When I first launched this blog over fifteen years ago, there was a trend across the Internet for pulling what I described as "homebrew compilations" together.
These were usually about 80 minutes long (enough to fit on a single CD should the reader decide to "burn" them to one) came with some slightly scrappy cover art you could download if you wanted, and a lot of sleeve notes. They were a great way of giving people an immediate impression of the music your blog would focus on in one giant gulp.
For a whole bunch of reasons these became less common as the noughties turned into whatever the hell we want to call the second decade of the 21st Century, but of course, it's a bandwagon I jumped on, leaving a series of compilations live on here for a few months before the download links evaporated. After that, I was always bothered by the fact that there were whole chunks of very popular pages of this blog lying redundant and unused, shopfronts and billboards for beautiful trinkets nobody could actually hold and admire anymore.
While skimming around Spotify a few weeks back, I couldn't help but notice that most of the tracks on these compilations were now largely covered by the Spotify database, and obviously couldn't resist creating the appropriate playlists there. And YouTube was like shooting extraordinarily large dolphins in a bathtub - almost all of the tunes were present and correct.
With that in mind, consider these compilations back (partially, admittedly) on Spotify for your love and attention again:
Wallpaper - the very first one I pulled together in 2008, full details archived here.
Lysergic Diversions - original webpage here
Turnoffs To Nowhere - original webpage here
And if you find Spotify's catalogue gaps aggravating, the above and more are available as YouTube playlists at the following links:
Pictures of Marshmallow Men - original webpage here
Music Soothes The Savage Breast - original webpage here
I have to admit that if I had my time over, I'd do almost all these playlists and their accompanying blog entries completely differently, and it should also be borne in mind that some of these artists were very much in the "utterly unknown" file back in 2008 but have since identified themselves. Excuse the smell of mothballs in this old closet, and accept the mistakes and contradictions.
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