Christian Filardo’s Holy Page Records introduces CACTUS COOLER VOLUME I, a seventeen-track compilation of songs by Cactus Cooler, the ghost of a youth, who roamed the northeastern states during the 1990s. All songs were improvised and recorded between 1996 and 1998, in Connecticut, Maine and New York. You can download individual tracks, or the entire compilation here: http://holypagerecords.bandcamp.com/album/volume-i.

Holy Page’s Filardo says: “I am very honored to have these as apart of the Holy Page family. For how simply they were recorded these songs have more emotion than anything I have heard in awhile. Cooler messes with tape speed, sampling, and lyrical hooks. The songs all have a melancholy feel to them but all reach out to something super real and raw. Cooler will probably get the comparison to songwriters like Daniel Johnston and Elliott Smith, but he is a different bird. Songs like “Whale of a Friend,” “Animal Wishes,” “Please Leave Me Alone,” “Japanese Girls,” and “Volcano,” all really stand out. One of my favorite internet discoveries music wise, ever.”

A loving post by Beach Sloth about Cactus Cooler and the uncovering of a time capsule: Imagine discovering a tape thirteen years after it had been recorded. You’d realize you’re uncovering a time capsule. Whatever is on the tape hasn’t worried about music trends for a while, if ever. Tapes represent a kind of sweet love, a cottage industry of care. Cactus Cooler reminds me of the “Anti-Folk” movement. All the humor and warmth I remember from that painfully short-lived and explored genre is present on this tender release.