The Best Vinyl Compilations of 2023
Ten groovy compilations featuring a goldmine of crate-digging gems.
Hello and welcome back to The Wax Museum, the vinyl and vibes curation newsletter, where we dig up grooves from the past, present, and future.
Let’s get right into it with the ten best compilations of the year. I grabbed my three favorite joints from each collection for a 30 song playlist that features a ton of underground archival goodies.
🎧 Best Compilations of 2023 Playlist: Spotify | Apple
Jazz Dispensary: Hotel Jolie Dame
Stream: Spotify | Apple | YouTube
Get Vinyl: Sunset Psych Orange | Discogs
Travel back to the summer of 1978 at the mythical Hotel Jolie Dame on the French Riviera, with Jazz Dispensary’s eight song collection of psychedelic cuts highlighted by Dizzy Gillespie, The Blackbyrds, and Dorothy Ashby. This Record Store Day drop was limited to 5,000 copies on beautiful psych-orange wax and sold out quick. You can now find some on the peer-to-peer markets for close to retail.
Waves of Distortion: The Best of Shoegaze 1990-2022
Stream: Spotify Playlist
Get Vinyl: Red | Blue | Black | Discogs
The label Two-Piers gives us a shoegaze history lesson with Waves of Distortion, which includes the OG’s from early 90’s UK (Ride, Lush, Slowdive, Chapterhouse) to the present day dream-pop champions (Beach House, Ringo Deathstarr, Horsegirl, bdrmm), who hold their own alongside the classics. There’s not a skippable song among the bunch.
The Endless Coloured Ways: The Songs of Nick Drake
Stream: Spotify | Apple | YouTube
Get Vinyl: Black | Discogs
Chrysalis Records' The Endless Coloured Ways: The Songs of Nick Drake is a worthy double album tribute to the legendary English folk musician. With 23 captivating tracks, artists like Fontaines D.C., Let's Eat Grandma, Emeli Sandé, and David Gray infuse their unique flair into Drake's timeless music. This collection does well showcasing a new generation's creative interpretations, ensuring Nick Drake's influence continues to inspire.
Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night: Brooklyn Disco 1974-5
Stream: Spotify Playlist
Get Vinyl: Orange | Black | Discogs
Ace Records presents Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night, a fresh compilation curated by Bob Stanley that delves into the genesis of disco in New York City during the mid-1970s. The title comes from Nik Cohn’s 1976 short story in New York Magazine when disco was topping the charts; Cohn sold the film rights which became Saturday Night Fever. For this collection, Stanley sourced exactly what was played in Brooklyn discos in 1974 and 1975, and it’s easy to see why disco became a phenomenon.
Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs Present: Incident at a Free Festival
Stream: Spotify Playlist
Get Vinyl: Denim Blue | Black | Discogs
Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs’ Incident at a Free Festival is a tribute to the rock bands lower down on the bill that bridged the world of hippies and bikers with their massive guitar riffs. Included on this collection is “Freelance Fiend,” the opener off Leaf Hound’s Growers of Mushroom, a vinyl collector’s white whale which is currently going for over $4 grand on Discogs!
If There’s Hell Below…
Stream: Bandcamp | Spotify | Apple | Youtube
Get Vinyl: Red with Black Swirl | Red Clear | Black | Discogs
Numero Group’s If There’s Hell Below is a spiritual successor to the mysterious 2002 Chains and Black Exhaust mixtape (Iron Knowledge's “Showstopper” appears on both), featuring forgotten classics of the 1970’s Black rock music scene. This is a cool collection of psych-heavy, lo-fi funk grooves, with plenty of Hendrix wah wah pedals, gritty guitars, and unpolished production.
Eccentric Northern Soul
Stream: Bandcamp | Spotify | Apple | YouTube
Get Vinyl: Purple Pink | Shim Sham Silver | Black | Discogs
Another one from Numero Group, this time they blend Motown sounds with a British twist, curating plenty of uptempo and mid-tempo magic culled from rare, obscure, and out of print 1960’s and early 70’s 45s.
Hidden Waters - Strange and Sublime Sounds of Rio de Janeiro
Stream: Bandcamp | Spotify | Apple
Get Vinyl: Black | Discogs
Hidden Waters - Strange and Sublime Sounds of Rio de Janeiro zooms in on Rio’s burgeoning music landscape, showcasing over 20 contemporary artists from the area, who all offer a diverse array of musical stylings. Mr Bongo’s collection captures the city's heartbeat through experimental, bossa nova, samba, Candomblé, lo-fi rock, jazz, and funk music, showcasing the rich tapestry of sounds that define Rio's current musical zeitgeist.
In The Light Of Time: UK Post-Rock & Leftfield Pop 1992-1998
Stream: Spotify Playlist
Get Vinyl: Black | Green Splatter | Discogs
In The Light Of Time: UK Post-Rock & Leftfield Pop 1992-1998 is a commendable compilation by Ace Records, expertly curated by Jorge Cortes, that revisits UK post rock from the early '90s. The sound is marked by experimental guitar rock and pop, blending influences from post-punk, art rock, minimalism, and the burgeoning electronic scene at the time. The tracks stand out for their originality and enduring appeal, capturing an often overlooked chapter in late 20th-century music with a freshness that still evident today. For more reading on UK post-rock and how Britpop killed it, here’s a wonderfully thorough review from Arcane Delights.
Joe Hisaishi - A Symphonic Celebration: Music from the Studio Ghibli Films of Hayao Miyazaki
Stream: Spotify
Get Vinyl: Black | Discogs (four colored variants)
Last but not least, we have A Symphonic Celebration: Music from the Studio Ghibli Films of Hayao Miyazaki, a masterful tribute to the enduring collaboration between director Hayao Miyazaki and composer Joe Hisaishi. This Deutsche Grammophon release brings to life nearly ninety minutes of lyrical, radiant music, rejuvenating compositions from iconic films like Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and Howl’s Moving Castle. The album not only celebrates Miyazaki's impactful career but also reinvigorates these timeless Hisaishi scores, showcasing their beauty in a refreshing, symphonic light.
Hey thanks for reading. Before you go, I’d like to let you know I’m adding the finishing touches to the book Tunes & Turntables: The 100 Best Records of 2023, which will be out hopefully next week. It’ll include all the stuff we do around here: album lists, music discovery, vinyl spotlight, and all sorts of random rabbit holes. Paid subs will receive this as a membership perk. If you like vinyl and new music, you won't want to miss it!
A lot of these look great - and had otherwise passed me by. Thanks!
Thanks for the recommendations! I absolutely love the nick drake one.