Golden Dome Musicians' Collective, State & Main Records: Volume 1.5

(State & Main Records, digital download)

On Saturday, May 28, Montpelier’s Langdon Street Café closed its doors for the last time. In its all-too-brief six-plus years, the quirky nightspot and capital-city arts hub became an institution in central Vermont. It was a destination for small touring bands and the breeding ground for the city’s increasingly vibrant and diverse music scene. It was also a money pit. Ultimately, the java joint crumbled under the weight of overwhelming financial pressures. Apparently, there’s not a lot of money these days in bohemian hipster haunts.

But more than any of those things, Langdon Street Café was a community center, the home to a close-knit body of artists who now, for all intents and purposes, find themselves homeless. The Golden Dome Musicians’ Collective [1] personifies that group, along with its recently formed imprint, State & Main Records [2]. In an effort to ease the financial strain on the café’s cash-strapped owners, the collective has released State & Main Records: Volume 1.5, a download-only benefit compilation, and the follow-up to another comp, Volume 1 [3], released earlier this year.

That first record showcased a surprising degree of variety in Montpeculiar, and Volume 1.5 picks up where the first one left off. Several of the contributors are the same, including rapper Boomslang [4], whose frantic flow on “Callin’ My Name” is balanced nicely by a coolly reserved turn from guest vocalist Greta Frost [5]. Champagne Dynasty [6] return with “Tropical Birds,” which sounds like what might happen if Digable Planets teamed up with Midnite Vultures-era Beck. Dan Zura [7] offers a humble charmer, a sun-drenched piece of nostalgic electroacoustic pop called “Decemberland.” Sick Feelings [8] kick out the jams on a scuzzy punk-rock homage to the Granite Center of the World, “Livin’ Is Tough, Man, Barre Is Hell.” And songwriter Scott Baker [9] continues to impress in a variety of guises, first with Robyn Peirce as First Crush [10] on the dreamy indie-pop stunner “Cast From Stars,” and again solo as Simple Heart on the rough-hewn “Sticks and Stones.”

But Volume 1.5 is defined by the new additions to the family, who highlight what the GDMC does best: a little of everything. B.B. Coyote [11] sets a melancholy tone on “Yellow Bead (a lullaby for leo),” a wistful guitar and voice waltz that soothes with lazily dovetailing harmonies. Benvelope jolt the listener awake with lo-fi, fuzzed-out shake-and-stomp on “Gift.” “Just Friends” by That’s What She Said [12] harks back to the glory days of early 1990s alt-rock. And Tiger Grip deliver a danceable electro-indie-pop on “Charm Bracelet.”

Sadly, the Langdon Street Café is gone. But thanks to the Golden Dome Musicians’ Collective, who embody its eclectic and community-oriented spirit, its legacy will live on.

State & Main Records: Volume 1.5 is available at stateandmainrecords.bandcamp.com [13]. All proceeds go toward the closing costs of the dearly departed LSC.