Various Artists - DWA XxX

In what seems to be an extremely bold move on DWA's part, there has been a massive release by the highly praised label last year that might make some heads turn, your wallets empty, but your surround sound thumping. And that would be DWA XxX, a ten CD set of 100 remixes that span the whole catalog of musicians under the loving care and guidance of the label.

I don't personally own the collection as of yet (although I desperately hope I can one day have the extra spending money for it), however, I was able to nab a sample of the remixes. Now, each CD in the set has ten songs on it, and each CD is catered to a certain remixer's work. For example, CD 1 contains ten remixes by DYM, the second CD by Studio-X, and so on and so forth. This follows through till the last CD, which presents remixes by friends of the label, but who aren't on it (such as remixes by Aesthetic Perfection, Distorted Memory, Leaether Strip, etc.).

Now, I am not going to sit here and write a review for every single one of the remixes on this release. That would not be worth my time, and half of you would just stop reading the review out of pure boredom. The few who would make it through all my ramblings would be blessed. However, what I can tell you is a bit of a summary of thoughts on this release.

The fact that we finally have a shit ton of remixes all packed together in one nice little box is absolutely amazing. I love that I have the chance to actually study a bunch of different artist's work CD by CD. For DJs, it's a chance to spin a lot of various tracks and introduce audiences to new sounds, and multiple artists at once. For musicians themselves, this is a good chance just to sit down and listen to what may just inspire them to write their next album. You'll be able to work through each artist's signature style and how they incorporated their flare into other artist's work time after time again. And, for the casual listener, this shall supply you with enough music to keep you entertained for quite a while.

Now, another point to take into account is that this site has its history in loving DWA's releases. And I don't see why we all don't. With an average of an 8.8 rating based on 29 reviews, with only one album being rated below an 8, it's no wonder that a release like this wasn't brought into play sooner.

Now, there is not a single complaint about quality with this release at all. Each song is definitely produced nicely, and makes for wondrous results. However, what I do have a complaint about it that most of the songs on this release have already seen the light of day in the past.

We do get, however, as stated by the label, 8 previously unreleased tracks, 5 never before available on CD, and 14 deleted. Even then, we still have 73 songs that have been released in all formats in the past. So, for those of you who are looking for something you haven't heard before, you won't find much here for your tastes.

Needless to say, with that one and only complaint out of the way, I still find myself having a blast listening to all these tracks. You have a lot of amazing artists on this compilation, and there is a lot of love in the songs, and a lot of work put in them. You'll definitely be finding me listening to the DYM tracks the most, as I adore the Canadian act a lot. But, I'll be sure to give the other guys some favoritism here and there so no jealousy forms from my choices. Anyway, if you have the cash, and want to spend it, then get this release and get the box release that I wish I could have. Mar 26 2014