Hut Recordings hasn't necessarily stood at the forefront of the vanguard as far as independents are considered, but they have had their fair share of major successes without the benefit of standard major-label business practices. Owned by the massive Virgin machine, Hut nonetheless receives their distribution through Rough Trade, qualifying their releases for the U.K. indie charts. Hut Recordings: 1991-2001 celebrates a decade of the label's existence (well, if you want to get technical, 11 years) in addition to including a small batch of songs from some of their newer, promising acts. Commercial successes like the Smashing Pumpkins (the stomping "I Am One") and the Verve (the tearjerking ballad "History") are included with critical favorites the Auteurs (the uncharacteristically aggressive but taut "Lenny Valentino"), Gomez (a version of "Whippin' Piccadilly"), and Dave Matthews fave David Gray ("Wisdom"). Other notable inclusions come from glam/grunge fusionists Placebo ("Nancy Boy"), David McAlmont and Bernard Butler's hit collaboration ("Yes"), Whale's unlikely semi-fluke hit ("Hobo Humpin Slobo Babe"), and one of Embrace's better Verve/Spiritualized approximations ("All You Good Good People"). One major grumble is the exclusion of Moose, who released a trio of spectacular shoegaze singles in 1991and an equally great pop record on Hut the following year. There aren't that many people walking the earth hunter-gathering each of the label's releases as one would for labels like 4AD or Creation, so the compilation's "priced to sell" nature helps. The disc also boasts some spiffy graphic design in the spirit of Harvest Festival. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide