Mixtape: Skull Valley Records’ Private Desert

Welcome to Mixtape, our weekly feature where we hand WASTOIDS over to cool folks to share what they’re listening to.

Chances are you if you don’t find Jesse Bass hanging with his kids, wandering in the Sonoran wilderness, or making celestial new age soundscapes as Mezatzal, you’ll find him digging through dusty records at thrift shops. His vinyl hound tendencies serve his main project: Skull Valley Records, a YouTube channel and label dedicated to showcasing neglected Arizona private press releases from the distant past in both digital and vinyl form, like Terry Telson‘s 1975 hard luck folk LP While In Exile, which is currently available for pre-order and streaming on Bandcamp.

We normally share our mixtapes as Spotify playlists, but Jesse cooked up one full of AOR gloss, R&B, country, folk, electronic and new age music so obscure that none of it is featured on the service. So instead, we’re sharing this hour-long mix straight to the WASTOIDS podcast feed, complete with Jesse’s inventive sound design and stoner drops.

This one is for the real desert weirdos, caution is advised. After letting it play, you may find yourself longing to head into the vast desert and never come back.

Steve Mclinn – The Wind Blows Backwards
Doug Day and First Crossing – You Were There
Ani Williams + Mazatl Galindo – Tlazocamatli
Steve Larsen – More Than A Saviour
The Neumes – Mannequin Beat
Judy Winters – Dreamin’
Lance – Even Then
Alan Whitfield – Fast Car
Shiver – I Want To Ba A Star
Brian McLane – When The Rain Falls
White Noise – Nothing Going On
Stephen Wainwright – Multi Storie Carpark
A Paul Ortega and Sharon Burch – Honor Song
Dennis Larsson – Holly
Bryce Wemple – Scene 56