Comp Is Short For Compliation

To follow up on my last Tuesday post, "My Favorite Soundtracks," I'd like to discuss another source for finding new music, that being compliations. The first time I read XLR8R magazine, I thought the "Comp" reviews section stood for "complimentary," which was a little confusing to me since there was another section for album reviews, but I guess I figured that not all record labels send free copies of the newest releases to every magazine for promotion. (Does anyone know the percentage of CDs that a magazine receives complimentary versus the total number reviewed?) Box sets make the best compilations, although most of favorite comps featured here come on a single disc. I just discussed a 6CD box set called the State of Synthpop 2005 in the post before this one. Even though two-thirds of the songs were less than desirable, I still only spent $20 and it was a pleasure to sift through 90 artists I'd never heard before in a genre that I prefer on its worst day over country or gospel music on their best days. There are other box sets I would love to own but unfortunately they cost far more than $20. I'm just going to put my comp wish list out there:

1. Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968 - originally released by Elektra on LP in 1972 (the liner notes contained the first use of the term "punk rock"), it was reissued by Rhino on CD in 1998 with three additional discs and made Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time

2. Postpunk Chronicles (series): Going Underground, Left of the Dial, and Scared to Dance - OUT OF PRINT (1999 from Rhino) but there is an extension of it which is available and included on my list below

3. The Complete Motown #1s Box (2008) Every hit on 10 discs including 200 songs from 50 different artists, plus the box looks like the house that was the label's headquarters in Detroit

Here are the top 20 comps in my lifetime (which I'm ordering by the decade when the featured music was released):

1950s

1. Mento Madness: Motta's Jamaican Mento 1951-1956 (6/22/04) before there was calypso, there was mento and after growing up on my dad's Harry Belafonte it was good to go back to THE REAL ROOTS of reggae

2. Now That's What I Call Christmas! (10/23/01) not to be confused with the single-disc 2008 Essential abridgement, this starts with the 1946 Nat King Cole "Christmas Song" but also includes my favorite '50s Christmas classics "Jingle Bell Rock" and "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" up through lame '90s commercial R&B covers

1960s

3. Hard Rock Cafe: Surf (4/21/98) my first favorite musical genre, before I could put a name to synthpop or even Mexican mariachi; I just learned that there was a box set released called Cowabunga! but it is out of print and very expensive used

4. The Reggae Box (11/13/01) covering 40 years of Jamaican music, starting with THE ORIGINAL SKA from 1962 up through rock steady, dub, and dancehall with extensive liner notes, an introduction to Rastafari, and a glossary of Jamaican slang

5. Wild & Crazy Tunes (6/9/94) containing an old Boy Scout camp favorite, "My Ding-A-Ling" by Chuck Berry, halloween favorites "Monster Mash" and "The Purple People Eater," and some "Weird Al" Yankovic

1970s

6. Droppin' Science: Greatest Samples from the Blue Note Lab (2/12/08) funky jazz tracks used by Beastie Boys, Biz Markie, De La Soul, Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige, Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth, and A Tribe Called Quest

7. Pure Funk (5/5/98) my brother left this in my mom's truck when she drove up meet my wife (then girlfriend) and that's all we listened to all weekend

8. X-Ray Music: A Blood and Fire Dub Directory (8/24/99) comprising most of the tracks on my iPod's dub reggae playlist; I'd also like to get a hold of the Trojan label's Dub Box set, as it's 3CDs for almost the price of one

1980s

9. Entertainment Weekly: The Greatest Hits 1989 (3/7/00) featuring Fine Young Cannibals, Love and Rockets, Richard Marx, Prince, Tone-Loc, and Warrant

10. Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s Underground (10/12/04) as mentioned above, this is the continuation of the series that schooled me on R.E.M. not being British, L.A.'s so-called Paisley Underground movement, and the Chili Peppers being produced by George Clinton with members of Parliament (I don't like either, but hey); only half the songs on the set made it to my iPod, but the liner notes and articles are THE MOST PASSIONATE I've ever read, somewhat comprehensive and definitive too

11. Rock of the 80's, Vol. 1 (7/5/91) the first of the '80s compilation series and still the best, almost 2o years later; Vol. 1 set the foundation of Devo, Blondie, and Flock of Seagulls, Vol. 2 built on that with Thomas Dolby, Soft Cell, Naked Eyes, ABC, Berlin, Thompson Twins, Gary Numan, and The Buggles

12. The Suicide Girls: Black Heart Retrospective (9/27/05) I originally picked this up for the goth cartoon art on the cover and because it included Echo and the Bunnymen with Skinny Puppy; yikes - now I know who the Suicide Girls are

1990s

13. Best of Techno, Vol. 3 (2/9/93) the best compilation on this entire list, featuring two songs by one of my favorite artists, Acen Razvi, and the breakthrough hit "Sesame's Treat" by Smart E's

14. ESPN Presents: Jock Jams, Volume 1 (7/25/95) more for "The Old Ballgame" and "Rock & Roll, Part 2" than "Whoomp! (There It Is)" and "Y.M.C.A." but "The Power" and "Pump Up the Jam" were good to me

15. New Millennium Hip Hop Party (4/25/00) the best Rhino compilation which starts with '80s greats Grandmaster Flash and Run-D.M.C. up through M.C. Hammer and Snow to The Notorious B.I.G. and Wu-Tang Clan

16. Tenth Anniversary Ongoing History of New Music (2003) hosted by Alan Cross, "a Canadian radio broadcaster and the author of The Alternative Music Almanac (1995), The Making of Pretty Hate Machine and The Downward Spiral (1996), Over the Edge: The Revolution and Evolution of New Rock (1997), 20th Century Rock and Roll: Alternative Rock (2000); host of 102.1 The Edge's most famous program, The Ongoing History of New Music, he also served as program director of the station from 2004 to 2008," (from Wikipedia) where he was my sister-in-law's boss; she gave me this limited CD which goes from the Velvet Underground (1967) to Hole (1998)

2000s

17.Chillout 2002: The Ultimate Chillout (9/7/02) a good series which started in 2001 and then declined recently, I bought this for Coldplay, Delirium, and Dido but walked away with something even better - BT, Massive Attack, and Zero 7

18. David Waxman Presents Ultra Electro (4/4/06) I heard this playing the best New Order remix in Sam Goody and I justified picking it up on the strength of that one song, but it also had Daft Punk, Depeche Mode, Goldfrapp, Ladytron, Moby, and Shiny Toy Guns, which I had heard of, however, Digitalism and Röyksopp turned out to be better than any of those

19. MTV2 Presents: Shortlist 2004 Nominees (11/2/04) I borrowed this from a friend when I first moved to San Diego and it got me into SO many bands - Air, Dizzee Rascal, Ghostface Killah, Jem, Muse, The Secret Machines, and Wilco, just to name half

20. Return of the DJ, Vol. 1 (3/21/00) originally released in 1996, it was reissued after Linkin Park brought back turntablism; I first saw Z-Trip at their show and it led me to watch the documentary film Scratch (2001) and buy this compilation