Amazon Sampler

Various Artists | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: March 3, 2009
• Release Date: March 3, 2009
• Label: Sub Pop Records
• Copyright: 2009 Sub Pop Records
• Genres:
• ASIN: B001W2YISK
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

140 of 140 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than usual - thanks to everybody for making it available, August 3, 2009

By 

Robby Krell (Sea of Tranquility, Luna) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Amazon Sampler (MP3 Download)

For what it's worth, I found several of these tunes worth downloading. Since my wife is out of town and I have two hours before I got pick her up at the airport, I might as well describe the songs as I found them. I hope this is useful to somebody (anybody).

"We Should Fight" - mid-tempo rocker with a squeaky-voiced, but likeable, male singer. Oddball lyrics: "I'm not a monster, I'm a human being." Straight-up 1-4-5 blues structure, with a bridge or two, and a solo. Jangly guitars, competent rhythm section. No surprises but a fun listenable song. The vocalist may not be to everyone's taste (pretty rough).

"On My Way" - Acoustic guitar strumming with a warm female vocal over it and some light piano (?) or guitar accents. Cocoon is an appropriate name for this band; they are warm and fuzzy and organic in sound, if that makes any sense. Very mellow vibe but the drums and bass keep things ticking along. Polar opposite of the previous song. Some sweet harmony vocals show up about halfway through.

"L'Amour L'Amour L'Amour" - Mid-tempo rocker in French. Apart from the novelty (for most Americans I think) of a pop song in French, it's pretty good. Female vocalists are on pitch and harmonize well; the song is guitar driven but with some fun pop-up-in-the-background keyboard sounds (I don't know how else to describe them). An energetic little tune to get you through traffic or the dishes.

"Take Your Time" - Pretty minimal in sound, mainly a bassline you've heard a thousand times before (but it still works!) and little synthesizer jitters in the background. The vocalist has no voice worth mentioning, but he spits his rapidfire lyrics in a convincing way. This is the only song on the record that is electronic/synth in feel as opposed to guitar driven (either electric or acoustic). It's also one of those songs that on paper I should hate, but I find myself bouncing along to its poppy charms. I must be getting old.

"Down, Down, Down" - A five minute epic. Slow opening section built around a descending scale (this is where the sample is taken from). About two minutes in, the tempo increases but keeps the chord progession, and vocals (male, reedy) start. the song fades out on a fast-paced bassline with the guitars and keyboards joining in. In all an engaging song, and the only one I downloaded here with discernible sections. Again, the vocalist may be the deal-breaker for some listeners. He is okay, but nothing memorable (think: "alt-rock standard").

In all, I found this one of the better Amazon sampler discs. Thanks Amazon! And thanks Minty Fresh, if you're the label responsible for this record. For those who care, I found the Dap-Tone sampler just astonishing, and also liked the Ropeadope and Definitive Jux samplers (for a more hip-hop/soul/funk vibe.) And the Naxos Early Music album is outstanding, no joke. Happy listening.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great intro to Sub Pop's current catalog, March 24, 2009

By 

jbitzenh (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Amazon Sampler (MP3 Download)

Historically, Sub Pop has been an important player in determining the direction of musical tastes in America (on the merits of introducing grunge bands like Nirvana). On that alone, I think this (currently free) sampler is worth a download. Past that, this is a good introduction to Sub Pop's active catalog, which includes many bands that are often in the experimental folk rock vein. My favorite artists include Fleet Foxes and Iron & Wine but I enjoyed listening to all the tracks.

If you like this sampler, other current Sub Pop bands worth looking into include the Postal Service, the Shins, Low, Lonely Dear, Wolf Parade, the Helio Sequence, Blitzen Trapper, and Band of Horses.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really great, something for everyone, April 16, 2009

By 

Sylvie M. Beauvais "Sylvie" (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Amazon Sampler (MP3 Download)

I am trying to take full advantage of the free music downloads to discover new music, and having sampled, most of the samplers, this is by far the best. Try it. You'll like at least 80% of it, if you have an ear for diversity.