Kerry's Record Collection from A to Z with Commentary - Compilations

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Links Abbreviations:  Rolling Stone - RS, Trouser Press-TP, Punknet PN, Rough Guide-RG

American Hot Wax Soundtrack - 1978 - This is one record of great songs from the 50s from the likes of Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Bobby Darin, etc.  The other record is a live performance in the late 70s from some 50s people like Chuck Berry and some crappy bands doing 50s like stuff.  There is a live performance of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' I Put a Spell On You, so it can't be all that bad.

Away from the Pulsebeat - Winter 86 Single - 1986 - Pretty cool with the Celibate Rifles doing Merry Xmas Blues and a song from Saqqara Dogs.

Alternative Press Sampler - 4Teen - This is from a magazine.  16 songs.  The only ones that really jump out are Sloan - The Good In Every One and Blinker The Star - My Dog.  I still love these samplers.  They come free with the magazine, and if there is one or two good songs, I am pretty happy.

Alternative Press Sample - Summer Experience 1997 - This one was pretty boring.  Only one song by the Pulsars jumped out at me.

Alternative Press Sample - Fall 1997 Sampler - This was one of the better issues.  Good stuff from Blink 182, Libido, Fear Factory, Megadeth, Tanya Donelly, and Kara's Flowers.

Alternative Press Sample - Winter 1997 Sampler - Ok, has songs by 16 Horsepower, Libido, and Limp Bizkit.

Alternative Press Sample - Spring 1998 Sampler - Not bad, with 1000 Clowns with Kitty Kat Max, Propellerheads - Velvet Pants, and I got to hear Semisonic - Closing Time before it was played millions of times and I got really sick of it.

Alternative Press Sample - Summer Sampler 1998 - This was a two disc month.  I liked David Garza, Curve, and Monster Magnet.

Alternative Press Sample - Fall 1998 Sampler - Let's see, I liked the song by Tom Waits, El Presidente by Drugstore, and Monster Magnet.

Alternative Press Sample - Winter 1998 Sampler - I didn't flip over this one, but bands that were interesting were kidneythieves, New Radicals, Flat Duo Jets, Mercury Rev, etc.

Athens, Ga - Inside/Out - 1987 - The soundtrack for the documentary film that examined the Athens, Ga music scene.  Of course it has R.E.M. with a really cool version of (All I Got To Do is) Dream, and songs by Love Tractor, Flat Duo Jets, Pylon and then some other groups you probably haven't heard of.  Pretty interesting.

Avengers - The Album (Soundtrack) - Soundtrack from the movie.  I hear the movie kind of sucked.  The album is pretty decent.  I really like the Stooges remake from Utah Saints with Technowledgy.

Balalaika - I am not sure what country this folk music record is covering.  I think it is some Mid-Eastern country.  It is pretty interesting though.

Bands That Could Be God - The Conflict Compilation - 1984 - Conflict was a pretty cool music magazine covering Boston bands.  This has a bunch of them that are pretty cool like Christmas, Salem 66, Moving Targets and more.  From hardcore to experimential synth stuff.

Bang Zoom - No 6 - 1984 - A cassette music magazine.  Interviews with Husker Du, The Dickies, and Black Flag.  Couple of songs by Band Of Outsiders, Problem Dogs, Certain General, Live Skull, etc.  Fairly interesting.

Batman and Robin - Soundtrack - The movie totally sucked, like all the Batman movies have, but the soundtrack is alright.  Good stuff from Smashing Pumpkins, R.E.M., Arkana, Goo Goo Dolls, etc.  I think this was only $1 too.

Batman Forever - Soundtrack - Again the movie totally sucked.  A few decent songs here by U2, PJ Harvey, Mazzy Star, Nick Cave and a pretty good cover of the Damned's Smash It Up by the Offspring.

Bebop - Don't know any more about this than the people who play on this like Horace Silver Quintet, etc.  I don't really know all that much about jazz.  Pretty cool, though.

Beserkley's Back - 1978 - Berserkley was the home of lots of new wave like The Modern Lovers, Greg Kihn and The Rubinoos.Couple of songs from each of them  The Modern Lovers stuff is great, the rest isn't as good.

The Best of Bomp - Volume One - 1978 - Bomp was a magazine that covered punk in the mid 70s.  The released a lot of classic stuff like Iggy and the Stooges, DMZ, The Flamin Groovies, and The Weirdos.

Best of Ralph - 1982 - A double album where I like just about everything on this.  All the big Ralph bands like The Residents, Snakefinger,  Tuxdeomoon, Yello and more.  This is a great place to start to discover the madness coming out of this label.

Beyond the Southern Cross - 1984 - A double album compiling bands from Australia and New Zealand.  Besides the standouts like The Triffids and  The Clean, this wasn't as exciting as I hoped it would be.

Beyond Step One - A very strange compilation on the Sound of Pig Music label.  Features music by Walls of Genuis, Enstruction, Slab, ABC Mutes, Psychodrama, Los Monos, etc.  Pretty heavy on the experimental/industrial stuff.

Big Chill Soundtrack - I never really understood why everybody loved this movie so much.  I never liked any of the characters and could care less what happened to them in the movie.  The soundtrack is pretty good though.  Lots of classic songs from the 60s.

Big Deal Corporate Annual Volume 2 - Nothing I got excited about here except the song by Shonen Knife.

The Blasting Concept - This is a SST compilation and features all their big bands, i.e. Black Flag, Saccharine Trust, etc.  Pretty good stuff.

The Blasting Concept Vol II - This isn't really my favorite period of SST.  They were getting too close to metal with most of these bands (like Gone, D.C.3, SWA, Overkill, etc.)  There are few things I like, like Husker Du with Erase Today, Meat Puppets doing I Just Want to Make Love To You, and The Minutemen's totally rocking cover of Ain't Talking 'bout Love.

The Bob 29 - Flexi Single - Mojo Nixon doing Chuck Berry's Tulane Highway and Camper Van Beethoven doing Country Joe's Happiness is a Porpoise Mouth.

The Bob 31 - Flexi Single - Really cool covers from Dream Syndicate doing Cinnamon Girl and Kendra Smith (from Dream Syndicate) doing All Tomorrow's Parties.

The Bob 32 - Flexi Single - 1987 - Features Fleshtones, Steve Kilbery (from the Church), and Flaming Lips doing Led Zeppelin and Sonic Youth covers.

The Bob 33 - Flexi Single - 1988 - Features Chills, Miracle Legion and Dave Kusworth.

The Bob 34 - 10" Flexi Single - Seven songs from Garden Path, Lizard Train, Toys Went Beserk, Hellmenn, King Snake Roost, Feed Time and Slub.

The Bob 36 - Flexi Single - Features Lime Spiders (a cool grungy garage band), Nikki Sudden, Laughing Hyenas, and Bevis Frond.

The Bob 37 - Flexi Single - New versions of songs from Camper Van Beethoven, Barbara Manning, and Russ Tolman.

The Bob 38 - Flexi Single - 1989 - This has the coolest live version of the Pixie's Gouge Away along with songs from Sex Clark Five and When People Where Shorter and Lived Near the Water.

The Bob 39 - Flexi Single - 1989 - A live version of a Mekons' song and two different versions songs from Died Pretty and Psychedelic Furs.

BPM Magazine Sampler - 1999 - A magazine that covers electronic music.  This is mostly pretty boring because it is all instrumentals.

Bucketfull of Brains 18 - Flexi Single - Peter Case (of the Plimsouls) does an acoustic version of Steel Strings and there is a song from The Watermelon Men.

Bucketfull of Brains 20 - Flexi Single - Paul Roland and Giant Sand each get a song here.

Burning Ambitions - A History of Punk - A really good compilation of punk ranging from the English stuff like Buzzcocks, Wire, The Damned to the Dead Kennedys, The Exploited, GBH and more.  28 bands in total.

Capitolhillbillies - I have no idea what is on this, because my copy didn't come with a cover.  This is a compilation of Denver punk bands of the 80s, so it should have The Fluid, Brother Rat, etc.  If anybody has a track listing, send it on, please.

Cats Soundtrack - 1983 - My mother got this free somewhere and insisted that I take it.  I haven't seen the musical and haven't listened to this yet.  I hear this is real popular.  I'll let you know how it is when I listen to it.

Chemical Imbalance #4 - Single - Got a live version of Marilyn Moore from Sonic Youth, an acoustic version of a June Brides song and songs by The Chant and Broken Talent.

Chemical Imbalance #6 - Single - 1987 - Live versions, with not the best sound quality from fIREHOSE, the Heartbreak Hotel/Pinball Wizard cover by Leaving Trains, and live Slovenly.  There is also a nice studio version cover of the Doors' Indian Summer by Opal (former members of Dream Syndicate).

Chocolate Soup for Diabetics - Forget all those Nuggets and Pebbles compilations of the 60s, this is the one you have to have.  Totally insane stuff by groups you have never heard of.  The Score doing an insane version of Please Please Me.  The highlight is someone named Craig doing I Must Be Mad and kind of out doing Pete Townsend, screaming, thrashing, oh yeah.

Chord - Sampler #10 - A hardcore magazine.  There are a few songs I like pretty much like Dare To Defy and Ruth Ruth.

CMJ - Vol 39 - November 1996 - This is generally my favorite music magazine.  The magazine isn't always that great, but the cds that come with it every month usually have 2-3 good songs on them.  I have heard a lot of bands one these cds first.  This one had If I Could Talk I'd Tell You by Lemonheads, PJ Harvey - That Was My Veil, Balloon Man / Robyn Hitchcock, and Jerk / Neurotic Outsiders.

CMJ - Vol 40 - December 1996 - Another pretty good one with Naked Eye / Luscious Jackson, Rusty Cage / Johnny Cash, Lovefool / The Cardigans (which seems to be on a million compilations), No Place To Hide / Korn, and Anna / Pure.

CMJ - Vol 41 - January 1997 - My Dog / Blinker The Star and Antichrist Superstar / Marilyn Manson are good, Black Eye / Fluffy is really great.

CMJ - Vol 43 - March 1997 - Ok with Veruca Salt - Volcano Girls, Marcy Playground - Sex And Candy, Nerf Herder - Sorry, Silverchair - Abuse Me, Ben Folds Five - Battle Of Who Could Care Less.

CMJ - Vol 44 - April 1997 - I first heard Chemical Brothers/Block Rockin' Beats, Blur/Song 2, and Sloan/The Good In Everyone here.

CMJ - Vol 45 - May 1997 - Even though this has Hanson on it (right before they got huge), it has other cool stuff like Hooverphonic/2Wicky, Orbital/The Saint, Orbit/Medicine, and That Dog/Never Say Never.

CMJ - Vol 46 - June 1997 - This one rocked because of Raw Power / Iggy And The Stooges and Speed / Atari Teenage Riot.  It also had Dead Man Walking / David Bowie and Tell It To The Kids / Bis.

CMJ - Vol 47 - July 1997 - This one had St. Louis Cemetery Blues / Squirrel Nut Zippers.  That was the only one that really struck me.

CMJ - Vol 48 - August 1997 - I first heard Busy Child / Crystal Method here.  Building A Mystery / Sarah Mclachlan is pretty interesting too.

CMJ - Vol 49 - September 1997 - Another good one bacause of Prodigy / Smack My Bitch Up, Apollo 440 / Ain't Talkin' 'bout Dub (the best cover of this song since the Minutemen), and Filter & The Crystal Method / (Can't You) Trip Like I Do.

CMJ - Vol 50 - October 1997 - I liked Kara's Flowers - Soap Disco, Tanya Donnelly - Pretty Deep, and Meat Beat Manifesto - It's The Music.  I am not sure if I like Cornershop - Brimful Of Asha or if it annoys me.

CMJ - Vol 51 - November 1997 - All Mine / Portishead is the best here, also Fall On Tears / Love Spit Love (Richard Butler's new band) and You're Gorgeous / Baby Bird.

CMJ - Vol 52 - December 1997 - Another pretty decent one with Tubthumping / Chumbawamba, My Own Summer (Shove It) / Deftones, And Suddenly, Clarity / Cinnamon, The Magic Piper / Edwyn Collins, Jane Says (Live) / Jane's Addiction, and My Hero / Foo Fighters.

CMJ - Vol 53 - January 1998 - Not as good, but has Drinking In L.A. - Bran Van 3000, Lights Are Changing - Mary Lou Lord, and Harder They Come,  - Rancid.

CMJ - Vol 54 - February 1998 - Lindsey stole this one for a long time because she liked the song by the Verve.  It also has Temper Temper - Goldie.  I seem to remember that I liked the Donnas also.

CMJ - Vol 55 - March 1998 - Sixteen Horsepower / For Heaven's Sake is the obvious standout for me.  Lots of other good stuff like Propellerheads / Velvet Pants, Rammstein / Du Hast, and Black Grape / Get Higher

CMJ - Vol 56 - April 1998 - I liked Libido/Supersonic Daydream, Stabbing Westward/Save Yourself, and Radiohead/No Surprises(Live).

CMJ - Vol 57 - May 1998 - Nothing jumps out at me on this one.

CMJ - Vol 58 - June 1998 - This was a good one.  Garbage did Thirteen (a Big Star Cover).  This alone made it worth it for me.  There is also Girls Against Boys and David Garza.

CMJ - Volume 59 - July 1998 - This one wasn't too thilling.

CMJ - Volume 60 - August 1998 - Simple Man - Wink is my favorite.  Also Space Lord - Monster Magnet, El President - Drugstore.  It also has the most annoying song of recent times, One Week - Barenaked Ladies.

CMJ - Volume 61 - September 1998 - Korn/Got the Life, Bob Mould/Who Was Around and Hooverphonic/Club Montepulciano were pretty good.

CMJ - Volume 62 - October 1998 - I liked Rob Zombie / Dragula, PJ Harvey / A Perfect Day Elise, Snowpony / Easy Way Down, and Frank Black and the Catholics / I Gotta Move.

CMJ - Volume 63 - November 1998 - Beck / Cold Brains is the good one here. (Lindsey even loves that song and she usually hates Beck.)

CMJ New Music Monthly December 1998 Volumn 64 - This one was really good.  The new song by the Cardigans, an old song by U2, a song by Nada Surf, a pretty funny spoken word thing by Henry Rollins.  The total highlight was a screamingly funny thing by Fear of Pop (I think this is a Ben Folds Five side project) with William Shatner doing a dramatic recitation of In Love, it is the equal of his earlier version of Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.

CMJ - Volume 65 - January 1999 - Juliana Hatfield / Bad Day and Robyn Hitchcock / 1974 were pretty good.

Cmj New Music Monthly Volume 66 February 1999 - Not the best one, but a few interesting things like Ani Difranco Jukebox and John Coltrane Bessie's Blues.

Columbia Library of Folk and Primitive Music - Vol XII - More in my series of unusual music.

The Compact Flute - Came with a book that was in the bargain bin. Features short cuts from composers like Vivaldi, Bach, Handel, etc.

Cover Me - A Collection of Songs written by Bruce Springsteen - 1986 - A pretty good idea for a tribute album, but most of this isn't very exciting. Southside Johnny does about 1/3 of this and it doesn't do much for me. I do like the stuff Patti Smith, Johnny Cash and The Beat Farmers cover.

Dance Craze - The Best of English Ska - 1981 - A pretty good sampler of English two tone ska featuring the biggest names like The Specials, The English Beat, Madness, The Selecter, and Bad Manners

The Deadly Spawn Flexi - 1986 - Two bands from Pennslyvania's Bona Fide Records with the Voodoo Love Gods and The Stump Wizards. Came as an extra bonus to the compilation below.

The Deadly Spawn - 1986 - A bunch of bands on Bona Fide Records.  The Velvet Monkeys are the biggest one here on this "Steamin' Stew of Mutant Spew".

Dead Man Walking, Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture - This was a great film and the music "inspired by" it is just as good.  Tom Waits, Johnny Cash, Bruce Springteen doing death row songs.  Great to listen to in the dark.

Debut - Issue 11 - 1985 - An English magazine that also features a 10" album with it.  Lots of English bands like New Order, Colourfield, Tear For Fears and a few more obscure ones.

Declaration of Independents - 1980 - A compilation of new wave which I find really disappointing.  I like Pylon, but I am not real thrilled about much else here.

The Decline of Western Civilization Soundtrack - 1980 - A really cool documentary about L.A. hardcore featuring the best bands like Black Flag, Circle Jerks, X, Germs and Fear.  The sound clips of some of the interviews are really funny too.  "Darby, sing into the mic."

Debussy - Nocturnes/Afternoon of a Faun, Ravel - Rapsodie Espagnole/Pavane for a Dead Princess - Pierre Monteux and the London Symphony - 1962 - Moody, impressionistic music.

Dgc Rarities Vol. 1- Found this on a trip to visit my sister in Portland (well, from Eugene).  Some people take lots of pictures, I go record shopping.  This is pretty cool, it has lots of stuff from Nirvana, Hole, Sonic Youth, That Dog, etc.

Do Something - 1994 - This was some free thing at some fast food place.  10 songs and a few not half bad like Cracker / Low, Enigma / Return to Innocence, etc.

Do You Wanna Dance - Pretty cool compilation from the late 50s(the songs, not the record itself) with stuff like Freddy Cannon, Duane Eddy and Little Richard.  Got to hear the original version of Talahassee Lassie, which the Wombats totally destroy on their album.

Driving Hits - Rock Vol 1 - 1988 - Something I got free somewhere.  Most of this is pretty crappy with stuff like Toto, Journey, Kansas, etc.  I guess it does have Men At Work / Down Under and Nick Lowe / Cruel To Be Kind to redeem it a little.

The Enigma Variations - 1985 - A double album.  Huge variety from the Enigma label from cowpunk like Naked Prey and Tex and the Horseheads, to psychedelic stuff like Rain Parade and Plasticland.  Pretty good all around.

Eskimo Songs From Alaska - Pretty cool. These are all contemporary (well, this is probably 20 years old) songs. Some guy starts beating a drum and the rest join in. Songs like Small Owl, Helicopter Song, Eskimo Rock And Roll, etc.

The ESP Sampler - This is really cool and really annoying.  Great because there are 42 different things from the 60s ranging from poetry from Willam Burroughs and Ferlinghetti to jazz and rock like the Fugs. It is kind of annoying because it truely is a sampler with all the clips being about 1 minute and sometimes they end right as they are getting really great.

The Fabulous 50s - Double album.  I like hearing the original version of Istanbul (Not Contantinople) by the Four Lads, later covered by They Might Be Giants.  There is a lot more stuff like Dinah Shore, Johnny Ray and Rosemary Clooney.  There is also a screamingly funny spoken word thing (probably not intensional) with musical background called What is a Boy? by Arthur Godfrey.

Fast Times At Ridgemont High Soundtrack - 1982 - This is what was popular in the early 80s.  Lots of stuff from Jackson Browne, Stevie Nicks, Don Henley.  A few songs here are ok, the rest I don't like all that much.

Fear of a Black Hat Motion Picture Soundtrack - 1994 - I think the movie was probaby a little bit better than the soundtrack. N.W.H. (or N*ggaz With Hats) does the music. Lots of joke rap songs.

Forced Exposure 8 - Single - 1987 - All the Boston bands cover Mission of Burma.  Christmas does Max Ernst and Dredd Foole does That's When I Reach For My Revolver, and he doesn't even change the words like Moby did way later.

Free 3 Track EP - 1986 - Free single that came with some English magazine.  Features other mixes of Big Audio Dynamite (former Clash member), That Petrol Emotion (former Undertone members) and The Three Johns.  Lots of gothic kind of dance stuff.

God's Favorite Dog - 1986 - A compilation from Touch and Go.  Lots of great, loud and abrasive stuff from Butthole Surfers, Killdozer, Scratch Acid, Hose, Happy Flowers, and Big Black.

Golden Hits - Vol 3 - 1984 - A cheezy compilation on Roulette Records.  Stuff from the 60s.  Highlights are Tommy James, Wilber Harrison, etc.

Greatest Hits of 1721 - Richard Kapp and the Philharmonia Virtuosi of New York - Lots of shorter songs like one of my favorites Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring.  A few more from Bach, some Vivaldi, some Handel and more.

Greek Folk Music - Should be self explaintory.  Pretty interesting.

Greek Folk Songs and Dances - Don't know what the songs are on this, but I like it.

Guillotine - A 10" album.   This one is totally worth it for Oh Bondage Up Yours from X-Ray Spex.  Also an early song from XTC and Bermuda from Roxy Erickson.

Heart Throbs - 1986 - A couple songs each from Frankie Avalon, Fabian, Bobby Vee and Bobby Rydell.  Teen heartthrob music.  Really dippy stuff.  Shaun Cassidy for the 50s.

Historical Anthology of Music - Vol 1 - Early Medieval Music -
Historical Anthology of Music - Vol 3 - Late Medieval Music - Very educational.  Mostly church music and Gregorian Chants.

The History of Music In Sound - Vol II - Early Medieval Music Up To 1300 - Lots of Gregorian Music, medieval songs, early polyphony, and then getting into French and English polyphony.
The History of Music In Sound - Vol III - Ars Nova and the Renaissance - I have always found Renaissance music really facinating. This is a pretty good collection of it.
The History of Music In Sound - Vol IV - The Age of Humanism -
The History of Music In Sound - Vol IX - Romanticism (1830-90) - Stuff like Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Listz.
The History of Music In Sound - Vol X - Modern Music (1890-1950) - Covers from anti-romanticism (Bliss, Milhaud, etc) to Stravinsky, to Shastakovich and Copland.

The History of Northwest Rock - Volume 1 - 1976 - The Northwest gave us bands like The Kingsmen and The Sonics and of course, a whole bunch of bands you never heard of.

Hits Rock New Sckool Vol 2:  The Wave - For the 50 cents I paid for this, it is pretty good.  Candlebox/Understanding, 311/Don't Stay Home, and Loud Lucy/Ticking are the best things here.

Indian Folk Music - Nice tape of Folk music from India.  As you can tell, I love music from all over.

Impact! (Auto Edit) EP - 1985 - Four bands, four songs.  I bought this one for the live version of I Love Her All the Time by Sonic Youth.  Not too thrilled about Portion Control, Okapi Fever or Hula.

In The Spirt Of Crazy Horse - This is Lindsey's.  It is an album for Leonard Peltier (I think I spelled that correctly, I will have to proofread later), who is an American Indian who it seems has been in prison for a long time for a murder conviction that seems really questionable.  The album has some interesting stuff on it.

I.R.S. Greatest Hits Vols 2 & 3 - 1981 - Lots of new wave was on I.R.S like Squeeze, The Cramps and the Buzzcocks.  This is two albums.  There is a big variety of bands and styles here.  Some of it is really great and the rest is ok.

Japanese Folk Music - Pretty enjoyable Japanese music. The label is all in Japanese, so I can't tell you anything else about it.

Jazz - Vol 1 - The South - These are from Folkways.  Tons of great stuff.
Jazz - Vol 2 - The Blues - 1950 -
Jazz - Vol 4 - Jazz Singers - 1958 -

Kiss My Ass - A KISS tribute.  I was never a huge KISS fan, but some of the stuff is ok.  Lots of different people doing KISS songs.  The Garth Brooks one is kind of funny.

Let Them Eat Jellybeans! - 1981 - This was a big album for me.  This introduced me to lots of bands I really like like Flipper, Black Flag, Bad Brains, The Dead Kennedys, Circle Jerks and much more.  A good intro to 80s hardcore.

Live From The Basement - Vol 1 - 1986 - This is a compilation from the basement of Littleton's Town Hall (the city I grew up in.)  It features a number of Denver hometown bands like Pavilion Steps, The Decembrists, Brother Rat, The Fluid and Soul Merchants.  Since I went to high school with many of them and was at most of these shows, this brings back some good memories.

The Living Clarinet - This came in a book that was in the bargain rack. Contains short clarinet pieces from Mozart, Beethoven, etc.

Melody Maker Free Ep - Sept 1986 - From the English music newspaper, with an, at the time, unreleased song from the Cocteau Twins, Orange Appled, and alternative version of Lucifer Over Lancashire from The Fall, and songs from Hollywood Beyond and Zodiac Mindwarp.

Merge #2B Cd - Merge Magazine - Came with the magazine.  Lots of techno from people who I have never heard of.  All in all, it is ok, but not great.

Music From Broadway - This is four cassettes jammed full of every Broadway song you could think of from Oklahoma, Kiss Me Kate, Carousel, and much much more.

Monkey Business - 1980 - A great compilation of ska from the 60s with bands like the Maytals, The Upsetters and the Pioneers.

More American Graffiti Soundtrack - Double album of lots and lots of 60s songs.  Cream, The Byrds, Donavan, Mary Wells. etc.  I didn't see the movie, but the music is great.

More Instensified! - Original Ska 1963-67 - This is the original stuff that started the ska and reggae Jamaican sound.  Lots of stuff like the Maytals, The Skatalites and the Ethiopians.  It is fun to hear the original versions that were later covered by Twin Tone bands like the Specials.

Mortal Kombat - Movie Soundtrack - I didn't like the movie, but the soundtrack has a bunch of pretty cool techno.  This one will get your heart racing in the morning.

Muriel's Wedding Soundtrack - This is Lindsey's.  It was a really good movie.  She saw it a bunch of times.  It has a healthy dose of ABBA, who, for some reason, I have really been liking lately.  I think Waterloo is my favorite.

Music From Broadway - I have this on 5 cassettes.  Tons of classic Broadway tunes

Music Machine - 1977 - Great stuff from K-Tel.  Kind of a strange mix of songs from Kiss and ABBA to K.C. and the Sunshine Band and Andy Gibb.

Music of The Central African Republic - An interesting tape of music from Central Africa.  Unfortunately, it is on a crappy tape, so the quality isn't all that great.

Music of Chad - Pretty cool folk music from Chad (not the person, the country).

Music of Vietnam - I love hearing music from different parts of the world.  Today's feature, folk music from Vietnam.

Music Power - 22 Original Hits 22 Original Stars - 1974 - K-Tel.  I bet this one was sold on tv in the 70s.  This one was worth it for Little Willy by The Sweet.  Lots of 70s stuff like Barry White, Brownsville Station, Sonny and Cher and more.

Muzik Magazine Presents The Tunes 98 - From a magazine.  Lots of techno from people I have never heard of.  Generally, this is pretty good.  Its nice as a background.  I have to try and find more techno and figure out what I like.

New Music Express - NME Reader's Poll Winners 1984 Single - 1985 - The winners of the English music newspaper's poll for reader's favorite bands.  It has an new version of Ivo from Cocteau Twins, a live Bronski Beat version, a live version of What She Said from the Smiths, and a dub mix of U2's Wire.

New Music Express - NME's Big Four Single - 1986 - Tom Waits has a new version of Downtown Train here, along with a live cover from Husker Du of Ticket to Ride and songs from Jesus and Mary Chain and Trouble Funk.

NME C86 - 1986 - Lots and lots of English bands from 1986.  Good stuff from Primal Scream, Shop Assistants, Half Man Half Biscuit, Fuzzbox, The Wedding Present, The Mighty Lemon Drops and more.  22 bands in total.

New Music Express - NME's Hat Trick Single - 1987 - I got this for the version of White Kross from Sonic Youth. It also has Steinski & The Mass Media and Sly and Robbie.

New Music Sampler/Alternative - 1991 - A cassette sampler that I think they were giving away at some fast food place.  It is pretty decent.  Front 242, Screaming Trees, The Godfathers, Big Audio Dynamite, etc.

New Wave Hits Of The '80s Vol. 14 - I found this in a record store in Eugene.  I love this stuff.  Der Kommissar, One Night in Bangkok, and Sunglasses at Night.  It even has a song from Lets Active who I really like, but you never hear about anymore.

Nothing Changes - From a magazine.  Two songs each from 6 bands.  Meat Beat Manifesto is the only one I had heard of and the two songs are pretty decent.

Nuggets - Volume One: The Hits - 1984 - Rhino Records did a bunch of really cool reissues of old bands.  This one has a lot of really cool 60s psychedelic and garage bands with their hits like The Leaves, The Standells, The Seeds, Blue Cheer, etc.  Classic introduction to the 60s.

Nuggets - A friend also copied the original compilation for me.  Lot of the same stuff from the Rhino reissues, but more.  All great.

Old Junk - Not an official release.  When I worked at the campus radio station, I taped a bunch of oldies.  So, I have all kinds of great old songs on this like James Brown, Paul Revere, Crystals, etc.

Oxford American Southern Sampler 1998 - 1998 - I got this because of the new R.E.M. song (Why Not Smile), but the rest of this is pretty good. It came with the Oxford American magazine, all about Southern culture. Some other interesting things like Vic Chestnutt, Staple Singers, Othar Turner, etc.

P.E.A.C.E. - International P.E.A.C.E.  Benefit Compilation - Most of this is totally generic hardcore on this double album.  There are a few standouts like DOA, but this gets way too heavy handed.

Pebbles - Vol. 11 - 1983 - In the 60s revival craze, hundreds of songs were dug up from all sorts of obscure bands.  This has a few entertaining songs by band you have never heard of.

Personality Crisis!! - 1984 - Punk stuff from New York Dolls, Sham 69, Generation X and more.  There is also the novelty songs Gary Gilmore's Eyes by the Adverts.

Play It Again - 1977 - 25 songs from the 60s.  Good variety.  My favorite is Tell Him by The Exciters.

The Poet's Voice - This features readings by W.H. Auden, Robinson Jeffers and Theodore Roethke.

Pop Culture Press Stereo-phonic Pop Culture #2 - From the magazine.  Just how many compilations is the Cardigans' Lovefool on?  Millions.  The best thing thing here is Robyn Hitchcock's cover of the Velvet Underground's Caroline Says.  The cut by the Loud Family is pretty good too.

Pop Culture Press  #5 - From the same magazine.  The only one that captured me was Cinnamon/And Suddenly Clarity.

Psych-Out Soundtrack - 1968 - Flower power at its peak.  Features songs from Strawberry Alarm Clock and The Seeds.

Radioactive Waste - This one came stuffed in some magazine.  A few cool cuts like Black Grape/Get Higher, Snowpony/Easy Way Down, Ramones/R.A.M.O.N.E.S., and my favorite on the disk Traci Lords/Okey Dokey.

Rah Rah Sis Boom Swag - This is a pretty cool compilation.  Stuff like Boss Hog / White Sand, That Dog / Lip Gloss, Elastica / Spastica, Sonic Youth / Becuz, Loud Lucy / Ticking, and Garbage / Queer.  I bought it for the Sonic Youth cut, but the rest of this is actually better.

Rainy Day - 1984 - This is a band that consists of members of Rain Parade, Bangles, Dream Syndicate, and The Three O'Clock.  It is really cool.  It is mainly covers of the Velvet Underground, Alex Chilton, Beach Boys, The Who, etc, done in their Paisley Underground style.

Rat Music for Rat People - 1982 - This was an education for me.  Great live versions of songs from Flipper, DOA, Circle Jerks, Bad Brains, Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, and more great hardcore.

Rat Music for Rat Music Vol 2 - 1984 - More hardcore than the first volume.  Bands like DRI, JFA, MDC, Butthole Surfers, Minutemen, and Dicks.  Some interesting and good, but not great.

Reality Bites - Soundtrack - Ths movie was an ok movie.  The soundtrack is much better.  I really like the Knack, and Juliana Hatfield 3.  This also has the song that made Lisa Loeb huge, or maybe a little bigger.

Rock Invasion (1956-1969) - 1978 - Some of the bands that invaded the US besides the Beatles and the Stones.  Songs by The Zombies, Nashville Teens, The Small Faces.

Rodney on the ROQ - Vol 1, 2, 3 - This are really cool compilations featuring tons of great L.A. punk  There are so many good things here, how do you pick out a few.  There are the big bands like Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Social Distortion, etc.  Lots of variety.

Savoy Sound Wave Goodbye - 1981 - One year in the life of the San Francisco club with bands like Tuxedomoon, Snakefinger, Mutants and more.

Select Hot! - Came with some British music magazine.  It has some pretty cool stuff like Nick Cave, Ash, and John Spenser Blues Explosion.  It also has a really unfunny cut by Eddie Izzard.

SF Underground 7" Single - 1979 - The first release of Subterranean Records.  This one features some underground bands that played at SF's Deaf Club (a club that had really loud bands so that deaf people could feel the vibrations).  Early song (Earthworm) from Flipper, and three others from No Alternative, Tools and VKTMS.

Short Circuit - Live at the Electric Circus - 1978 - This is a documentary about the final night at the Manchester club, The Electric Circus.  This features bands like Buzzcocks, Joy Division and The Fall.  I got this because of that whole Joy Division obsession I had.  This has a pretty early song of their's and it is pretty rough.

The Sire Machine Turns You Up - 1978 - Sire was the label that seemed to release a lot of punk/new wave in the 70s.  They had the Ramones, Dead Boys, The Undertones and Patti Smith and more.  I think my favorite here is Hand of the Law by Radio Birdmen.

Slash - The Early Sessions - 1983 - Lots of important songs from the major label of L.A. punk like The Blasters, Gun Club, X, Fear, Germs, The Dream Syndicate and The Violent Femmes.

Smack My Crack - 1987 - This is a lot of loud abrasive bands.  Lots of great songs from Butthole Surfers, Einsturzende Neubauten, Swans.  Spoken word stuff from William Burroughs and Nick Cave

Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz - I have this on 3 90 minute tapes, I don't know how many records this was on originally.  This is a great education of all the great old jazz.  Artists like Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong., etc.  My favorite here is Louis Armstrong's Struttin' With Some Barbecue.

Snogging And Shagging - Came stuffed in a magazine I bought.  Not fantastic, but there are songs by Elastica and XTC.

Some Of Our Friends Are ... Hungry - I really like this one.  Two songs each from Arkana, Kara's Flowers, and Tanya Donelly.

A Sound Approach - There are copyright notices all over this, but no date, I am assume mid 80s.  These are all Boulder Co based bands.  Industrial bands like Architects Office, Naram Sin, Room 291, and Doll Parts.  Some more conventional rock like Phil Wang, Big Man and Swinging Chariots.  There are a few good songs on this.  I mainly like this because I saw a bunch of these bands in college.

Sound of Sydney - Volume 3 - 1986 - I like a few of these bands like Happy Hate Me Nots, The Double O's and X (not the band from L.A.).  The rest isn't all that exciting.

Sounds Showcase 2 - Single - 1987 - New and unreleased versions of songs from Shop Assistants, The Icicle Works, The Mighty Lemon Drops and The Woodentops do a live cover of Love Train.

Sounds Showcase 3 - Single - 1987 - A remix of Serpent's Kiss from The Mission, and songs from Gangway and The Leather Nun.

Speed Trials - 1983 - This is from a noise festival from a New York art gallery.  The songs from Sonic Youth and Swans are disappointing, but the songs from The Fall (Smile and Tempo House) and Beastie Boys (Egg Raid on Mojo, from when they were still a punk band) make up for it.

Spin Radio Underground - Not sure what edition of this show this was, but is has a cool live show from the Minutemen from the early 80s.  Great songs and great covers from around the time of Double Nickels.  If that's not enough, it also has real early stuff from 10000 Maniacs (when they were still noisy), Echo and The Bunnymen (I think this one actually has echo, their drum machine, in it), Danielle Dax, Pere Ubu, and Jesus and Mary Chain.

Stellar Themes - Lindsey got this with a Science Fiction magazine.  A dozen or so themes from all the obvious sci-fi tv shows.  Most redone by some generic orchestra.

Star Trek - The Motion Picture Soundtrack - 1979 - The instrumentals from the movie.

Sub Pop 100 - 1986 - The famous independent label from Seattle.  Lots of great stuff, mainly noisy abrasive stuff, like Skinny Puppy, Scratch Acid, Savage Republic and even Shonen Knife.

Super Oldies of the 60s - Volume 10 - 20 songs from the 60s.  I think my favorite is Town Without Pity.  There is also the original version of The Bird's The Word that would turn into Surfin' Bird and lots more.

Suzuki Violin School - Vol 1 & Vol 2 - This are the records that I had in elementry school that went along with the violin lessons that taught the Suzuki method of violin playing.  I never get rid of albums.

Sylvester Soundtrack - 1985 - Pretty decent Tex-Mex influenced soundtrack with bands like Los Lobos, Cruzados and Rank and File.  Never saw the movie and am not really sure what it is about.

Television's Greatest Hits - Volume I - 65 theme songs from the 50s and 60s.  All the popular shows you can think of .

Television's Greatest Hits Volume II Compilation - 1986 - 65 of the tv themes you remember from the 50s, 60s and 70s.  Most of them are the original, but some of them are remakes.  Pretty fun listening. Everything from Saturday moring shows to westerns.

Texas Punk, 1966 - Really obscure stuff from Texas garage bands of the 60s.  Lots of bands you never heard of.  All in all, it is pretty interesting.

A Texas Trip - 1987 - Really trippy weird stuff from Texas.  Bands include Butthole Surfers, Daniel Johnson, Steve Fitch and Stickmen With Rayguns.

Touch Magnetic North - 1985 - A very strange compilation.  A few big bands like Einsturzende Neubauten, Kill Ugly Pop, Cabaret Voltaire, and The Residents.  Lots of other strange items.  My favorite is one of the Gilbert + George The World of... pieces where they spend a couple of minutes talking about purchasing terra cota vases.

Trainspotting - Soundtrack - Didn't see the movie, would like to some day.  The soundtrack is really good.  Pretty much everything here I like.

A Tribute to Diana - Lindsey bought the tribute album to Princess Diana.  Lots of choral and sad music for a sad event.

Trouser Press Presents The Best Of America Underground - From the people who put out the best record guide, this compilation should be better, but is kind of disappointing.  There are a few good things like The Residents, Suburbs, and Pylon, but the rest of this doesn't excite me all that much.

The 20th Anniversity of the Summer Of Love - 1987 - A pretty cool compilation with some of the more out there groups.  Stuff from Half Japanese, Fred Frith, Shockability, The Workdogs, etc.

20 Reggae Classics - The Music that Inspired a Generation - 1984 - Lots of reggae from the late 60s and 70s.  Of course there is some Bob Marley, Maytals, Ethiopians and Pioneers.  Original versions you have heard before like Cherry Oh Baby, Love of the Common People, Monkey Man, and Rudy A Message to You.  Very educational.

UK Buzz - A cool radio show with lots of good stuff from the mid 80s.  Stuff like Tones on Tail, Red Guitars, Nick Cave, New Model Army, etc.  The best is Red Guitars' Good Technology.

Urgh! - A Musical War -  This is one of the best new wave compilations that came out in the 80s.  Live performances of important new wave bands like the Go-Gos, XTC, OMD, Echo and the Bunnymen and more.  It even has the novelty hit by Spizz Energy Where's Captain Kirk.

Vertigo Sampler - 1985 - Double album compilation of bands from 4AD like Cocteau Twins, This Mortal Coil, Colourbox, bands from Beggars Banquet like The Icicle Works, Tones on Tail and Love and Rocket.  The second album has more conventional bands like Big Country, Boomtown Rats, Dire Straits and Mark Knopfer.

A Visit to Switzerland - "The sound of the alphorn is both cheerful and majestic, is it rings out from a Swiss mountain top in duet with its own echo."  There is country dance music.  "And then there is yodeling".  This album has it all, Alpine Journey, Up on the Cliff and of course Naughty Boy Lädler.

Viva Umkhonto! - 1987 - A hardcore compilation with pretty generic hardcore bands like 76% Uncertain, Scream and Social Unrest.  My favorite here is The Ex with Dallas; Texas 1988 which has a cool music track with a tape from the Kennedy assassination news reports that is played and rewound through the entire song.

The Wedding Singer - Soundtrack - Didn't see the movie, it looks pretty stupid.  The soundtrack is really great though.  I think I like every song here.

We Prefer Cheese! - 1988 - A pretty cool compilation on My Tongue Records.  Some bands that I went to college with like Warlock Pinchers, Treble King, Smedley's Van and Minus Bill.  The songs are all pretty cool too.

What a Nice Way to Turn Seventeen - Issue 2 single - 1984 - The Jazz Butcher does a cool cover of John Cale's Chinese Envoy and there are songs from Rag Dolls, Nikki Sudden and Sad Go Round.

What a Nice Way to Turn Seventeen - Issue 6 LP - Lots of pretty cool mostly acoustic and jangly stuff.  Nikki Sudden is the standout here.

Wild Thing - Lakeshore Music Presents - 1980 - Pretty decent selection of oldies with some of the harder ones like Love, Count Five, Seeds, Standells, etc.

  William Shakespeare's Romeo+Juliet Soundtrack -  This is a cool soundtrack with a nice mix of alt music like Garbage, Butthole Surfers, Radiohead and Everclear.

With Honors Motion Picture Soundtrack - 1994 - I think I have seen this movie, I remember it was pretty crappy. The soundtrack has some interesting things on it though. Belly does an good version of It's Not Unusual. It has some Kirstin Hersh, Pretenders, and Mudhoney. Duran Duran does a really bad version of Led Zeppelin's Thank You, not that the original was all the great to start with.

The Wonderful World of Opera - A nice compilation of about 30 of the classic moments from opera.  Covers a cassette and a half.  Stuff like the March From Carmen(Bizet), Bridal Chorus (Wagner), etc.  Nice starting point to discover opera.

The X Factor - 1995 - Pretty good collection of alternative songs. Bands like Porno for Pyros, L7, Dinosaur Jr, Jesus and Mary Chain, etc.

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Last Updated October 13, 2000