Even if you don't hate CDs ...

... it's hard to not bust up at the sound of the Legendary Space Cowboy's rockabilly rant against the medium. The off-kilter song is a standout and the title track for a new compilation from Norton Records. I Hate CDs collects 45 songs that have been released on 45 over the past two decades from Norton - a label which has specialized in quirky reissues. The compilation - available as a digital download from all respected retailers - collects bigger names (The Ramones, Big Star, Link Wray) alongside ones you've probably never heard of before. There is no chronology to the order, but the curator did a rather exquisite job of keeping a steady flow throughout the entire compilation. You may jump from underground power pop to grungy 50's rockabilly, but the transitions are always seamless, alluding to an amazing history of underground music that goes back for decades.

I Hate CDs plays like a Nuggets box set designed by someone who found Nuggets to be too mainstream. That being said, there are quite a few "nuggets" in the box - The Dictators power pop anthem "Who Will Save Rock and Roll" kicks things off well, creating almost a mission statement for the set. "My generation/ is not the salvation," the song states, alluding to the fact that this set is not about any kind of revolution. It is not so much trying to define a history as destroying what Rolling Stone-hyped rock and roll history actually exists. It's not even trying to define the underground as its medium of distribution excludes the possibility of extensive liner notes.

Other highlights include the wild rhythm and blues sex anthem, "Switchen in the Kitchen" (decades before R. Kelly had the same idea), Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Hear Voices" (which is probably autobiographical), and the two fabulous Ramones tunes, "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" and "Judy is a Punk."

In an era when the music business is increasingly changing, I Hate CDs makes a rebellious statement, while also utilizing a new medium to bring unheard classics to the masses.

I Hate CDs recently received a 7.9 from Pitchfork.