Blues Rock: The DJC Collection (Various Artists)

Compilations are somewhat tricky when it comes to finding a place in the Spectrum. Since I try to order my CDs according to similar styles and sounds, compilations are often difficult to place since they can often cover a range of styles. I mention this today, because I recently received The DJC Collection from DJC Records (see the end of this entry for your chance to receive a copy of this compilation).

From Norwich, UK, DJC Records is Dave Clague’s label. Clague began the label to release three recordings from 1969-1970 by Siren (featuring Kevin Coyne) on which Clague played bass and guitar. Clague was also formerly of the Bonzo Dog Band, so he has released Anthropology covering Bonzo’s outtakes. Siren and the Bonzo Dog Band show blues, jazz, and rock influences. The DJC Collection presents 4 cuts from these CDs (plus another from ex-Bonzo Dog Roger Ruskin Spear), so this compilation seems destined to be in the Blues Rock section.

However, we also have world music from Hamish Barker, British Isles folk from Isles Theater Company, Malarky, and Damien Barber, jazz from Marius Kahan, country from Lucas Hille, and accordion from Norvic Concordia.

But why is this important? Why not put the compilations at the end of the collection in their own section (as in a record store)? Because one premise behind organizing my CDs in the Spectrum is so that while searching for the right music for my mood, for the occasion, I can scan until landing in the right section, the right style for the music that my emotions are calling out to hear. Music is a way to tap into your emotions, tap into what you’re thinking about, and the Spectrum lets me scan the shelves, kind of funneling my search for the right soundtrack to the day. So The DJC Collection needs to be in the right place in the Spectrum.

Now many compilations are fairly simple to place in the Spectrum; they cover one style and so fit within the range of music. For instance, three new compilations I recently received from Greentrax Recordings will be in the Irish, Scottish, English Folk section. While these compilations offer glimpses of rock or other Scottish-influenced music, they generally some great examples of Scottish folk, and so fall easily into this section of the Spectrum. Thank you to Ian Green for these compilations. See See www.greentrax.com.

Some compilations cover many genres but are nonetheless associated with a specific section of the Spectrum. I subscribe to the UK magazine Uncut which comes with a monthly sampler CD. This is a tremendous way to check out new music. See www.uncut.net. On the months when the sampler presents the best of the new music, the CD can cover a huge range of styles. However, those Uncut samplers go in the English Rock section, because while not all of the music is English, they are compiled with English ears for new music. (Often a different selection than say the U.S. magazine CMJ New Music Monthly).

So that brings me back to The DJC Collection. Where to put it? Where can it be in the Spectrum so that at the right moment when I am craving music of Dave Clague’s blues/rock background while also wanting to hear selections from the artists that Clague has pursued and released on his label? And I come back to the Blues Rock section. Certainly that doesn’t describe half of the music collected here, but the genesis of DJC comes out of the Blues Rock background and certainly that influences Clague’s selection of artists. It is a blues rocker’s appreciation for many other styles of music.

I’m glad to see I’m not the only one to think that this compilation CD covers a huge range of styles. Even Clague’s website posts 2 reviews appreciating the diversity while kind of struggling to know what to do with such diversity.

Out of this collection, while enjoying Siren, Kevin Coyne, and Bonzo Dog, perhaps the greatest gem is a track by Mira’nda, an Australian singer/songwriter. She has some of the passion of Sinead O’Connor and Bjork, gutsy, beautiful but also ready to burst into a singing scream. I look forward to hearing more of this when I hear her DJC album So Bravely Human in the future.

Thank you to Dave Clague for this wonderfully diverse compilation now in the Blues Rock section on my shelf. And thanks to Dave, the first person to email me will receive their own copy of The DJC Collection for free.