Various Artists
Album reviews for Various Artists
June 28, 2009
Without commenting too strongly on the film, it can be said that a feeling of confusion would be the first thing elicited by discovering the so...
June 26, 2009
Self Storage is a new recording label to come from New York, USA, where else? Well, sexy city itself clearly has something to say for the...
June 22, 2009
At first when I received my little A5 package in the mail - care of the Dwarf -following a dismal Monday, I was eager with anticipation. When I...
June 16, 2009
Ministry Of Sound, purveyors of most things bass-heavy and annoying, are actually really good at making chill-out mixes. So good, in fact, that...
May 27, 2009
Like the name suggests, this compilation is part two of a retrospective of the work of the late producer James Dewitt Yancey (also known as J D...
May 15, 2009
If you’ve ever heard the song
Mango Pickle Down River by M.I.A., you’d know that Hip Hop/Rap and indigenous music complement each other li...
May 13, 2009
Another Shot of Old Skool of Rock. The name says it all really.
It starts off with
Dr Feelgood by
Mötley Crue. Quite fitting,...
May 12, 2009
I appreciate the importance of the
All Woman two-disc compilation which donates a dollar from every copy sold to the National Breast Cance...
May 11, 2009
Room Service – The Ultimate Soundtrack is a mammoth retro collection of signature tunes from iconic pop and nostalgia stars of yesteryear....
May 4, 2009
In 2008
Triple J’s Hottest 100 turned a very sweet sixteen and this one will be remembered as the race between two jilted lovers known as...
May 1, 2009
For 20 years the
East Coast Blues and Roots Festival has consistently proven to be one of Australia’s premier festivals. Year after year,...
May 1, 2009
The Australian music industry is buzzing right now, and what better way to celebrate our favourite bluesy, rootsy sons and daughters, than to p...
April 28, 2009
Zack Snyder’s highly anticipated and controversial superhero film
Watchmen - adapted from the blockbuster 1985 graphic novel by writers Al...
April 24, 2009
James Dewitt Yancey, better known as J Dilla or Jay Dee was an influential Detroit-based Hip-Hop and Soul producer. He worked with many acts, i...
April 22, 2009
Somewhere back in the pre-Napster 1990s the record buying public (remember when there used to be such a thing) were exposed to one of the all-t...
April 22, 2009
Sunday morning is that calm time before the storm- otherwise known as the depressive reminder that you need to go back to work come Monday. In...
April 22, 2009
Whenever a sampler is released it always concerns me that the label is using it as a chance to promote some of their up and coming artists. How...
April 16, 2009
When it comes to owning music collections, the best CDs seem to come as compilations. Kind of like sampling every dish from the menu of an expe...
April 15, 2009
I have to admit it’s been quite some time since I’ve listened to Triple J. I tuned in around 2002 and tuned out in 2007. I didn’t once adjust m...
March 15, 2009
Rock may be a simple, four-letter word but as a genre it is a complicated and schizophrenic one. After all, consider that there is: art rock, s...
March 13, 2009
Put simply, this is the holy grail of compilation albums.
Produced by Aaron and Bryce Dessner from The National, The Red Hot Organisation has...
March 11, 2009
Intrigued to find out the reason behind a rectangle shape box in the package I had retrieved from my letterbox, I madly ripped the thin cardboa...
February 22, 2009
All you need is love. Love is a battlefield. Love’s not a competition, but I’m winning. P.S. I love you. You’d be forgiven for thinking that ev...
February 20, 2009
I laugh in the face of anybody who can fault this compilation. First good thing about it; it didn't come from Ministry of Sound (rather Un...
February 9, 2009
However morbid, I like the idea behind this album. If you could choose your own Final Song, what would it be? Would it be a song that represent...
February 5, 2009
Hip hop is like the cool kids at school – it seems that everyone wants to be part of their elite crew, and many will try to be initiated into t...
February 2, 2009
The music industry often gives people much to be cynical about. So it is with this in mind that I introduce the latest penny-pinching effort,...
January 29, 2009
DJs and music lovers get down on your knees and praise Soul Jazz Records for continuing to release some of the finest soul/funk/reggae/roots co...
January 5, 2009
Originating in Germany,
BNR Volume One is the first compilation from
Boys Noize Records. It features a wide range of international un...
January 5, 2009
It’s not very often that I actually find a novelty album funny. Usually the concept is amusing, but the execution leaves much to be desired. It...
January 5, 2009
Ten years ago, the ABC released a double CD of the most programmed clips that were regularly selected by travelling musos asked to select their...
December 27, 2008
Making Waves is an hauntingly beautiful celebration of Indigenous music. Gadigal Music in conjunction with ABC Music have released this am...
December 22, 2008
Despite extortionate water costs, crazy weather patterns, facilities that are below par and bogan fuckwits around every corner, let’s get one t...
December 11, 2008
Cinematically, Australians are yet to be blessed with the latest teen-schlock offering,
Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, but the way...
December 1, 2008
If the title didn’t make your inner 21st century tech-savvy tween giggle, then maybe the track list might tickle your fancy. Gossip Girl has be...
November 18, 2008
Ask any iPod owner how to lose friends and alienate people, and they will probably tell you – “Put some dialogue snippets in your movie sound-t...
November 14, 2008
Triple J's
Like a Version Four features a bunch of covers taken from the Like A Version segment on the JJJ Morning Show. As with ever...
November 13, 2008
“Hey Gary, our CD sales haven’t been so strong the past few months.”
“Yeah, I know. Maybe it’s time to release another compilation album. We...
November 12, 2008
Can you feel it? That deep bass rumble, shaking the ground, making concentric ripples in your nearby water glass? It’s coming… through the tree...
November 3, 2008
When it comes to record collecting, there is no such thing as too many motown compilations (well… unless you hate motown, that is… and for thos...
October 27, 2008
The World’s Best Ever Beer Songs
has turned 10. Happy birthday. So if you’re unsure what present to get a compilation of “pub anthems...
September 29, 2008
Finally home after a long day of work and other errands, I wanted to get inside, but I was really enjoying listening to Triples J’s Rosie Beato...
September 29, 2008
With the first rays of Spring sunshine burning off what has been a bleak Winter, and the anticipation of hot days, cold beer, beach and barbies...
September 16, 2008
There was a time when anyone wanting a compilation of mediocre, mostly forgotten semi-hits, sold on the coattails of slightly less mediocre sem...
September 1, 2008
Let’s get one thing straight; I am not a remix fan. I love New Order, yet my copy of the “Club” CD – it contains the remixes on the “Retro” box...
August 29, 2008
The Artless Armchair is a compilation of Central Coast acoustic artists, who came together to create a sort of snapshot in time, commentin...
August 27, 2008
Wouldn’t it be great if you could go and amend packaging in cases where an obvious error or omission has occurred? I felt this way when I revie...
August 26, 2008
I’m somewhat confused by the compilation album concept. Why do they still exist? Who is buying them? WHY?? In this day and age of iTunes satura...
August 18, 2008
From the French electro label Kitsuné Records comes the first in a series of 'tabloid' mixes. According to the press release, 'K...
August 19, 2008
Soma Recordings have been pioneering electronic music since the label began in 1991. Now with the
Sci-Fi-Hi-Fi collection they are bringin...
August 13, 2008
Lee Coombs is an icon in the breakbeat scene, having gained a solid reputation for his production skills and banging remixes in a once-inn...
August 8, 2008
Compilation albums are the best. How can you go wrong when you only have to listen to the best songs of so many different bands? Well, in theor...
July 2, 2008
At first I honestly didn’t know what to expect when throwing on the first spin of this album. Eclectic electronic and indie artists cover their...
July 1, 2008
Ahhh, label samplers. Always they hold at least one great song, at least one dodgy song, and a vast multitude of songs you can’t remember as so...
June 26, 2008
Ladies and gentlemen (yes, gents you are included) the fabulous four
Sex and the City girls are back with fire! The movie, the hype, the f...
June 23, 2008
In a club culture dominated by Ministry Of Sound and One Love mixes, where one dancefloor ends up sounding just like the last,
Generatione...
June 18, 2008
As much as I cannot go past the legendary voices of blues like Dinah Washington and Gladys Knight, there is always room in my record collection...
June 15, 2008
The
Grow Your Own series is a compilation released by Damien Gerard Studios and Foghorn Records, drawing together an array of unsigned Aus...
June 4, 2008
Compilation CDs are a bit like eating out at Sizzlers. According to tastes you will avoid some sections like the plague (I’m looking at yo...
May 18, 2008
I’m not sure whether it’s a good thing that I’m reviewing a soundtrack for a film I haven’t seen. Perhaps it’s irrelevant. So, I’m just going t...
May 7, 2008
OK, to be perfectly honest, I’ve never watched an episode of
Skins
in my life. But from what I’ve gathered from watching the p...
April 23, 2008
Contents:
Spook The Horse -
Another New Year
Harvey Danger -
Little Round Mirro...
April 18, 2008
Ok,
Take Action! Volume 7, a mainly punk rock and hardcore compilation delivered by
Hopeless/Sub City Records. The first thing I noti...
March 26, 2008
Purveyors of teen-marketing listen carefully – supporting the arts is the key! Hot Topic (the American clothing store that specialises in hardc...
March 14, 2008
Everyone loves the dole, but welfare isn’t always a good thing. That’s one lesson to take out of
Kiss My WAMi 2008, the latest installment...
February 22, 2008
In 1997, an article was published in the journal of Popular Music and Society which discussed the term ‘Englishness’ as it had been applied to...
February 21, 2008
As I understand the world there are two reasons for a record label to release a compilation album - to raise awareness for their roster of arti...
February 20, 2008
Darjeeling Limited is another fucking triumph for Wes Anderson. Three brothers set across India on a train - the Darjeeling Limited, for t...
February 7, 2008
A tip for any future compilation assemblers; don’t open with
Silverchair. I hear those neutered strains of a once plausible rock act and i...
November 29, 2007
No Man’s Woman supposedly gestated from one fan’s initial desire to hear You Am I perform a cover of a Patti Smith tune. Alas, this song i...
November 21, 2007
Chris Parke is living the dream: he ditched IT to start his own webzine called Parx-e. This compilation CD is a taste of the independent artist...
November 20, 2007
Although clocking in at 22 tracks this is about as succinct a sweep through Sydney’s
Ivy League label as possible on a compact disc, with...
November 13, 2007
Someone, somewhere, most likely in Queensland, has this double-CD compilation in their car stereo, pumping it loudly with the windows rolled do...
October 23, 2007
I've always been a fan of compilation albums, especially Triple J (and no matter what you say, The OC mix’s had some good stuff!). This on...
October 19, 2007
For old school music fans like me, it is a bit weird unwrapping the
Vodafone Live at the Chapel - Volume Two CD. I have had to re-writ...
October 19, 2007
Every contemporary era has produced its fair share of television programs to promote the music scene of the day. While previously the Australia...
October 18, 2007
One of the great things about independent artists is when they all come together, bringing their quirks and talents en masse for a riveting lis...
October 16, 2007
On the heels of the seventh
RnB superclub tour, the new complilation release;
RnB superclub: Volume 7.0 is far from their rep...
October 12, 2007
This compilation starts off with the traditional Haka, which is traditionally a war chant, but is more commonly used at the start of the All Bl...
September 26, 2007
What makes a good cover song is debateable. For me, it’s not that complicated. Firstly, the song itself must have some legs. If it wasn’t aweso...
September 28, 2007
“You hear about Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but you don’t hear about the bombs dropped round here.” Such reflections come from Aboriginal Elders wh...
September 12, 2007
The 80s was an era of Hedonistic Entertainment.
The pouts, big hair, constant partying, array of girls, and gallons of drink – this was the o...
September 13, 2007
This album follows from where the debut
Home Grown Roots Volume 1 left off, having just been released a year after the first one. This...
August 21, 2007
Every once in a while, a CD compilation comes along that just makes you laugh.
Kill Pop: Scream Til It Hurts, a compilation of “anti-p...
August 16, 2007
I don't even know where to begin with this one. It's wrong in so many ways, but oh so good!
Countdown: The Wonder Years Volu...
August 17, 2007
There’s something so warm and real about the Rob Roy. And this compilation reflects that.
The last live CD I bought sounded live, there was m...
July 5, 2007
Triple J has always nurtured live music in Australia - promoting and supporting festivals such as The Big Day Out, Splendour in The Grass, The...
June 20, 2007
Three, two, one… So counting yourself into a review may seem a little dim but I think it seems apt when you are beginning a review for a produc...
June 13, 2007
“Poverty, exploitation and injustice should not be social norms,
Its time for our generation to take action and make poverty history…...
June 4, 2007
The eighties are known too well for its shameful ways. It’s hard to believe that a decade responsible for some of the most cringe worthy moment...
May 28, 2007
Whenever I receive an album that was compiled for some kind of charitable institution or for the purpose of promoting unsigned artists; a stran...
April 12, 2007
With my only exposure to MC battles being watching
8 Mile, I approached
Scribble Jam 12 (2005) with more than slight trepidat...
April 4, 2007
Augie March! The Killers! Muse! Beck! Yeah Yeah Yeahs! Regina Spektor! My faith has officially been restored in the Australian public.
With H...
March 30, 2007
This is the first non-CD-R release for Melbourne based, artist-run label Brother Sister Records. The selection was compiled by Royce Ng and Sa...
February 3, 2007
Remixes can make or break a song. Take for example Sia’s 'Breathe Me'. The Four Tet remix made it a killer track and definitely enhan...
May 4, 2007
This is an interesting little compilation. Peak Plasma Records, it would appear, have picked the best songs of some of their relatively unknown...
February 12, 2007
Eragon - A rich resonance is created reverberating movement and feel with a lingering instrumental score enhanced utilising the subtlety of str...
January 18, 2007
The fourth release under the very popular Finger Lickin’ Thang series showcases the latest breakbeat releases from one of the leading breaks la...
January 15, 2007
I guess you could say I'm a massive Beach Boys fan. My dad instilled a love for them in my sisters and I at a very early age. Car tri...
November 30, 2006
An insight into the compilation
Zen Connection 4, entitled ‘You’ll Never Guess What They’re Trying to Flog to You Now’, by Steph Maker....