Master of the Mixtape | A Box of Jon Savage Vol 2

VA - A BOX of Jon Savage 2 [2004-2023] (12 x CDs)

JON SAVAGE

VA - A BOX of Jon Savage 2 [2004-2023] (12 x CDs)

Butterboy says: If you’ve ever felt that music history deserved to be told through mixtapes rather than textbooks, Jon Savage’s compilation series is your dream come true. Across nearly two decades, Savage has curated a string of releases that feel more like cultural time machines than mere anthologies. Each one is a deep dive into a specific era, movement, or mood, always with a sharp eye for the overlooked and the emotionally resonant.

It all kicked off in 2004 with England’s Dreaming, a companion to his seminal book on punk. From there, Savage zigzagged through time and genre: Meridian 1970 (2005) explored the folk-blues undercurrents of a turbulent year, while The Shadows of Love (2006) spotlighted intense Tamla soul from 1966–68. Then came Dreams Come True (2008), a thrilling look at first-wave electro, and Teenage: The Creation of Youth 1911–1946 (2009), which dug into the pre-rock roots of teen identity.

Savage’s curatorial lens is always wide but precise. Black Hole (2010) captured Californian punk’s raw edge, while Teenage: Teenagers & Youth in Music 1951–1960 (2011) traced the rise of youth culture through early pop and R&B. Fame (2021) gave post-punk its due, and Perfect Motion (2015) unearthed second-wave psychedelia from 1988–93. Even High Sixties on 45 (2019) reimagined the mid-’60s through the lens of the 7-inch single.

And he didn’t stop there. Do You Have The Force? Vol. 1 (2021) offered an alternate history of electronica, while Ambient 90s (2023) captured the introspective drift of a decade in flux. Across labels like Domino, Caroline True, Trikont, Bear Family, and Universal, Savage’s compilations are more than collections, they’re sonic essays, each one telling a story that charts the emotional and cultural terrain of its time.

These compilations are boxed together not because they follow a single genre or era, but because they reflect Jon Savage’s singular approach to music history, curation as cultural archaeology. Each volume is a standalone excavation, yet together they form a mosaic of youth, rebellion, innovation, and emotional intensity across the 20th and early 21st centuries. Savage isn’t just compiling tracks, he’s tracing the pulse of social change through sound. Whether it’s punk’s fury, soul’s yearning, or ambient’s introspection, these albums are unified by a deep narrative instinct, each one a chapter in a broader story about how music shapes identity, community, and memory. (Butterboy)