Music Library Compilations: Ds and Es

Daughters of Texas (rel. 2002). Blues comp that is my wife's. It has Big Martha and Janis Joplin and seems to be about blues ladies from Texas.

Daytrotter Sessions, Vol. 1 and 2 (2007). A bunch of indie rock bands playing live in 2007.

The Debut/Period Original Jazz Classics Sampler (rel. 2002). This has some seriously great hard bop from Charlie Mingus's short-lived label.

The Devil's Music: Keith Richards' Favorite Tunes (rel. 2002). Top-notch comp from Uncut Magazine with blues, jazz, country, R&B, and reggae. What any of this has to do with Keith Richards is unknown. I mean, yes, the Rolling Stones have some wide-ranging influences.

Dirty Laundry: The Soul Of Black Country (rel. 2004). This is a comp of country songs performed by R&B and blues singers, emphasizing how very fragile the notions of genre are.



Do It Again: A Tribute To Pet Sounds (2006). Indie-rock folks cover the iconic Beach Boys album. Almost all of these songs make me wish I was listening to Pet Sounds instead of this.



Don't Let The Bastards Get You Down: A Tribute To Kris Kristofferson (2002). Lots of folks cover Kris Kristofferson songs. These are much better than the Beach Boys tribute, mostly because the songs are a bit more universally-accessible than the Beach Boys songs (I mean, anyone can cover Kristofferson), and the artists on the album are well-chosen for the material.



Don't Mess With Texas: SXSW 2008 New Music Sampler, Don't Mess With Texas: SXSW 2009 New Music Sampler, and Don't Mess With Texas: SXSW 2011 New Music Sampler. Bunch of indie-rock bands appearing at SXSW on the identified year. There's no rhyme or reason for these selections otherwise, and the whole is pretty lackluster. Some songs are good, though.



The Doo Wop Box (rel. 1993). Four discs of doo-wop, a genre that I can stand for about 20 minutes at a time, as I learned while listening to this. As a historical document, though, it is quite interesting.



Down And Out: The Sad Soul of the Black South (rel. 1998). This is a fascinating comp of semi-obscure down & dirty blues.



Down To The Promised Land: Five Years of Bloodshot Records (2000). This may be the first of Bloodshot's yearly compilations, but it is one of the best.



Eccentric Soul 1: The Capstone Label
Eccentric Soul 2: The Bandit Label
Eccentric Soul 3: The Deep City Label
Eccentric Soul 4: The Big Mack Label
Eccentric Soul 5: Mighty Mike Lenaburg
Eccentric Soul 6: Twinight's Lunar Rotation
Eccentric Soul 7: The Prix Label
Eccentric Soul 8: The Outskirts of Deep City

These comps, released between 2004 and 2007, are the R&B versions of garage rock, collecting  regional sides from the 60s and 70s made in communities all over the country. The Numero Group, which releases these, has done a phenomenal job. I think the first one, compiling songs by the Capstone Label, is my favorite, but they are all worth seeking out.



Eu Vim da Bahia (rel. 1965). This is an early comp of music from the Bahia area of Brazil, featuring many musicians who would very soon after become associated with the tropicalia movement. This collection features the artists playing slightly syrupy bossanova, which doesn't indicate the musical mayhem that they would create within the next five years.