Thank you Darla Label and the "Little Darla Has a Treat for You" series!
Around 2008, while chasing recent output from Robin Guthrie, I found his most recent releases on the Darla Label. I ordered direct from the Darla website. To fill out my order, they had available two recent sampler compilations called "Little Darla Has a Treat For You Vol 24" and "LDHATFY Vol 25". These two compilations were issued in 2006 and 2008. There are two disks in each and that makes for a lot of music. In an earlier version of this w9fz.com website, I gushed on about these two comps and some of the highlights that caught my ear.
Over the intervening years, I purchased other Little Darla samplers--several earlier volumes directly from the Darla.com website. I also watched ebay for several years and filled in some holes. In late 2021, I discovered the Discogs.com website and that helped me fill in four missing samplers. I still am seeking Volume 1 (as CD).
I have listened to each sampler many times and share here the gems that stand out for me. That has led to more searching on Discogs, YouTube, Wikipedia, and further on the internet.
I find samplers a great way to find good art previously unknown to me. Kinda like why I used to chase college radio and college-town record shops in earlier decades. What zings me from a sampler certainly might not zing you. All of the artists on the sampler offered up their creativity and the ones that don't click with me probably click with someone else.
The ones I mention from each comp are "four stars" or better for me. I mark the "five star" ones.
If you click on the graphic of each album, it will take you to the Discogs page for that album. From there, you can click on band names and follow many rabbit holes.
Little Darla Has a Treat For You Vol 1 (Summer 1995)
I have not listened to this yet. Nor have I been able to purchase it on Discogs or ebay. But I remain in search of this for purchase. In the meantime, I found the entire disk available as a download from the internet archive. You can find Volume 1 right here.My selection of the best tracks will follow soon.
Little Darla Has a Treat For You Vol 2 (Fall 1995)
Holiday Flyer - "Happy Hour Friends"
Joey Sweeney - "My Name is Rich"
Racecar - "Seymour Wants to be an Artist"
Wild Carnation - "The Rising Tide" (5-star)
Radar Bros - "Hey"
Johnny Flame - "She Said, She Said"
New Radiant Storm King - "Subway Token"
Veronica Cartwrights - "Mephistopheles"
Little Darla Has a Treat For You Vol 3 (Spring 1996)
Bright - "Point"
Ventilator - "Earthquake"
Two Dollar Guitar - "Canny"
Heartworms - "I Don't Need to Know
Pie - "The Lost Expedition"
Füxa - "Untitled" (goes to my Darla "Bliss" playlist)
Little Darla Has a Treat For You Vol 4 (Summer 1996)
Holiday - "How Do You Know?"
Hurl - "Four Feet to Infinity" (5-star)
Holiday Flyer - "Seen But Not Heard"
California - "Geo 1" (goes to my Darla "Bliss" playlist)
Little Darla Has a Treat For You Vol 5 (Indian Summer 1996)
HiM - "Pony"
Little Darla Has a Treat For You Vol 6 (Spring 1997)
Bugskull - "Flowers Smile"
Aden - "Scooby Doo"
The Ladybug Transistor - "Rushes of Pure Spring"
Greengate - "Blue Sky"
Flowchart - "El Glacier-o"
Ex - Atari Kid - "Playtime"
Reflector the Illuminator - "AOK"
The Snowmen - "Polar Bears"
Orange Cake Mix - "The Ballad of Sonny Jim"
Steven R. Smith - "Sparring Provenance"
Windy & Carl - "Antarctica (Edit)" (goes to my Darla "Bliss" Playlist)
The American Analog Set - Late One Sunday (edit)" (goes to my Darla "Bliss" Playlist)
Little Darla Has a Treat For You Vol 7 (Summer 1997)
The Clears - "Rock 'n' Roll Band"
Bright - "Break"
Mirza - "Bless the Gathering"
The Bevis Frond - "Requiem"
Little Darla Has a Treat For You Vol 8 (Winter 1998)
Sweet Trip - "Fish" (goes to my Darla "Bliss" playlist)
hollAnd - "Varispeed"
Holiday Flyer - "Take Me Away"
Shoestrings - "Best Kept Secret"
Mirza - "Bicentennial"
Technicolor - "Diagrams"
Little Darla Has a Treat For You Vol 9 (Spring 1998)
Sweet Trip - "Reflections"
Mark Borthwick and hollAnd - "Wrapped"
Piano Magic - "Amongst the Books an Angel"
The Utensils - "Earth to Judy"
Abunai! - "Words"
Little Darla Has a Treat For You Vol 10 (Endless Summer 1998)
Technicolor - "Escaping the Game Grid"
The Photo Band - "(The Future's) Comin' Around the Bend"
Junior Varsity KM - "Get Some Sleep"
Piano Magic - "The Biggest Lie"
Hydroplane - "Questions I Can't Answewr"
Lenola - "Sounds Like a Now Time"
Miss Bliss - "Slow Children"
Little Darla Has a Treat For You Vol 11 (Winter 1999)
My Morning Jacket - "They Ran"
Sweet Trip - "Silence (2M)"
Holiday Flyer - "When Will I Ever Learn?"
My Favorite - "You Belong With Us"
Aden - "I Knew You Would Go"
Little Darla Has a Treat For You Vol 12 (Summer 1999)
My Morning Jacket - "Rocket Man"
The Apples in Stereo - "Strawberryfire"
Sushi - "William Saroyan"
Orange Cake Mix - "Out of This World"
Penelope in Stereo - "Subway"
Little Darla Has a Treat For You Vol 13 (Fall 1999)
My Morning Jacket - "Death is the Easy Way"
Technicolor - "Moving Slowly"
California Oranges - "Roller King (demo)"
Steward - "Land Run Descendents"
Fingernail - "Humble Bumblebee"
Lenola - "Then I Learned the Alphabet"
Orange Cake Mix - "Her Mellowness"
Girlboy Girl - "Feverish"
Tleilaxu - "Javelin"
Little Darla Has a Treat For You Vol 14 (Winter 2000)
Immersion - "Days Under the Sun"
Mall - "Cold Chill"
Solvent - "I'm OK You're OK"
Köhn - "Lapp"
Little Darla Has a Treat For You Vol 15 (Indian Summer 2000)
Stars - "This Charming Man"
Sodastream - "Convoy"
Alsace Lorraine - "Dreams I Can't Control"
Mascott - "Follow the Sound"
California Oranges - "Vanilla Blue"
Little Darla Has a Treat For You Vol 16 (Spring 2001)
My Morning Jacket - "Lowdown"
The Bitter Springs - "Under the Rainbow"
Migale - "Fortune's Show of Our Last"
A Girl Called Eddy - "The Soundtrack of Your Life"
Paloma - "Daily Sisyphus"
Mus - "La Sosiega"
The Sensualists - "Clouds & Rain (Zac Love remix)"
Little Darla Has a Treat For You Vol 17 (Summer 20001)
Holiday Flyer - "Trains"
Tøyen - "14 Points"
My Morning Jacket - "Tyrone"
Aroah - "Come Home"
The Still - "Revolution"
The Real Tuesday Weld - "I Love the Rain"
Graham - "The Best Spectacular"
Little Darla Has a Treat For You Vol 18 (Winter 2002)
Japancakes - "Always Stuck With Leaving"
My Morning Jacket - "Sooner"
Aartica - "Aura Lee"
Holiday Flyer - "Invincible"
Mahogany - "Accelerations"
Auburn Hill - "Rural Divide"
Little Darla Has a Treat For You Vol 19 (Fall 2002)
Saloon - "Free Fall"
Crispy Ambulance - "Loupgarou"
My Morning Jacket - "Bermuda Highway (live at KVRX)"
Sweet Trip - "Chocolate Matter (Lo Fi mono)"
Little Darla Has a Treat For You Vol 20 (Summer 2003)
Aartika - "Out to Sea"
Saloon - "Happy Robots"
Maquiladora - "Drunk and Lighting Fires (A Waltz)"
Sweet Trip - "Deep (No. 2)"
Women and Children - "Headless"
Little Darla Has a Treat For You Vol 21 (Winter 2004)
F.S. Blumm - "Ankern"
I am Robot and Proud - "Winter at Night"
Alsace - "Warm Tears"
Printed Circuit - "Mobira", Sweet Trip - "Noise is a Social Skill, Pale Horse and Rider - "Stoned in the Evening", and The Music Lover - "Matinee Girl" almost made the cut but remain at Honorable Mention.