CD box sets are wonderful

I know, we're all doing vinyl and there has probably been no better time to be a vinyl junkie, given the number of places selling it and the resurgent and vibrant second hand market. I still have a soft spot for compact disks, they were a revolution when I bought my first hi-fi and their current state of being unfashionable is making them awesome. Spending a lot of time working from home has been a great opportunity for music appreciation to the point where the elaborate, retro stereo in my study has consumed the desk and gets a solid workout every day.

The CD box set

Most of these were expensive at one time or another, although they probably have a few strikes against them for the modern buyer. Storage space, the fragile nature of the packaging are the first two strikes. Mostly though, given that a service like Youtube Music or Spotify can give you access to more music than you can ever handle they might seem redundant. If you love modern music, there is no better time to be alive than now, literally any artist you have heard of will be represented somewhere. There is something somewhat empty about the experience though, for me it has the effect of allowing me to flit about between artists and always falling back on favourite tracks rather than being challenged or presented with something new. Some music requires some patience to appreciate - on first listen you may not always hear what makes a song great, or compelling, or interesting. What I want is for somebody to curate that experience for me, I need an expert to intervene.

That's where the box set becomes really interesting. Somebody else has done that curation. Along with the music there is background information on the songs and the singer authored by people who know what they are talking about, so kind of the complete opposite of the internet.

In no particular order...

Hitsville USA: The Motown Singles Collection 1959-1971

Four incredible CDs full of music you are probably somewhat familiar with, but presented in release order showing the rapid increase in sophistication and songcraft that the Motown organisation fostered during the 1960s. You might think Marvin Gaye singing "I heard it on the grapevine" is over-familiar, but wait until you hear it in context to see where that came from. From the stomping groove of the Four Tops, Smokey Robinsons's songwriting, the evolution of the Temptations. In an era before Album rock ever really took off, having the singles sequenced like this a wonderful window into the past. The booklet is somewhat fragile but contains some informative and well written mini-essays on the artists and the production background of the songs. A great way to get completely lost in the Motown sound.

Elvis Presley: From Nashville to Memphis

I'm just going to come out with it straight: Elvis movies are awful and the endless piles of music associated with them are even worse. One neat way of avoiding all the movie trash is to buy this box set. It's a neat collection of all the non-movie recordings Elvis did, which means there are some huge gaps in here that you will never miss. From novelty tracks ("Are you lonesome tonight?") to the song he was born to sing ("Long Black Limousine") he always put more effort into songs he liked and it really shows here. The booklet is, again, somewhat fragile and the essays not quite so informative as fawning, but that voice!

Tougher than Tough: The story of Jamaican Music

Despite the somewhat self serving preface by Chris Blackwell of Island Records and the frankly awful packaging, these 4 cds will transport you. From the fledgling sounds of "Oh Carolina" to the 1993 Shaggy cover of the same song, the evolution of Jamaican music's invention and spirit is never less than entertaining. There is a neat circle of artists trying to emulate the sounds coming out of the US to the invention of brand new sounds and beats that fed back into what we listen to today.

The Complete Stax Singles

A monstrous 9 cd set of everything Stax released as a single, which means quite a few too many Rufus novelty songs early on, but as the sound and artists evolved you can really appreciate the difference between the raw soul sounds of Stax compared to the ever more sophisticated Motown sound. Eddie Floyd, Sam and Dave, Otis Redding. It's a marathon but well worth it.

Emmylou Harris: Portraits

The biggest productivity killer in history. I find it impossible to work while these three CDs occupy my ears. The faintly Appalachian keening in Harris' voice, the song choices, the show stopping duet with Gram Parsons. I sometimes wish I hadn't bought this because I put it on and down tools and just let it wash over me. I don't know what the booklet contains because by the time the first track has started I'm off with the fairies. Don't buy this if you want to get any work done.

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