In this little community of outre muzak, we find ourselves facing some generational heavyweights. Much like any great artist, what due they’ll receive will come well after their so-called formative years; these moments when their music was at its most curious and confounding, but little accolades (see: major label money) will ever be achieved. It’s not until a new generation of The Wire writers are buried deep in vinyl reissues of this stuff that worth will be truly assessed. So in this lowly, pre-gentrification wonderland, West Coast tape champion Field Hymns (Cerberus frequent flyer) packs five years of awesomeness into a double cassette release that, despite being chalk full of unreleased material, feels as uplifting and poetic as DGC Rarities Vol. 1. Look at the line up and see the marquee light up: Strategy, German Army, Giant Claw, Black Hat, Yves Malone…it’s exhausting how comprehensive this line up is. But beyond being a sampler of what may this generation’s “alternative” music, it’s a beautifully packaged (well, not counting my busted copy — thanks local post office) representation of how vivid these past five years have been for Field Hymns. And just as the aforementioned DGC Rarities, it’s the lesser known acts that steal the show. Boron’s “Shangam” is contemplative and still, but a rare moment of zen in a sea of turbulent ambient and drone. White Glove’s “Never Forget” garage rock throwback provides a real jarring moment with its punk-ish attitude. Oxykitten’s post-Elephant 6 sparkle on “Attack of the Koala People” is catch-tastic. This is just a fun, witty compilation that may be culled from unreleased material, but not one of them is a throwaway. Better pick this up as a true testament of this generation before it’s pressed on vinyl in 20 years for a Record Store Day reissue that costs upwards of your first born.
