Now, we at Live4ever have been around long enough to know the art of making a good compilation when we hear one (say it quietly, but we even remember mix tapes).
We’re here to tell you that, just like not getting violently offed in Scream, there are rules which anyone who’s ever written ‘Great Songs Vol. 1’ in felt tip on a CD-R will be able to tell you.
So, given that the Killing Moons label has chosen to lay a 26-track collection on us, we thought that it was about time we tested some of these ancient maxims on what in reality is fast becoming a lost art in terms of sequencing, consistency and packing a punch.
Here then, in association with ‘New Moons Volume II‘, are our Killer Kompilation Kicks.
1/ Always Leave Them Wanting More:
This one simply can’t be broken. Stretching back to the Side 1, Track 1 mindset which is almost as old as recorded music itself, a nine minute drone about scrambled eggs isn’t going to get anyone’s attention. Here that job is given to Racing Glaciers, who on ‘VHS‘ are suitably epic, with twenty foot high walls of exploding drums, chest beating vocal gruffness and riffs you need crampons for. Nice. The same doesn’t quite apply to Jack & Eliza‘s closer, a Lucius-esque piece of ersatz 60’s throwaway that will have slipped your mind five minutes after it’s finished. Not so nice.
2/ Give Them Some Of What They Want:
Let’s face it, whether it’s an object of desire, a mate or your boss, you know the audience you’re projecting to; what they might like, and what they definitely don’t like. Keeping this in mind, the cats from Killing Moon have loaded this with more than our fair share of indie pop – One Bit‘s ‘Daydream‘ echoes Yeaysayer, likewise the Chvrches-meets-The-Pippettes of Fickle Friends, whilst Deathcats sound like they recorded ‘Saturday Night Golden Retriever‘ in a shed, but in a good way.
3/ Curveballs Make The World Go Round:
You might be angling for a date, or even promotion, but that’s still no reason to stick to the Mumfords or Snow Patrol. Are you gonna betray your principles? Nah. You know there’s stuff that needs to be heard, even if you realise it means eventually you’ll end up out of work and cruising Match.com for some company. In this category here sit John J Presley‘s tortured blues, Rare Monk‘s nu-gaze cacophony and most of all Idles, whose effort ‘Queens‘ provides the missing link between The Horrors and Fat White Family, full of opiated snarling and ball-punching arrogance the likes of which will have you curling your lip at any nearby mirror.
4/ Look Back And You’re Lost:
Look, we all make mistakes. Sometimes what sounds great on its own struggles out of context like a salmon that doesn’t like heights. Other times you’ve just got to put your hands up and say you got it wrong. No-one’s suggesting for instance that Washington Irving‘s earnest Celtic-rock sounded anything other than..well, sincere, but it’s hard to love. Equally, we’ll put Sons & Lovers‘ ungenerous remixers down to the awkwardness of the snicker worthy ‘Lover‘, a track that sounds like Imagine Dragons done by Upper Sixths from Eton. And the less said about Richard Walters of Parva and the resemblance of his voice to Freddie Mercury‘s, the better.
5/ Rule Five – There Are No Other Rules:
Done well, compilations are an art form. Done badly – as anyone who’s ever had anything suggested to them by Spotify/Last FM etc can tell you – and they represent at worst a heinous slur on your good taste. That said, the whole point is to introduce the listener to something different, or else what’s the point? If you’ve ever done one when the recipient liked a hundred percent of the material on it, you probably mailed it to yourself. Credit must go to Killing Moon and Ally McCrae for having the conviction to go against the grain and not simply stream this as a playlist – we agree with them that that’s not the same. The results are exactly what they should be; some good, some bad, and you’d probably feel differently.
All that’s missing from this one in fact is the random Boyzone song left on the end of the tape.
