First off, kudos for some wicked nice packaging—damn thing looks like someone decorated a giant matchbook with a Spirograph then attached a couple of small magnets so you could close it. The music contained inside is a nice enough mix of alt-rock, world music, off-kilter rock, and punk. Sure, there are moments when things get a wee bit pretentious, but it’s pretty clear that some intelligence and serious effort was put into every aspect of this compilation. Besides, it’s not every day one runs into a comp with Sump Pumps, Medusa, Child Bite (whose track sounds like a Latin Playboys outtake with Pere Ubu’s David Thomas on vocals), and a group that sounds like they employ a phalanx of Mbira (thumb piano) players.
–jimmy (Russian Recording)