Insert your own wanky DIY cliché here. Grandaddy are perhaps the definitive alt-rock, lo-fi, experimental alternative-country-pop act on the planet in 2005. It’s no surprise then, that most of the artists on Below the Radio, a compilation selected by vocalist Jason Lytle, are from the bands that fall into the same ‘genre’.

It’s hard to review this compilation without mentioning the bonus features – Grandaddy’s Nature Anthem in both audio and video. This is typical Grandaddy – smooth vocals, warm, textured sounds and the feel-good vibe that the band seems to create effortlessly. For anyone who missed the ‘feel-good vibe’ point, the video belts you around the head with it. Anyone who doesn’t enjoy watching a bunch of kids dancing around the countryside in animal suits is just heartless.

The inclusion of the Grandaddy material on Below the Radio seems contrary to the main concept of the release, as outline by Lytle in the liner notes: “Why am I usually more smitten with the inobvious hits than the obvious hits?” he asks. With this in mind, it’s a shame that the main highlight of this is the least subtle inclusion of all.

There are highlights beyond Nature Anthem, though. There’s the obvious choices, which give the selection a bit of a backbone and tempt the record-shopper – Beck and Pavement, along with recent successes Snow Patrol and Blonde Redhead make for good listening on the first couple of listens, as the ear warms to the less familiar choices.

While the style varies slightly from track to track, the general flow of this is as good as most albums-proper out there, with only Snow Patrol’s Run going against the grain. In fact, if you ignore the fact that the vocals vary immensely, this collection of tracks could almost pass as an album by a single band. The mood goes up and down as with any album, but the tempo and sonic climate stays relatively level, with even the eerie sounds of Giant Sand and Blonde Redhead sitting comfortably alongside the croons of Goldenboy and Virgil Shaw. It seems the chilling moments make the warmth of Nature Anthem and Beck’s We Live Again all the more pleasant.

Some of the artists featured here would be relatively unknown to Australian audiences. While it’s quite easy to see how Lytle connects with the likes of Beulah, Earlimart and Goldenboy, the hand-written liner notes attempt to shed a bit of light on some of his less obvious choices. They hardly achieve this – rather, Lytle seems as clueless as the listener when trying to describe why he picked Giant Sand and the Handsome Family, and when all he can offer to explain or describe Blonde Redhead’s For the Damaged is “Chills…” you get the idea: there’s no science to this, and there are rarely words to explain it all – Below the Radio is just Jason Lytle’s favourite songs.