My 2 latest comps were sent to a few regulars here last week... a few more will go out this week. Anyone else feel free to ask (4jacksonATcomcastDOTnet) and I'll sendya a couple. I usually offer em up to anyone who's interested, but sometimes it's buried at the bottom of some older thread... with this new layout, you can't SEE those sub-threads anymore (yes, even in Hybrid-view), so I'll post this up here.

V-10 is a mix of power-pop (melodic rock) tunes from the year '97. Although most of my comps are (intentionally) of obscure bands, this is a bit more mainstream (well known). I have a whole slew of other 90's-era comps planned, so this was as good a place to start as any. I eliminated the hard-rock, folk-rolk, jazz-rock etc styled bands on this one.... simply because there'd be too many cuts to choose from. (same with the year-thing). As it turned out, it may have been better to mix some harder rock into it (for more variety). But... my intent is usually just to bring a few "new" things to light, and I'll still wager few have heard ALL the artists here.

BTW.... ironic & sad note: there's an Elliott Smith cut on this, but I burned this comp a few weeks before he committed suicide. (He also had a cut on my Vol-3 comp (my very first comp) last year... that comp was purposely made after the death of John Entwistle last summer... kinda eerie, in retrospect). But... listening to his lyrics on this latest comp is especially sad and ironic, considering his fate.... and more than kinda eerie.

V-11 is a "roots rock" mix that centers around early western swing, a style most are only somewhat familiar with. It's a style I discovered as a kid and ended up collecting. Bear in mind it's difficult to choose just a few dozen cuts that represent a whole genre... imagine doing that with Rock & Roll (1955-1990!), so it's a broad overview; nothing more intended. I have a short page that describes the background for it in more detail... and where I throw out my biased view that these bands are the true grandaddies of Rock & Roll. You may agree, or think I'm full of it... the truth is probably somewhere in-between.

If you appreciate roots-rock, blues, jazz, country, or just melodic pop songs, you should find a tune or 2 of interest in there. At the least, it should shed some light on this dimly lit corner of the R&R pyramid (for music history buffs). If it doesn't get yer knees a tappin' you probably don't have any rhythm in yer soul. Anyway, the music's better than my rambling. Of course, when it comes to music, taste is in the eye of the beholder. Rock on.