Review: Various Artists – I Can’t Give You The Life You Want

Various Artists
I Can’t Give You The Life You Want

Blackest Ever Black
Street: 06.15
I Can’t Give You The Life You Want = Clandestine Mixes + SMM: Opiate + 4AD’s Lonely is an Eyesore compilation

Given that only 500 copies were made and I Can’t Give You The Life You Want was released in June, this compilation from Blackest Ever Black is way sold out. However, if you can get your hands on a copy—or find a digital copy—the hoops that you will likely have to jump through are more than worth it. It’s 11 tracks of doom-y ambiance that find their common ground in referencing and evoking that landscape of metaphysical storytellers, Los Angeles. From Lynch to True Detective, the grid of Southern California freeways and canyons inspire the mind to seek the darkness beneath the shiny veneer. This compilation, with its gloomy dives into synth-based despair, features artists such as Tropic of Cancer, Cut Hands and Bremen, who dig deep into post-goth synthscapes, cold, rigid techno and swirling, detached post-punk. All tracks reference LA more as an idea embedded in style and emotional connection than they do in content. –Ryan Hall