This is really good even though I normally wouldn't give a second glance to most of the bands here. Also,
Hoard wrote rilly well about this at the voice. It has Erase Errata & Radio 4 & !!! and the other no-new-wavers but they feel better in context. Like the foax from the "Sonic Chimp" comp (probably hard to find now, but worth it) grew up a bit but not TOO much. Captures a loose lo-fi feel which makes you forget how hard these bands sweat and forget about listening too close for anything in particular but ambles and shambles thru hardcore and this or that.
Totally unlike the radio shows which got me into indie but feels as close to the feeling I had then as I have been in a long time.
― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Friday, 23 August 2002 04:40 (twenty-three years ago)
yeah, that's a good comp. my only gripe would be that in an effort to achieve 'authenticity' by allowing some tracks to be quieter and not adjust the levels (ala a 'real' mixtape) some of the songs lose a little something. i'm talking about lightning bolt mainly.
― racing_the_tide, Friday, 23 August 2002 08:14 (twenty-three years ago)
If you're talking about double-CD comps that nail the groundswell masquerading as a zeitgeist in the US-centric rock underground, I'm partial to the _Fields & Streams_ collection from KRS. I like the Mix Tape well enough, but it gets too monotonous after a while (you can only do so much w/ hardcore), the all-too-few moments of melody (cf. Secret Stars, Lois & Sean Na Na, more I can't recall) stick out like sore thumbs, and the mastering pisses me off (esp. since I bought a SECOND copy, thinking that the comp had been remastered so, f'r instance, the smothered-in-wool Lightning Bolt track sounded as clear & bright as the Miles Davis rant; NO DICE).
However, I was fairly knowledgable of this "scene" prior to the Mix Tape's release, so perhaps my familiarity with the Big Names keeps me from A) appreciating what the Big Names offer here and B) noticing the wee ones snuck in between the Big Names as anything more than between-song static.
Plus, it flows like sandpaper on stubble.
I still like it well enough, though.
― David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 23 August 2002 13:40 (twenty-three years ago)
i like the troubleman/slampt
taking a chance on chances comp better, even though i only like about 2/3 of the songs on it. (figure that one out.) dave's right: there's just a little too much crash-smash-bash on this one. plus he was promising it for like two or three years which made its eventual appearance something of a let down. (possibly because my own taste had moved on so much, but hey...)
― jess (dubplatestyle), Friday, 23 August 2002 14:27 (twenty-three years ago)