Dim Mak Sampler - Smash Hits and Licks

The liner notes to the Dim Mak CD Sampler Smash Hits and Licks give a brief history of the label, a declaration of love and devotion to expression through music, and the continuing goal of celebrating influencial people of color. Several vinyl and CD releases through Dim Mak have included posters, or exclusive inserts, celebrating the likes of Huey P. Newtown, The Black Panther Party, Angela Davis, and many more. The mantra-like verbs are stated "Engage. Initiate. Agitate. Activate. Be Critical. Most importantly, Represent Yourself." Making such a concerted effort to support the leaders that you admire, and pleading with a future audience to take action in their lives shows that Dim Mak is in it for the long haul. This is a cause, not just a record label. Fortunately that mindset shines throughout the disc. These bands are not fluff. These bands aren't putting out quirky singles that stick out through a muddled mess of mediocrity. While there seems to be a range of artistic styles found here, almost all of them can be generalized into some sort of indie category. Pretty Girls Make Graves bring their harder rocking side mixed with melody ("Three Away"), Monochrome are more of an overall melodious sound mixing two voices; one male, one female, but they still don't lose their edge ("Angelfire"). Planes Mistaken For Stars go for the throat with their extremely short, but extremely tense sound ("Fucking Fight"). Nine Days Wonder combine emo (the good kind) and punk influences that with a huge rock sound ("The Next Realm"). Personally favorites, No Knife mix languid vocals, intricate guitar stylings with a dark tinge ("The Red Bedroom"). The list goes on and on (seriously; Jim Schwartz, Nine Days Wonder, There Is a Light That Never Goes Out, The Fire Next Time, The Exploder, Bluebird, JR Ewing, From Monument To Masses, Kill Sadie, Onalaska, Radar, Envy, and Cross My Heart). Amazingly, almost every track on this disc has a memorable moment, if not completely enjoyable. With 20 tracks from very different artists that's saying alot. Oh, and don't let that "indie" genre tag scare you off, there's an excellent mixture of hardcore, emo (again, the good kind), some alt-country (Onalaska), a bit of funk influenced (Give Until Gone), and even some seemingly sparse instrumental work (Jim Schwartz). Dim Mak have a mission and with continued releases by a roster range as interesting and captivating as this, they have no choice but to succeed. [www.dimmak.com]