v/a: Local Customs: Lone Star Lowlands

Label: Numero Group

We can always depend on quality when Chicago's Numero Group releases a compilation. Whether they are digging up long-lost soul from Columbus, Ohio, reggae from Belize, psych-folk from California or hip-hop from God-knows-where, it's always terrific stuff. Even after six years of learning to expect the unexpected from Numero, this one still managed to throw me for a loop. The last Local Customs comp featured gospel-tinged soul from Michigan; the latest chapter centers on what must have been one helluva music scene in Beaumont, Texas, and there's quite a variety of (usually excellent) stuff, whether it's southern-fried boogie, psych, garage, surf, Morricone-inspired instrumentals, harmony-drenched soft rock (man, did they love CSNY), you name it. The band names are priceless: Mourning Sun, Insight Out, Sassy, Les Sages, and there's nary a dud on the record. That none of this music ever saw the light of a day is testimony to the glut of great music from the early 1970s. But here it is for us to enjoy, thanks to the painstaking work of the Numero Group, who spent two years perusing the archives of Mickey Rouse's Lowland studios for these 22 (28 on the vinyl, not out just yet) gems. A time-capsule of treasures you don't want to miss. (James)