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No Voting necessary – Your Favourite “free” CD

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Essential Freebies from Word, Uncut, Mojo and Q.
I’m not sure if we have been here before?
You may have or recall some great covermount CDs that stand out from the mire?
For me, these were some excellent albums in their own right:-

# Heroes Can Be Any Size: An Introduction to Jackie Leven, a promo release came free with March 2012 edition of The Word Magazine.
# Uncut 2007 01 – Comets Ghosts And Sunburned Hands
# Q – DCCCDII
# Word – January 2010
# Uncut 2000 12 – More Sounds Of The New Ẁest
# Uncut 2008 10 – Interstellar Overdrive
# Uncut Unconditionally Guaranteed vol 7 (The Coolest Sounds From The Hottest Bands Of 1998)
Can AWs recall any other essential ‘free’ CDs? (Sounds like an oxymoron).

https://images.app.goo.gl/fVSZ7jENSK28ct7r8

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Comments

  2. Vox also did a couple of tapes worth keeping – one was Parlephone releases (including my first hearing of A House Endless Art), the other was a Creation sampler. Both great, and both somewhere in the loft.

    Mojo’s recent cover discs – including Heavy Nuggets and Baroque & Roll have been a lot better than other “thrown ” together discs.

  3. I guess the first Uncut Sounds of the New West (1998, was it?) should be on the list…responsible for introducing a significant number of readers (me included) to Americana/Alt-Country, who may not have given it the time of day before hearing that disc.

    Floodgates opened….

    • @Gatz I was going to mention that one too. Excellent compilation.
      The Wilco covered one from Uncut was also excellent.
      There have also been some excellent themed ones from Mojo that have been first class.
      My favourite however was the Mojo Amorphous Androgynous Monster Physchedilc Bubble which introduced me to this fabulous band.

  5. Lots of covermounts fill the shelves of Charity Shops – £1 each. I’m guessing they just have a standard pricing and don’t bother looking at what they are, or indeed the *NOT FOR RE-SALE* message on some.

    Mojo did a host of Beatles albums Recovered. Usually pretty good, but rarely re-listened to.
    Saw a conversation recently on a record collecting page where someone branded them Bootlegs – things got a little heated on that there page.

  8. Ok another q I had a Vox I think cover mount cassette from the early 90s and on it was a band called I think Real People and the track was something like Stars. Can’t find it online – anyone ?

  9. I’ve just popped out to the spare room, where the cover mount CDs bend down the top shelves of the bookcases with their weight. I can’t be the only one with literally hundreds of the littlebuggers that I will almost certainly never play again.

    View post on imgur.com

  13. Q magazine’s Chill CD was very good and worked as a standalone album. Groove Armada, Who Knows Where the Time Goes, Solid Air: pointed me in a few new directions did that one. The next month was ‘Drive’ that also stood up well.

  15. Mojo 1965 one and the one with a pill on the cover. There was also a Krautrock one a couple of years ago, may have been Uncut. Speaking of which Wilcovered this year (or last?) was very good.

  16. Whenever either Boho or Unshod commission a covers album, either of an iconic album or even the more generic ‘songs by’, rarely are there not at least a few gems. I particularly remember when there was a of different volumes being available in the same month, meaning two purchases of the same mag. The trope of songs that inspired whoever can be variable fare but some have been good for obscure 40s to 60s stuff. Less the ones where they cobble together a selection of songs loosely in the same genre as someone more successful. I don’t rate the best of the months new music ones, tho’, which was the Word option and increasingly that of Unshod.
    Not free, but mail order, the NME cassettes were often pretty good samplers of less well trodden routes. Having said, I had ditched NME by then, hoovering them up when the collection leaked online.

    • Like @retropath2 the cd’s of best new music rarely interest me however there are 3 artists that have been introduced to me by give away cd’s that I can recall;
      Jackie Leven – Single Father
      Pete Molinari – I dont like the man that I’ve become.
      And Ana Brun as recently as 2 issues of Mojo ago.

  18. Q DCC CDII as mentioned in the op is amazing. My first exposure to Aimee Mann, Gin Blossoms, Grant Lee Buffalo – with honourable mentions to Coldcut, Squeeze, peak period U2 (I’m not a fan but Achtung Baby, Zooropa and Pop are great, and this CD had Numb on it). There’s even a good solo Sting song, and that’s supposed to be impossible.

    • QCD – I think this may have been the first for Q and was also an excellent cd.

      Uncut Unconditionally Guaranteed vol 7 (The Coolest Sounds From The Hottest Bands Of 1998) introduced me to Jeff Buckley with the remarkable “Everybody Here Wants You”.

  19. There was a good I’ve (Mojo?) called something like Standing in the shade of Hendrix. All blisses out funk blues least guitar based stuff. Still got it on the iPod.

    Otherwise there was a Jazz at the Movies one with essentially film soundtracks played by jobbing or upcoming jazzers which was good.

  20. Three from Uncut off the top of my head:

    1. More Sounds Of The New West – my Americana entry point. It was on one of the first Uncuts I bought.

    2. Sin City – sounds of L.A. – Gene Clark, Tim Buckley, Whiskey Biscuit …

    3. Hard Drive – Steve Wynn, Evan Dando, Ian McCulloch …

    • That second one was a favourite of mine which I’ll have to dig out again, and the first two songs you mention are the same two which I thought of as soon as I saw it mentioned.

      • Yes, those two songs are great, I listened to both on repeat for ages, especially Clark’s Dark Of My Moon. There is such an urgency/sense of yearning to it.

  21. Up until about 5 years ago I spent a lot of time in airports because of work travel*, so I’ve kept dozens of these freebies over the years. Most of them ended up in CD folders with the jewel boxes re-used for things that have arrived in the post busted up. Then after moving from New Zealand a lot went to the local chazzer.

    Some of the themed MOJO ones are brilliant and all these are still on the shelves

    James Brown’s Funky Summer – all James Brown related singers and groups, but not himself
    In My Room – Beach Boys covers and influenced
    Stooges Jukebox
    Stax Soul Power
    In Search Of Syd & The Madcap Laughs – covers
    Heavy Soul
    The New Dictionary of Blues and Soul – modern soul
    Dawning of a New Era – Specials related
    Rebel Music
    Beloved & There Is a Light That Never Goes Out – 80s jangly indie and postpunk
    Motown Nuggets
    Island Folk – sampler of Folk tracks on the label, nice pink cover too
    Bad Seeds & Bad Seeds Jukebox
    The Amorphous Androgynous, A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble Exploding In Your Mind
    Move On Up (a modernist compendium) & The Changing Man – both Paul Weller related things
    It’s A Wonderful Life – Siouxsie & The Banshees curated selection of pre-Beatles pop, showtimes and film music
    Jamaican Explosion – ska and bluebeat
    White Winter Hymnals
    Action! -15 cult movie classics
    The two discs of The Beatles White Album covers
    Dream Pop & Dream Forever
    Brotherhood – Black Keys related tracks

    if you see any of these cheap in charity shops they’re all definitely worth a punt

    Uncut have also done some great CDs as well, White Riot (tribute to the clash), This Is Radio Strummer, Starman (Bowie covers), Rebellious Jukebox, RadioRadio, Neat Neat Neat, Acid Daze
    A few decent Q discs as well, Essential Dance, Essential Chill Out, Essential Drive Tour Bus..

    *not at all glamorous and exciting btw, always economy regardless of distance and I’ve spent more time in Saudi Arabia than I ever want to again

  24. I always found the hit rate was quite poor on these free covermount CDs, but one I remember in particular was called “Reel Music” (as in music used in movies). I can’t put my hands on it but from googling I see it was in Uncut in Jan 1998.

    Four classic tunes from that which led me to unfamiliar territory:
    – Let The Good Times Roll by Shirley and Lee (fantastic 50s R&B)
    – The Weight by The Band (believe it or not I’d never heard it before this)
    – It Never Entered My Mind by Miles Davis
    – Across 110th Street by Bobby Womack

  25. I loved this one from Uncut in April 1998
    Unknown Pleasures
    “Rare And Classic Tracks From The Archives Of Demon Records.”

    1. Wreckless Eric – Semaphore Signals
    2. The Beat Farmers – Powderfinger
    3. The Only Ones – Another Girl, Another Planet
    4. Gene Clark – Rodeo Rider
    5. Tim Buckley – Dolphins
    6. Carlene Carter – Baby Ride Easy
    7. Dave Alvin – Border Radio
    8. Tom Ovans – Killing Me
    9. Thin White Rope – Take It Home
    10. Loudon Wainwright III – Your Mother And I
    11. Ian Dury & The Blockheads – Sweet Gene Vincent
    12. T. Rex – Electric Slim & The Factory Hen
    13. Sam Brown – I Forgive You
    14. Edwyn Collins – You Poor Deluded Fool
    15. Mary Coughlan – Baby Plays Around
    16. Giant Sand – Trickle Down System
    17. Nils Lofgren – Mud In Your Eye
    18. Nick Lowe – High On A Hilltop
    19. Elvis Costello – Tokyo Storm Warning
    20. Townes Van Zandt – Pancho & Lefty

    • One thing I really liked about the early Uncut cover CDs was the snippets of film dialogue etc. that they used to tack onto the end of them. I suppose when they stopped doing it, it was because of legal issues.

    • I returned to Songlines after fRoots folded. I suspect it’s me that’s changed, rather than them. My international tastes are quite specific – francophone Africa, European dance, a few individual artists – so I find much to skip through the pages; inevitably the same happens with the CDs. I used to enjoy them / hang on to them much more when I first subscribed last century.

      • I was a Songlines subscriber for quite a few years but let it lapse when it last came up for renewal. So much of the stuff on the CDs now seems like retreads of stuff that came before. Ditto a lot of the articles. Basically, owing to it’s current ownership, it’s at least partially turned into a guide to expensive holidays, with music, in exotic places.

  28. I really find it impossible to throw out any free CD that’s come with Mojo over the years. So much so that I just slip them into a little CD wallet folder thing, but I virtually never listen to them. There are one or two that have stood out they’ve already been mentioned here like the Instant Garage compilation author more recent Krautrock compilation which was excellent. There was a good Christmas CD last year from Mojo the featured Fleet Foxes and the Waterboys.

    However one Mojo CD has had a very desperate affect on my wallet. About 18 months ago they had King Crimson primer, and even though I had a few King Crimson CDs already, this was the thing that turned me into a full blown Crimsonhead. It was a great introduction to all the different realms of KC, and now I’m buying a box every other week it seems.

    A shout out to the Word CDs for introducing me to Rilo Kiley, Regina Spektor and Joan As Policewoman.

    • Forgot about the Crimson one. I transferred it to a pukka jewel case and filed it in the main collection.
      If I ever want to listen to King Crimson (other than the go to In The Court Of) that’s the one that gets spun

      • I’ve always found it rather surprising that major acts (Dylan is an exception) haven’t thought:
        “Hmm, Paul interview for new Beatles’ release? – Why, of course. – This will obviously mean a 10-track trailer for said album on cover-mount CD, you understand. – Here it is.”

        The magazine would fly out of the shop, and while many would be content just to keep the CD alongside their other Beatles’ CDs, a considerable number, like DrJ above has done with King Crimson, would surely think, “Yeah, I’ll buy that Box Set.”

        Whisper it … I don’t think the Record Industry is very good any more at selling records.

  29. Only a handfull have made it to permanence on the shelves over the years, and they tend to be the ones featuring a label or a genre rather than just a motley collection of tracks.

    The Beatles Press Conferences – 1964-1966 from Uncut 2005
    Crosby, Still, Nash & Young Live 1974 from Mojo 2014
    King Crimson A Mojo Anthology – 2019 As others have said, a go-to comp
    Ahk-Toong Bay-Bi Covered – Q2011 Magnificent versions of the U2 album tracks. If you haven’t heard Depeche Mode do So Cruel the check that out, but Snow Patrol, Jack White, the Killers, Patti Smith et al are terrific too.
    Summer Of Motown – Uncut 2004
    Motown Nuggets – Mojo 2009
    Stax Soul Power – Mojo 2007
    Island Folk – Mojo 2009
    20 Reggae Classics – Mojo 2002
    Island Radicals – Mojo 2019
    Mojo’s Festive Fifteen – 2010
    Blue Christmas – Mojo 2004
    White Winter Hymnals – Mojo 2019

    I’m sure these two were freebies too, but given away in record shops with another purchase..?
    See For Miles Records Ltd Compact Discs Spring 1992
    Silver Disc – 25 Years of Ace Records -2000

  30. Like many, Uncut’s Sounds From the New West started my love of Americana – I went out and bought albums by Nadine, Hazeldine, Lambchop, several by Neal Casal, Calexico and Josh Rouse, and everything by The Handsome Family and The Pernice Brothers (and all Joe’s other guises). Joe Pernice went on to become a firm favourite and he’s in my top 10 albums of 2020.

    Others – I guess the easiest way is to look and see which ones remain on my shelf, as most of them were thrown away and I used the cases to replace broken cases (I won’t repeat the ‘accidentally trapping todger in CD case that wouldn’t close properly’ story that happened as a result of this)

    Q Essential Dance – this is as good as many compilations that hit the shops and is a mix of classics like Voodoo Ray, alongside remixes of tracks by some great artists

    Comes With a Smile – this came with an Americana magazine, I think of the same name, and introduced me to Cat Power, Witness and Lullaby For the Working Class.

    Uncut: In God’s Country (The Music That Inspired The Joshua Tree) – this is ace and includes loads of blues, folk, country and rock and roll greats. The first two tracks are Johnnie Allen’s The Promised Land and Hank Williams’ ‘I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry’. There’s Elvis, Blind Willie McTell, William Bell, Billie Holiday, Patsy Cline’s ‘Walkin’ After Midnight’, Woody Guthrie’s ‘This Land Is Your Land’ and Jimmie Rodgers ‘In The Jailhouse Now’. It really is a great CD.

    Mojo: Electricity – electronic music from Can to Daft Punk – some great tracks on that one.

    Uncut: Honky Tonk Heroes – full of exactly the kind of stuff the title suggests.

    Uncut: Reel Music Vol.2 – loads of great movie themes – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, The Magnificent Seven, Assault on Precinct 13, Halloween, The Great Escape, Taxi Driver, Raiders of the Lost Ark and many more. It’s brill.

    • Uncut’s “Honky Tonk Heroes” is a firm favourite. “Not Fade Away”, “Pre-Fabs” and “Let The Good Times Roll” are good.
      Mojo’s “Jamaican Explosion”, “Brain Damage”, “Studio One Selector”, “Southern Soul”, “Stax Soul Power”, “Roots Of Hip Hop”, “Instant Garage”and “Almost Famous” are all good.
      Many a good CD with Jazzwise, on an irregular basis.

  31. I am probably on my own here but let’s take this in a dance direction. Both Mixmag and Muzik, which enjoyed enormous circulations in the late 90s, featured a covermount. Unlike most of the above they were unique mixes. Many were forgettable, but I still have and play:
    Muzik – 19-track mix by Miss Kitten
    Mixmag – mixes by Sander Kleinenberg and Yousef, plus Richie Hawtin – the latter the equivalent in dance circles of getting a unique Bob Dylan track for your covermount.
    Possible more Aword mainstream Rob Da Bank did an excellent Blue Room chillout mix for Muzik.
    Maybe @leicester-bangs can add some more…

    • I think from Mixmag, I know all lovely:

      The Hacienda – Play by 1/96
      Pete Tong Essential Selection Summer ’98
      Oakenfold 12 Ibiza Classics
      Ministry of Sound : Ibiza Chillout
      Tom Middleton – Weekend Warm-Up

  33. Changing the terms a bit, but ( I think) Melody Maker gave away a free single ( not flexi) in 1988 with a early version of Happy Mondays ‘Moving in With’ that has still never been officially released—I think it also had a Thin White Rope track that was then exclusive.

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