It Came From Memphis

Review

Most famous for discovering Dungen and the Go! Team, Memphis Industries is based not in Tennessee but in London, where the label's co-founders, brothers Matt and Ollie Jacob, focus their wide antennae for new talent. It Came From Memphis (which, incidentally, is not related to the well-regarded blues series), features a dozen songs by nine artists on the M.I. roster, ranging from the deadpan drawl of Absentee's "Hey! Tramp" to the classic girl-group stylings of the Pipettes' "Because It's Not Love" to a pair of sad-toned, retro-tinged, indie-pop cuts from Field Music, "Tell Me Keep Me" and "Feeding the Birds" ("The itch is getting worse and it's spreading, " the latter opines about heartache). And J Xaverre's "Sports Day 1983" is that rare thing — a mid-to-late-'90s-style breakbeat-and-found-sample assemblage that evokes a hazy summer day in a small college town without sounding completely irrelevant.