VARIOUS – Maybe Im Dreaming – 2LP – Black Vinyl [AUG 1]

2LP – Standard EditionBlack Vinyl. Featuring the third eye opening artwork of Dang Wayne Olsen. Housed in an outrageous double wide spine jacket with printed inners and a dream journal entry by Pacific Northwest artifactual authority Josh Lewellen. Theres nothing else for you to do but listen and dream away.

Maybe Im Dreaming is the latest collection selected by Mikey Young (Total Control, Eddy Current Suppression Ring) and Keith Abrahamsson (Founder and Head of A&R at Anthology Recordings), the mangled minds behind the beloved Follow the Sun, Sad About the Times, and Still Sad compilations. The twenty tracks of Dreaming make a conscious, and unconscious, detour from its predecessors, sourced entirely from private press releases, spanning new decades and production modes within homespun folk, soft rock, and otherwise 70s and 80s FM radio adjacent music. The magic of Dreaming is the untold story of the artists behind these songs; those who missed the big time, but whose song craft and unrequited care hit the right notes, both high and low.

Where Follow the Sun and Sad About the Times introduced us to the fame chasing, ambition crashing crooners who missed their shot in the mainstream, Dreaming delves deeper into the isolated wilds a private world where production quirks, late-night tape hiss, and one-man studio dreams were not necessarily a choice but the hand that was dealt. With the parameters set to “private press only, Young and Abrahamsson follow a circuitous trail of invention and emotion, documenting a spirit thats more homespun, sometimes lonelier, and often a little weirder. The guitars still strum, but the keyboards hum is more prevalent and precious; wistful harmonies brush up against lo-fi drum machines; a bittersweet fog lingering over even the brightest melodies.

As with their previous collaborations, Young and Abrahamsson werent interested in constructing a museum or drafting a historical survey. Dreaming is a sentimental mixtape, assembled late at night when the mind wanders and old memories blur with imagined futures, those within reach and those far too mysterious to ever encounter. Songs were unearthed in personal collections, deep YouTube burrows, dilapidated web archives, and the dim corners of Discogs, with many selections tied not only to intuition but to personal connection. Some tracks arrived via friends Kelley Stoltz, a frequent guide for Young, tipped him off to both Peter Kraemers lost gem Let the Light Slip and Awakenings revelatory closer adding an unseen but deeply felt thread of camaraderie to the compilation.

The journey takes in a wide, strange sweep: The Watson Brothers Band‘s Just Whistle opens the collection with a sigh and a shrug, a song that feels like its been waiting for decades to be heard again. Jim Huxleys Tessa on a Magazine, rediscovered after a long and winding search by Young, shimmers with a distinctly Australian melancholia. The heartbreak of Rick Penta‘s My Story Changes and Twice As Nices delicate Thoughts of You float easily alongside the more buoyant, radio-dream sheen of Barracudas “Baby I Love You andMAKs sunshine-dappled That’s Life.

Widening the aperture to the late 70s and early 80s allows for a deeper exploration into evolving production techniques and musical technologies. The Squads D.L.M.H.I.M.A. and Christoph Spendel Groups Forever crackle with the kind of bedroom synth warmth that could only come from the analog age, while the soulful, yearning undercurrent of Awakenings Gotta Do Somethin / Might As Well Cultivate caps the collection with a call for action or maybe just acceptance in an accidental Brian Eno Here Come the Warm Jets parroting.

While Dreaming moves away from the “sad man with guitar” archetype that hovered over its predecessors, it remains tethered to a familiar emotional gravity a balance of longing and lightness that defines this corner of the musical universe. Each track shuffles gently between resignation and hope, sadness and serenity, as if the artists themselves were chasing a dream just beyond reach, recording not for fame but for the simple act of getting it, that primal, creative itch, out into the world.

The result is a collection that feels both ephemeral and eternal. A flicker caught in amber. A transmission from the other side of the night; a place where the angels and demons mingle, sharing shots and lines with those that enter their parlour. Dreaming is an invitation to drift a little while longer, eyes half-closed, into that liminal space between memory and imagination. Maybe you’re dreaming. Maybe you’re awake. Maybe it doesnt matter.

Featuring the third eye opening artwork of Dang Wayne Olsen, the double LP set arrives on Anthology Recordings on August 1, 2025 in an outrageous double wide spine jacket with printed inners and a dream journal by Pacific Northwest artifactual authority Josh Lewellen. Theres nothing else for you to do but listen and dream away.

Tracklist:

Side A
A1. The Watson Brothers Band – Just Whistle
A2. Jim Huxley – Tessa on a Magazine
A3. Rick Penta – My Story Changes
A4. MAK – That’s Life
A5. Palm Pizazz! – Silent Letter
A6. Twice As Nice – Thoughts of You

Side B
B1. Barracuda – Baby I Love You
B2. Elderberry Jak – Forrest on the Mountain
B3. Dennis – Walk With Me
B4. Jim Ware – Green Eyed Gypsy
B5. John Lyle – Oh My Wind

Side C
C1. Peter Kraemer – Let The Light Slip
C2. Brian Freel – Nightrider
C3. Michael Moore – Holland
C4. Clete Stallbaumer – John’s Song
C5. Ronnie White – The Jump

Side D
D1. David Owens – Take Off Your Armour
D2. The Squad – D.L.M.H.I.M.A.
D3. Christoph Spendel Group – Forever
D4. Awakening – Gotta Do Somethin / Might As Well Cultivate