Various Artists:
XL Recordings (Pay Close Attention):
XL Recordings:
CD/LP/DD
Out Now:
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Following on from recent dance/rave label compilations such as the Suburban Base 3CD set, perhaps the UK's most genre-friendly, far-reaching and successful independent label since the '90s finally celebrates itself again with a silver jubilee round-up of some key moments.
Across the double-CD retrospective you'll find one-half devoted to raver's classics and one-half devoted to the sort of music they'll be putting on to appease dinner-party guests. I'm not kidding - the divide is so obvious.
One common theme is 'recreation' - just about every act on this disc has, at one point, been the inspiration for either playing hard, working hard, chilling hard or all three - a soundtrack for the stilted generation.
For those prone to gurning their nuts off and kissing strangers, there's The Prodigy's double-whammy of Out Of Space and Firestarter, SL2's top-notch DJ's Take Control, Liquid's gorgeous Sweet Harmony and Awesome 3's itchy Kicks Like a Mule (Don't Go), while for late-comers you'd be nodding your 2-step garage-napper to Gabriel from Roy Davis Jr or Anytime by Nu-Birth.
XL didn't dabble in drum'n'bass too often but it chose a good 'un with Jonny L - his immense Piper is one of the most important d'n'b tunes this country's exported (I prefer his techno-raver I Like It, sadly not included, but they could have picked any one of his 10"/12" releases from the mid '90s to be honest). Jump 'n Shout is a Basement Jaxx masterblaster and glues garage and grime together ahead of its time - I'm glad they chose this instead of Where's Your Head At? or Bingo Bango.
And that's where the cohesion ends, sadly. Disc 2 comprises hits and misses in the form of The White Stripes, Devendra Banhart, Adele, Badly Drawn Boy, Vampire Weekend, M.I.A. and King Krule and some creative highpoints such as Jungle, Jai Paul and the late Gil Scott-Heron and Bobby Womack. It wouldn't do to have the same genre across two discs but it's a shame they missed out on a few earlier gems - Subliminal Cuts, for example. Still, a fascinating retrospective that has written itself.
XL Recordings (Pay Close Attention):
XL Recordings:
CD/LP/DD
Out Now:
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Across the double-CD retrospective you'll find one-half devoted to raver's classics and one-half devoted to the sort of music they'll be putting on to appease dinner-party guests. I'm not kidding - the divide is so obvious.
One common theme is 'recreation' - just about every act on this disc has, at one point, been the inspiration for either playing hard, working hard, chilling hard or all three - a soundtrack for the stilted generation.
For those prone to gurning their nuts off and kissing strangers, there's The Prodigy's double-whammy of Out Of Space and Firestarter, SL2's top-notch DJ's Take Control, Liquid's gorgeous Sweet Harmony and Awesome 3's itchy Kicks Like a Mule (Don't Go), while for late-comers you'd be nodding your 2-step garage-napper to Gabriel from Roy Davis Jr or Anytime by Nu-Birth.
XL didn't dabble in drum'n'bass too often but it chose a good 'un with Jonny L - his immense Piper is one of the most important d'n'b tunes this country's exported (I prefer his techno-raver I Like It, sadly not included, but they could have picked any one of his 10"/12" releases from the mid '90s to be honest). Jump 'n Shout is a Basement Jaxx masterblaster and glues garage and grime together ahead of its time - I'm glad they chose this instead of Where's Your Head At? or Bingo Bango.
And that's where the cohesion ends, sadly. Disc 2 comprises hits and misses in the form of The White Stripes, Devendra Banhart, Adele, Badly Drawn Boy, Vampire Weekend, M.I.A. and King Krule and some creative highpoints such as Jungle, Jai Paul and the late Gil Scott-Heron and Bobby Womack. It wouldn't do to have the same genre across two discs but it's a shame they missed out on a few earlier gems - Subliminal Cuts, for example. Still, a fascinating retrospective that has written itself.