Music Library Compilations: Hs and Is

Halloween Stomp: Jazz and Big Band Music for a Halloween Party! (unknown). Excellent compilation of jazzy, swingy halloween music.



Hand-Picked: 25 Years of Bluegrass on Rounder (rel. 1994). I used to like bluegrass so much more than I do now. It seems so humorless and conservative for people to focus on playing the same songs the same way over and over again to me now, though.



The Harder They Come Soundtrack (1972). Ain't much better than this, a flat-out perfect slice of reggae.



Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music (rel. 1952). You can hear while listening to this three-volume collection of race and hillbilly 78s exactly how it set off the folk revival in the 60s. Absolutely brilliantly curated. It brings history to life.



Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music, Vol. 4 (rel. 2000). I've forgotten the circumstances behind this belated entry in the Harry Smith Anthology collection, but it stands strong with the previous albums.



Here It Is - The Music, Vol. 1 (1992). Weirdo Ryko sampler that pulls together the Residents and Keith Levene with the likes of Nanci Griffith and the Red Clay Ramblers.

High Lonesome: The Story of Bluegrass (rel. 1994). This is the soundtrack to a movie I've never seen. It's a very good bluegrass collection. The whole movie appears to be on YouTube for those who wish to pursue this movie.



Hills of Home: 25 Years of Folk Music on Rounder (rel. 1994). It calls itself a folk collection, but it means all sorts of music involving an acoustic guitar. There's some good and some bad, but it's on the whole better than the previous Rounder collection above.



Hitsville USA: The Motown Singles Collection 1959-71. I prefer Stax soul to Motown soul, but not by much.



Home Schooled: The ABCs of Kid Soul (2007). Another Numero Group compilation of soul nuggets, this one focuses on - surprise, surprise - kids playing soul music.



The Hottest State Soundtrack (2007). High on the list of things that I'm not sure why I have is this, the soundtrack to an Ethan Hawke-directed film that I've never seen and have no intention of doing so. It's all mellow, nonthreatening, folkish indie-rock.



I Am The Resurrection: A Tribute to John Fahey (2006). Fahey inspires weirdness in folk players, and this is an odd compilation that more or less works. Artists include Pelt, Sufjan Stevens, Calexico, Cul de Sac, members of Camper Van Beethoven/Monks of Doom.



Impossible But True: The Kim Fowley Story (1959-68). Fowley was behind a LOT of LA exploitation rock, but, as this collection shows, he was capable of striking a lot of gold.



In God's Country: The Music That Inspired The Joshua Tree (2003). A decent collection of folk, blues, country, and R&B that has god-knows-what connection to freakin' U2.

The Indestructible Beat of Soweto (1986). Great collection of afrobeat/afropop/folk music from Soweto.



An Introduction to Truth and Soul: Truth & Soul Sampler 2009. From this sampler, I'm guessing that this label seems to be reissuing soul albums from the 70s.



It Came From Memphis Too (2006). This is a compilation by the Memphis Industries label. The 60s girl-group-inspired tracks by the Pipettes and El Perro del Mar stand out.