Patchwork is the first release from Chapel Hill, NC's own Mere Exposure. All 14 songs on this compilation are all unreleased. Although most of the bands are virtually unknown, there are some well-known bands on this comp. as well. Seaweed, Superchunk, The White Octave, and Vroom all contribute unreleased songs. The other bands include Bodi-gram, Kittitas, The Scaries, Gardener, Disband, The Dynamite Brothers, Sorry About Dresden, Transportation, Cold Sides and The Silent Seas.
I personally am not a huge fan of compilation albums. I might pick one up if it's cheap and there are at least a few bands I don't mind on it, but normally I stay clear of them. When looking at this comp., it didn't really present anything special to me. I'm not a huge fan of any of the well known bands on here and I didn't know anything about the other bands. I was actually surprised at the quality of this comp. Not all the songs are the best but for the most part it is really respectable, especially for a first release.
The album starts off with a pretty good bang with Bodi-gram, Kittitas, The Scaries (probably my favorite song on the comp.) Seaweed, and Gardener. I think that the comp. takes an unexpected break with an instrumental song by Disband. I think it kindof ruins the flow of the album. Then it comes back with a live version of "Low Branches" from Superchunk and then The White Octave does their thing. The comp. then hits a huge low point. With songs from The Dynamite Brothers and Sorry About Dresden (dear GOD! someone give the lead "singer" some singing lessons). The comp. ends smoothly with songs by Transportation, Cold Sides, Vroom, and The Silent Seas.
The production of the songs was par, nothing spectacular but not bad. You can't really argue with the song selection because they are all unreleased songs. If you are a fan of any of these bands and you want to hear an unreleased track, pick this album up. This is actually a great comp to listen to in the fall. It just has that vibe to it. As far as comps go...it's a pretty good one.
C+
