Super review by Cal Gibson, of The Secret Soul Society.

More lost treasures from half-remembered tapes full of hiss and tell: California’s metaphysical underground sketched in hazy shades of regret and highlighted by the pain of broken dreams. Up, down and all around: humans creating, spooking themselves with magikal intent, warding off the demons, trying unsuccessfully to stave off the inevitable day of reckoning.

The quality varies, sure, but underneath lies the way of the peaceful warrior: drones and tones, moans and xylophones. Donald Eggers goes bump in the night on Full Moon: moody, broody synthscapes with low end theory pads that come soaked in twilight: half-cut melodies twinkle and twirl as the night calls your (street) name. It’s dark in your heart, right?

Terry Garthwaite‘s Sacred Within is a chant of bliss honouring indeed the higher powers that zip and zap around our cranked-out craniums. Pay attention, pay it all back, pay it all forward: “surrender to the universe” advises Terry, and you’d be a fool not to. A perfect mixtape opener: a quiet storm of intense structure and loose-limbed loveliness. Total banger.

Planetary Peace‘s Song Without Words is a twisty, wistful wander through narco-chamber pop: imagine James Last mainlining peyote and you’re not far off. A river of sound they call it, surging on and on and on: life is but a dream after all.

Dream-like is probably the best overall description of what is a damn fine collection of odds and ends. Stephen Ross & David Mason‘s Untitled is all soundtrack noir vibes and gently strummed disillusion: a love affair gone sour and putrid, Death In Venice relocated to warmer climes, the final words in the final scene of whatever fucked-up film this world may turn out to be.

All life is here, then, captured in ten micro-miniatures that speak to the need for creation, for release, for heartfelt emotion captured in loving low-fi. Way, way more real than anything you’ll find on your freaking phone. A joyful noise unto us all.

Lost Coast: Some Visionary Music from California, 1980–1992 / can be ordered directly from Goaty Tapes / House Rules.