A good compilation is defined by the fact that it does not simply function as a collection of fairly obvious songs whose conceptual proximity is practically a given. A best-of here, a singles collection there, a label sampler, soundalikes, or something along those lines. Yawn. A playlist would do the job just as well, wouldn’t it? A good compilation – and Going Back To Sleep…, this autumnally warm songbook now released on A Colourful Storm, certainly qualifies – reminds us of the care with which we once searched for and arranged songs for mixtapes. Of course the vibe matters; the truffle pig in us wants something to sniff out, too. And most of the artists featured here have a very manageable number of monthly listeners. These are songs that feel related, that share so much in spirit that no algorithm in the world would ever connect them.
What we get is a handful of tracks in which psychedelic guitar ballads (»Fruit and Nuts«, The Rat Columns), plucky, new-wave-inflected hauntology pop (»I Can’t Sleep«, The Lewers), lo-fi indie (»Leagues of Marsh to Swallow Towers«, The Sprigs) and even Grouper-esque fog ambient (»Veselka City Lights«, by the ever-reliable Carla dal Forno) take the lead. The reverb-soaked »Slow Version« of »Upside Down In An Empty Room« by tireless workhorse Glenn Donaldson – who, as The Reds, Pinks and Purples, releases at least one album a year – is, however, the heart-squeezer we all need, right from the start.
Going Back To Sleep..
