Various Artists

We’re not over the Moon, we’re under a spell.  On Moon’s Toons Vol. 1, Dylan Moon brings together four artists and groups, largely based in Northeast Los Angeles, for a wonder-filled frolic along pop music’s fringe. Sandwiched between releasing Moon’s debut album, Only the Blues, in 2019, and the follow up EP Oh No Oh No Oh No in 2020, Dylan began reaching out to musician friends about contributing to a compilation. He even offered to lend a hand with production, and lend his surname to this community experiment.

Moon’s Toons’ begins with a first listen to House of Yahweh’s “Glass Realty,” the alias of composer and sound designer Sam Rogich, featuring vocals from Lily Konigsberg, the outlier, but nevertheless exceptional, artist on the compilation not based in LA. Following Yahweh, is the infectious, affectionate “Goopy Thing” from Paolo Yumol, a longtime collaborator of Dylan’s, under their Goose Pimple guise. Dovestone, the collaboration of visual artists  Allegra Jones and Anja Salonen, contributes “Baltic Blood (Bronze Cut),” the lucky third track of shambolic art-pop. Dylan completes the circle, but doesn’t eclipse it, with “Canyon,” a new tune that hints at future phases and features the vocals of Ruth Kace.

Dylan might provide some of the gravity that brought these different artists together, but Moon’s Toons more accurately reflects a creative, kindred magnetism within a microcosm of musicians situated not so far from one another. The compilation allows the listener to eavesdrop on a brief but beautiful moment in Los Angeles’ ever-shifting and surreal surface.