When I'm asked "so, what are you listening to these days?" more often than not, the answer regularly involves some sort of compilation, sanctioned or otherwise, ranging from dancehall, dub, French pop, tropicalia, Ethiopian hybrid jazz/funk to '60s garage-rock, freakbeat, obscure soul and weird psych comps from yesteryear. While I will always be an admirer of the album format, these collections, in terms of gathering up the one-offs and interesting curios, consistently deliver (see labels: Soul Jazz, become a member or log in.
