It's an amazing thing to watch a label grow from a one man, bedroom-based operation into one of the worlds most influential purveyors of electronic music. I'm willing to bet no one, including Compost Records' founder Michael Reinboth knew that the label would still be going as strong as ever 13 years later. So what's with all this Compost nostalgia? It's all about their 250th release, "Freshly Composted Vol. 2". Out of the 13 tracks here, 7 are exclusive mixes and each one reveals another facet of Compost's diverse, but focused personality.

1. Beanfield "Tides (C's Movement #1)(Carl Craig remix)"
2. Muallem "Shanti Dance (feat. The Droids)"
3. Felix Laband "Whistling In Tongues (Todd Terje remix)"
4. Marsmobil "Mangia Amore"
5. Alif Tree "Forgotten Places (Moodymann mix)"
6. Shahrokh Sound of K. "Owlflight"
7. Jean-Paul Bondy "Something Is Not Right (feat. The Blood of Abraham)(Robag Wruhmes fukkeldibobb remake)"
8. Nova Dream Sequence "Dream 14"
9. Karma "Are We? (feat. Michelle Amador)(Tony Nwachukwu remix)"
10. Ben Mono "Jesus Was A B-Boy"
11. Harvey Lindo "Rugged Individuals (feat. Count Bass D)"
12. Soil & Pimp "Waltz For Goddess"
13. Koop "I See A Different You"

It kicks off with a great cut from Beanfield called "Tides". It's remixed in a Detroit influenced, minimal house style by Carl Craig, growing from a softly bubbling bass line and vocals into a beautifully rhythmic analog synth burner. A number of the tracks here borrow from Detroit's unique House style, pulling out all the best parts from some classic 80's styled synth work.

The Felix Laband track is a really nice piece called "Whistling In Tongues" that's remixed by Todd Terje. The sound reaches back to Ibiza's early Balearic beats but keeps the shore at arms length. The Marsmobil song "Mangia Amore" is just an incredible analog electro-Medieval fusion (hold it! did I just say that?). Moodymann mixes up Alif Tree's amazing dusty jazz cut "Forgotten Places", which features the voice of Shirley Horn from "L.A. Breakdown". In this rendition we see the intersection of two highways; the jazz route of the original version merging unexpectedly (and head-on) with a 4-lane coming straight out of Detroit. Shahrokh Soundofk, Jean-Paul Bondy, Nova Dream Sequence, and Karma keep the sound well inside Detroit's city limits and thankfully the bpm's stay mid-tempo.

Ben Mono drops some nice laid-back funk called "Jesus Was A B-Boy". Nice this one! The album version of Harvey Lindo's "Rugged Individuals" follows and keeps the hip-hop influence and mellowed out breaks going strong. Things take a turn down into deep jazz sounds with Soil & Pimp and Koop who finish out the collection with their own little waltz.

Nicely compiled, very nice mixes (though at times a challenging listen) and well-suited to the mid/down-tempo, Detroit, jazz and hip-hop influenced taste.

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