Trust the DJ

Pacey says:

Increasingly, I have become enamored by mix albums over complete albums by a singular artists/groups. To this end, I have been listening more and more to DJ compilation albums, such as Gilles Peterson's releases, Carl Cox, and King Britt, in addition to mix album series such as the Back to Mine, Latenighttales, DJ Kicks, and Fabric series. I think this is a result of my being a dabbler by nature, and since most music is terrible, I enjoy having the cream of the crop compiled into easy to access units by respectable ears.

Being one who is fond of making mixes myself, I fully realize how much time and effort is required to wading through albums and artist catalogs to discover and extract prime cuts for assembly. Also, being somewhat removed from the music taste-making community, I am not aware of the totality of releases from overlooked or otherwise obscure sources. DJs have access to scores of music I've never heard of, and it is their job to sift through them to discover crucial music. So, when I discover a DJ whose taste I trust, I make an effort to track down their compilations because they are vastly rewarding.

Another source of found sound come from the artists whom I respect. With regard to this, a relatively new trend emerging is that artists are now releasing compilation mixes of songs they enjoy or that otherwise inspire them. Such compilations are goldmines of tasteful music. The first such compilation mix series of this kind I came across is the Back to Mine series when I found contributers included such respectable artists like Orbital, Underworld, and New Order. Since then, I've been a devotee of such releases, and taken together with DJ mixes, has expanded my musical pallet considerably.

Also, for entertaining house-guests, these compilation mixes make for splendid casual listening much more than a regular album by one artist/group. Not only is the diversity often better, but the albums are also better regarding track-for-track comparisons. Good compilation albums are what the radio should be, ideally.