love in a Strange World"
The Maldives, "In the End"
Moondoggies, "Side of the Road"
Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, "Bitter Cold"
Pearly Gate Music, "Big Escape"
Pica Beats, "Durian Shakes"
The Saturday Knights, "Go!"
Sera Cahoone, "Love’s Gonna Live Here"
Talbot Tagora, "Ichthus Hop"
Tea Cozies, "Corner Store Girls"
+ Visqueen, "Hand Me Down"
[+ = not a new release]

In the studio: Throw Me the Statue, The Dutchess and the Duke, Ben Gibbard, David Bazan, The Long Winters, Unnatural Helpers. (You’ll be notified by email when these tracks are available for download.)

To tide you over: Fleet Foxes’ video for "Mykonos"