← Go Back
← Go Back
View full details
Various - Pipe Dreams
Various - Pipe Dreams
Various - Pipe Dreams
Various - Pipe Dreams
Style:
Rock / Pop / Folk, Soul / Funk
Label:
Smiling C
Catalog Number:
SC#18
Release Date:
2026
Format:
Vinyl LP, 2LP
Regular price
$52.00
Regular price
Sale price
$52.00
Unit price
per
Shipping calculated at checkout.
Couldn't load pickup availability
Description
More than four years in the making, Tiki Shack Recording Studios AKA Smiling C Records & Mike Patricola present Pipe Dreams — a compilation of sidewalk surf bands, tropical troubadours, and soothing sounds from just beyond the reef.
Compiled by Mike Patricola, Pipe Dreams is the culmination of years spent exchanging obscure recordings, pursuing a shared feeling, and uncovering a sub-genre of overlooked songs that could be woven into a story of surf, snorkel, and sun. Drawn from Patricola's collection, the compilation aims to capture the feeling of endless summer, and serves as an ode to the freedom of island living: Bikini-shaped sunburns, coconut stands closed due to perfect swells, slack guitars, perpetual sunsets, guppies darting through shallow water, and afternoons spent face-down in the sand.
Spanning the late 1970s through the mid 1980s, Pipe Dreams gathers forgotten pop, lounge, soft rock, AOR, disco, and private-press oddities into a time capsule that seeks to epitomize an era that existed before life became mediated by screens. One in which technology was more naive and society was less reliant upon it. Time moved slower, people were better able to connect with their surroundings, and the dream of moving to a coastal utopia felt more attainable.
Each side unfolds as its own chapter.
Side A begins with Midwestern lettermen The Sunset Kidds, whose hypnagogic harmonies on “Darlin’” evoke the Beach Boys mired in the post-summer doldrums. Australia's Simplex 2 follow with the previously unreleased “Tiger Bay”, capturing the slow pulse of a perfect beach day through low end groove. Don Moore's infectious “Water Lily” arrives via a romantic Fire Island love affair, while Cay Gottlieb contributes a dose of Bahamian Balearica. To close the side out, Tennessee crooner Ron Holmes delivers an extra dose of salt on the margarita rim for good measure.
Side B shifts into a more upbeat surf-disco and pub-rock mode. Montreal’s Dino Pacifici’s nostalgic ode to carefree summers long passed, followed by Marseille's own The Students "Ocean Lifestyle" — which sits somewhere between Shuggie Otis and The Stranglers. Another Montréalais artist Pierre Rochette delivers a chuggy surf-disco belter, while Special Edition Band ventures from boozy rock into a washed-out paradise with glistening guitars.
Side C serves as an ode to tropical troubadours — intimate songs that range from drum machine lounge to private island bedroom recordings. Japan's Twin Cosmos, actual identical twins, dream up beachfront breezes on "Coconuts Wind." Hawaiian songwriter Dennis Soares offers the delicate and deeply personal "One World," while Ossie Parker Jr. supplies some Bahamian barroom sophistication. Miles Corbin brings sounds straight from the tiki hut, and lounge lizard Glen Banks takes us into the final intermission with a lullaby live from the Coconut Grove.
Side D catches a wave back in. Meri-Lynn & The Key Lime Pie Band celebrate the Florida Key life, Dennis Soares returns for one final Hawaiian postcard, and the Latin band Acapulco contribute a hefty dose of sunny positivity akin to one of Brian Wilson’s cheerier tunes. To round it out, Rick Sharp injects a touch of Bossa cheek and fantasy, and British pub blokes Contrast steer the compilation back toward where it all began — a destination somewhere between a Beach Boy California paradise, a remote oceanside lounge for loners, and a sleazy coastal timeshare.
Pressed on vinyl in a deluxe die-cut, spot-glossed gatefold jacket featuring artwork by our man Charles Bals and cover “Breaking Wave” photo by Lex Thompson. Pipe Dreams is designed as both a listening experience and an object of escape. Drop the needle, lean back, and let the tide carry you away.
Compiled by Mike Patricola, Pipe Dreams is the culmination of years spent exchanging obscure recordings, pursuing a shared feeling, and uncovering a sub-genre of overlooked songs that could be woven into a story of surf, snorkel, and sun. Drawn from Patricola's collection, the compilation aims to capture the feeling of endless summer, and serves as an ode to the freedom of island living: Bikini-shaped sunburns, coconut stands closed due to perfect swells, slack guitars, perpetual sunsets, guppies darting through shallow water, and afternoons spent face-down in the sand.
Spanning the late 1970s through the mid 1980s, Pipe Dreams gathers forgotten pop, lounge, soft rock, AOR, disco, and private-press oddities into a time capsule that seeks to epitomize an era that existed before life became mediated by screens. One in which technology was more naive and society was less reliant upon it. Time moved slower, people were better able to connect with their surroundings, and the dream of moving to a coastal utopia felt more attainable.
Each side unfolds as its own chapter.
Side A begins with Midwestern lettermen The Sunset Kidds, whose hypnagogic harmonies on “Darlin’” evoke the Beach Boys mired in the post-summer doldrums. Australia's Simplex 2 follow with the previously unreleased “Tiger Bay”, capturing the slow pulse of a perfect beach day through low end groove. Don Moore's infectious “Water Lily” arrives via a romantic Fire Island love affair, while Cay Gottlieb contributes a dose of Bahamian Balearica. To close the side out, Tennessee crooner Ron Holmes delivers an extra dose of salt on the margarita rim for good measure.
Side B shifts into a more upbeat surf-disco and pub-rock mode. Montreal’s Dino Pacifici’s nostalgic ode to carefree summers long passed, followed by Marseille's own The Students "Ocean Lifestyle" — which sits somewhere between Shuggie Otis and The Stranglers. Another Montréalais artist Pierre Rochette delivers a chuggy surf-disco belter, while Special Edition Band ventures from boozy rock into a washed-out paradise with glistening guitars.
Side C serves as an ode to tropical troubadours — intimate songs that range from drum machine lounge to private island bedroom recordings. Japan's Twin Cosmos, actual identical twins, dream up beachfront breezes on "Coconuts Wind." Hawaiian songwriter Dennis Soares offers the delicate and deeply personal "One World," while Ossie Parker Jr. supplies some Bahamian barroom sophistication. Miles Corbin brings sounds straight from the tiki hut, and lounge lizard Glen Banks takes us into the final intermission with a lullaby live from the Coconut Grove.
Side D catches a wave back in. Meri-Lynn & The Key Lime Pie Band celebrate the Florida Key life, Dennis Soares returns for one final Hawaiian postcard, and the Latin band Acapulco contribute a hefty dose of sunny positivity akin to one of Brian Wilson’s cheerier tunes. To round it out, Rick Sharp injects a touch of Bossa cheek and fantasy, and British pub blokes Contrast steer the compilation back toward where it all began — a destination somewhere between a Beach Boy California paradise, a remote oceanside lounge for loners, and a sleazy coastal timeshare.
Pressed on vinyl in a deluxe die-cut, spot-glossed gatefold jacket featuring artwork by our man Charles Bals and cover “Breaking Wave” photo by Lex Thompson. Pipe Dreams is designed as both a listening experience and an object of escape. Drop the needle, lean back, and let the tide carry you away.
