As promotion tools go, a mix CD of the music on show is pretty standard fair. That is not to say that it doesn’t work. It just isn’t that original.

Glade festival is fast becoming one of the premier electronic music events on the electronic music calendar, while the festival can’t compete with the cream of the European electronic festivals like Sonar and Awakenings, it certainly does the UK proud, and rivals Bloc Weekend for the number one spot. "Sound Of The Headliners" is on digital release now and can be bought at Trackitdown - Dance Music MP3/WAV/Merchandise Distribution Centre and features a slew of singles from acts that are due to play at Glade as well as a 70 minute continuous DJ mix. The array of songs is highly varied and begins with an uplifting classic from Underworld with the track “Glam Bucket” before moving through minimal shuffle from Tom Real and progressiveness from Quiet Strom, on to the electro-house of NAPT and Plump DJ’s into the Psytrance of people like Disco of Doom and Chromotome and finally into the Dubstep of Sub Focus.

Quite a broad ranging mix in fairness, and the compilation has all the right intentions and is well put together however, if there is only one problem I have with the whole concept. The title of the album is “Sound of the Headliners” and yet there is a distinct lack of “headliners” on the album. OK so Underworld represent, but with a three year old track, and then the rest are, with all due respect, support acts. Where are the tracks by Booka Shade, SquarePusher, Carl Craig, Juan Atkins, Dave Clarke, Venetian Snares, Adam Beyer and Benga??

Maybe I am being picky to expect all of these big names to contribute to the marketing tool that is “Sound Of The Headliners”, but in fairness I don’t think that the likes of Drop the Lime, Far Too Loud and Plaza de Funk are the true “headliners”, but perhaps I am wrong. The logistics of getting the aforementioned heavyweights to contribute tracks may have been too much, and the “Sound Of The Headliners” does probably give a fair reflection of the scope of music on offer at Glade.

Those that know are probably going anyway, rave gear in tow, and those that don’t, will probably think that this CD is a fair reflection of the state of electronic music at the moment. Personally, for me, “Sound Of The Headliners” is a little on the commercial side, a little light it its temperament, and perhaps a little misguided in its title choice. They may have been better to call it “Glade: A Taster”.

In terms of the music on The Sound Of The Headliners, the one stand out track is the opener, Underworld – Glam Rock, which if you haven’t heard before can be checked out below:

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The rest of the compilation is pleasant, if not outstanding, varied in its scope and would make a relatively good party mix. It is not however, the typical anthemic rave masterpiece that will more than likely be on offer at the actual Glade festival.

Glade is on July 16th to July 19th and all the info you will ever need is at Glade Festival 2009.