It's compilation time again, where parents and grandparents up and down the land debate on what cool little Johnny and Janie are gonna be listening to this Christmas. "Anything with that nice young man off The X Factor," says gran. "No, it's definitely got to be something loud and heavy, like The Darkness," says dad, none the wiser. "But I thought all the youngsters these days preferred that Eminem bloke?" asks grandpa, looking totally bemused. "Well I think that's the one," adds mum, pointing at Now 6032. "It's got all those songs on it that DJ Daz plays daily on Ram FM."
Well I've news for you folks: you're all wrong. There's only one compilation you should be thinking of shelling out on this yuletide, or beforehand if you've got a spare tenner, and this is it.
Sure, you're probably wondering how many posthumous "John Peel played this"-styled releases are going to hit the shelves in the near future, but this is likely to be the definitive one. Right Time, Wrong Speed reads like a who's who encyclopaedia of the most influential artists of the last thirty years, moving through the early developments of punk onto roots reggae and hip-hop before ending up at electro, goth and post-miserablist pop.
Admittedly, there's also a chance you might already own a fair few of these records in one form or another, but to hear these 38 songs all in one sitting, under the same roof, really is a pleasurable, occasionally educational, experience.
Stand-out tracks are hard to pick out, as there are so many to choose from for different reasons, but the likes of The Cure's 'A Forest', The Jesus And Mary Chain's 'Just Like Honey' and Cocteau Twins' 'Musette And Drums' really do justify each of their creators' now legendary status. Elsewhere, it's difficult not to marvel at 'Birthday' by The Sugarcubes, if only because it highlights the fact that the band's main chanteuse hasn't recorded anything as dramatic or engaging since (contentious, that - Björk-loving sub-ed), while 'The Message' by Grandmaster Flash still sounds as fresh and vital today as it did back in 1982.
Of course, no celebration party for John Peel would be complete without his perennial favourites The Fall, and their 'Eat Y'Self Fitter' rant is as incandescent and barmy as anything Mark E Smith recorded before or after it.
Yep, this really is an awesome compilation, without a duff track in sight. It is worth every penny of the asking price, so what are you waiting for?
does it have
Melt banana's cover of Killer Queen? that's the song i think of when listening to John Peel gets mentioned...
Did They Ever Cover That?
Im Fairly Sure They Only Did 'We Will Rock You'
...
Peel played it after the recordings of Shellac live at ATP. It's the only recording of t' John Peel Show i've still got (hence the mental association) and there is a very peel-esque muttering monologue/mental debate about whether this song is by Melt Banana or not (it certainly sounds like them) caused by odd/poor packaging. So it could be someeone else similar.
it's by
Tourettes Lautrec and its on the rediculously titled, "Dynamite With A Laserbeam: Queen As Heard Through The Meat Grinder Of 31G"
but you're right it does sound like melt banana, and imo is much better than their effort
it does sound very good.
but i would also strongly recommend downloading his festive 50's (at xmas every year his listeners would vote for their fave songs of the year and this would form the list of 50). you can get every year since about 1976 online (for free). these are sprawling and contain plenty of duffers, but some absolute gems too. and some great comments from John in between records.
RIP John.
Yeah
I've been trawling through Soulseek for these (shhh!!!). Some really good stuff to be found though.
Buy it, buy it now...
Nearly all the artists demand further exploration but Right Time, Wrong Speed is an essential collection which works brilliantly.
This compilation is a fucking disgrace
The music might be good but to suggest it's at all Peel-esque is to miss the point of him and his radio career completely. It's nothing more than a horribly cynical cash-in from one of the worst "labels" in existence, exemplifying about 1% of the music Peel played, and designed by focus group to appeal to exactly the kind of people he railed against - the people who would love to reduce the show to a "Peel Canon 1977-1987" so they can attach themselves in their pitifully narrow minds to the memory of someone they can't even conceive of aspiring to be.
Get the Fabric compilation instead.
ruined
that rant by the last sentence. surely your point is that any single cd compilation cannot sum up the great man's taste?
Well, given that he picked the tracks on the Fabric mix CD himself
and that it has a wider range of styles and influences on it than this compilation, it's not unreasonable to suggest that it sums it up better
i agree.
10 Points
for the Ram FM reference.
Ahhh
I love it when everyone kisses the reviewers anus hole and then.......... someone says "No you talikin shit boss" ............ and then everyone else says " yeah, he was talkin shit boss".
So many sheep. So many many sheep. Don't be a sheep.
Maybe
that was a bit premature..... but it happens a fair bit round these parts. Personally I wouldn't but this compilation if you fucking paid me.
And
its got nothing to do with John Peel either.
i would be
very surprised if his family receive no royalties from the use of his image and name.
With all due respect
let's get one thing straight. For all the good stuff that John Peel did for breaking new artists and championing underground music in general, he was still, to some extents, a businessman. His contract at the BBC wouldn't have come cheaply, and let's not forget the countless television commercials and voiceovers which I somehow don't think he did free of charge.
I take the point about the Fabric compilation being the one he picked himself, and obviously he had no input here, but this would still have been granted by his estate, who I think it's fair to say would have more of an idea what John Peel "would have wanted" than you or I.
i think you will find
that ewmy knows best actually what Mr Peel wouldve wanted.
couldnt you tell that by the outrage he showed? he must be the biggest fan and kindred spirit of john peel in the world.
Good stuff...
"let's get one thing straight. For all the good stuff that John Peel did for breaking new artists and championing underground music in general, he was still, to some extents, a businessman. His contract at the BBC wouldn't have come cheaply, and let's not forget the countless television commercials and voiceovers which I somehow don't think he did free of charge."
What has that got to do with anything??
Do you understand that for a long time John Peel was the ONLY person championing the underground on air, the fact he got paid meant he was able to do so. Why is getting paid for your skills and work wrong?
I see you are a contributor, you should perhaps know better.
You've
missed my point entirely JK.
ewmy seemed to think that this compilation was done for monetary reasons, therefore making it contradictory to his perceived idea of what John Peel was about.
My response was to illustrate that John Peel also earnt a living while he was on this earth, therefore invalidating ewmy's original point.
Incidentally, we don't get paid for contributing to DiS, we do it because we enjoy it.
Point taken
yes I get what you are saying now, launched one off too quickly. Like the review.
Why not get this and the Fabric one?
It's not like
the New Testament or something. It's a CD. With music on it. Buy it, or don't buy it. There's no need for a theological debate over it's purity.