Various - Nobody Knows This Is Somewhere LP

Like all good compilations, Nobody Knows This Is Somewhere, gives newcomers an introduction to a collective of acts with some musical, ideological and/or regional common ground. While a lot of classic scene-documenting comps are a smorgasbord of new names, here there's just four: Headroom, Mountain Movers, Alexander and Stefan Christensen. All from the unlikely hub of underground music activity New Haven, Connecticut.

This record paints a beautiful picture of a living, breathing continuation of Underground America embracing collectivism, the psychedelic, experimentation, both "rock" and "other" music. Mountain Movers and Headroom deliver head-y psychedelic rock music that avoids the realm of the pseudo-spiritual white bindi wearers or music for the financial sectors rare krautrock collectors. A rare feat that these days that reminds me of Brisbane sweethearts Blank Realm and the Bardo Pond side-project Aye Aye. We know Alexander as an American Primitive style-guitarist but here he delivers an organ and feedback composition that reminds me of Sarah Davachi's Pale Bloom. Label-head and store favourite Stefan Christensen provides a long-form piece that morphs from a sound collage into free rock. While a great listen on it's own I hope this record works as an entry point into a greater, weirder and less one-dimensional web of discovery than what the algorithm provides. You're one-degree-of-separation away from all the good stuff! -Nic