OCEANARIUM

An album of oddly recorded instruments (everything muted, compressed, or dampened at the high end?) composed in a style that sounds like the pretentiousness of a 1970s soundtrack to a porno film. The whole time I'm listening to this album I feel as if it's 1970 and I'm sitting in a basement practice studio in Poughkeepskie, New York, or Waterloo, Iowa, listening to the local Symphony Orchestra run through a rehearsal of a locally produced rock opera that was composed in the by some local who is heavily inspired by Mike Oldfield. Weird. Though almost every song on the album has interesting and enjoyable parts, section, themes, or performances, no song is fully satisfying start to finish. Is Dan trying to have his music sound like it came from a 78 rpm recording from the 1920s?

1. "A Numbered Rat, A High Ledge, And A Maze Of Horizons" (11:32) opens with a bit of an ELP flare before going symphonic X-Files, Spaghetti Western, and Karda Estra. (8.5/10)

2. "Drifting Inner Skyline Space" (8:28) Sounds like a Sergio Leone-George Martin lovefest--until Mike Oldfield and John Barry (Midnight Cowboy) squeeze their way in. (8.5/10)

3. "The Blunt Sun And The Hardened Moon" (15:25) Hawkwind meets Sergio Leone. Nothing new here. (7.5/10)

4. "Finding A Valley In A Gray Area On A Map" (3:24) Unfulfilled portentousness. (7.5/10)

5. "Finding A Shipwreck In A Valley In An Ocean" (6:20) Aimless and meandering. (7/10)

6. "Tropical Detective Squadron" (14:10) Seriously?! This must be the "tension reliever"? or from the Steven King comedy soundtrack. (6.5/10)

7. "Marooned And Torn Asunder" (8:06) one of the three best songs on the album--even if it is a Mike Oldfield ripoff. (8.5/10)

8. "Water To Glass / The Ultimate Solution" (12:31) What is the point to stringing together all these odd, unusual, and incongruous themes? Showing off the disconnected wanderings of an ADHD mind? (7.5/10)

While Dan is obviously an accomplished musician and mature composer, I wonder about his sound sensibilities as there has never been a release that he's been associated with that has what is in my opinion "good" sound. (I have my own standards, of course). What is meant when contributing artists are credited with "other instruments" and "compositional contributions" (Dan Berggren, Patrick Gaffney, and Christopher West)? Is it all composed on GarageBand?

3.5 stars; interesting but "unfinished"?or "unpolished."