The Puppy Love Compilation is best exemplified by the liner picture- a group of kittens with their faces Tipp-exed out: Cute, quirky and a little messed up. For a record label that contains artists that are, at times, difficult to listen to, Tomlab have done a stellar job of making the compilation both credible and accessible at the same time. The impressive roster of artists on this German label ranges from The Blow, to Patrick Wolf, to Final Fantasy to Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, encompassing bands like Ninja High School and Simon Bookish along the way. The 21 track sampler begins with one of Pitchfork Media’s songs of the 2006 (‘Parentheses’ by The Blow)- a delicate, tentative and witty offering of, if not love, then at least mutual trust, set to a background of handclaps and an old 8-track recorder- and doesn’t let up until Xiu Xiu’s melodramatic ‘Suha’ closes. Tracks which would seem incongruous in any other setting -such as The Books ’found-sound- heavy ‘Smells Like Content’- nestle happily amongst Catholic rapping (Ninja High School), laptop beats (Simon Bookish) and classical violin (Final Fantasy). Put simply, the record is the audio equivalent of a teen crush- exciting, heartbreaking, uplifting, soul-crushing and exhilarating, all in an exponentially brief period of time. In short, Puppy Love.

Ailbhe Malone is 21 years old. Her father told her the other day that she was 'going to change the world'. She remains sceptical.
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