Catskills Records was founded in 1997 by a London and Brighton based collective, with the aim of releasing music – any music – that had what the label deemed “Head Nod Factor”. The album is subtitled; “It’s a celebration, bitches!”, but the label owners joke that they actually wanted to call it; “Eleven years of being ignored”. This seems unlikely, with names like Black Grass and Pepe Deluxé on their roster, and the smaller artists featured on this comp make it an eminently listenable retrospective.

Variety is the name of the game with Catskills, as there’s everything from the funky breaks of Black Grass, to the folktronica of Husky Rescue, and even some rather ordinary punk by The Ripps. Pepe Deluxé provide a number of this album’s highlights. The music they make is a delightfully eccentric mix of, well, just about everything. ‘Before You Leave’ is an upbeat housey/dancey number, ‘Salami Fever’ is on the techy tip, while the live version of ‘Pussy Cat Rock’ has a surf-rock feel.

Catskills’ other heavy hitters, Black Grass, are also on form throughout. Disc one opens with ‘Hold Fire’, a soul-laden gem. ‘Nice Up’ and ‘Oh Jah’ are agreeable reggae-influenced tracks, but the selections here don’t really give a feel for the depth of their back catalogue. Fellow Brighton residents Hardkandy cover Black Grass’ ‘Going Home’, and do an admirable job. Hardkandy’s debut album has been described as “possibly one of the best UK soul LP’s in many years,” which is a pretty big call considering the depth of talent in the genre in the country. However, the laidback groove of ‘The Good With The Bad’ suggests that even if they’re not the best, they may well be up there.

Downbeat instrumental hip hop is also well represented, with Zero Theory, Sonorous Star and The Mexican all contributing agreeable- if not particularly remarkable – tracks. The Ripps, at the absolute other end of the musical spectrum, deliver some very sub-par punk rock, which doesn’t really work in any way alongside what else is on offer here. Their music certainly doesn’t fit congruously with the label, and while this may be the reason for their inclusion, the fact that they aren’t very good is reason enough for them to have been left off!

While there’s a lot of good music to be found on this album, there’s nothing that’s really phenomenal. That said, there’s very little that’s terrible, too. A mixed bag.