DREAM STATE CIRCUS

Dreamstate Circus, for me, is the best output by OHEAD so far. There are loads of captivating synth grooves here, perfectly augmented by his guest musicians. Some tracks are well composed, with definite themes running throughout, while others are an assemblage of disparate passages glued somewhat incongruously together -- but in a way that works. Aside from a few passages that reflect the influence or style of other artists, this album sounds the most pure, mature OHEAD to me.

1. "Dreamstate Circus" greets you with howling wolves before hard-driving bass, bright synth sequences, and uptempo percussion (1/8th note hi hat swishes ala early Hawkwind) take over. Spoken, distorted vocals provide contrast the otherwise spacey guitar riffs. Nice driving grooves throughout. Mildly reminiscent of the Ozrics but with a cleaner guitar line.

2. "A Thousand Stars and a Thousand Moons" starts with swirling layers of bright pad sequences tinkling and circulating around a deep, rumbling bass line that give you the feeling of cruising the stars in the backseat of a driver-less interstellar Tesla. But half way through, the piece shifts to a rhythmic beat with almost a Native American feel. I envision smoking peace pipes and dancing. You could almost cut this track in two -- the front and back halves are so very different.

3. "Subliminal Conditioning" provides a mellow, spacey introduction before (dub)stepping into a downtempo movement with some cool (but a little to quiet) sax work. It's a good head-nodding, paw-tapping tune to listen to when your cruising in a subcompact car with sunglass-bespectacled gerbils.

4. "Meadow of Dreams" is a slower tempo piece with a casual shuffle rhythm underlying a beautiful melody reminiscent of classic Maurice Jarre, albeit with some out-of-place (IMHO) robotic vox effects. Midway through, it shifts to some acoustic and electric guitar work that is very much in the style of David Gilmore -- making back half of the piece very (modern) Floydian. Nice.

5. "Dubliminal Conditioning" provides an interesting spoken vocal track, seemingly adapted from a bad sci-fi movie... "Doctor have I ever been alone in this room?". Building synths lead into slowly pulsating rhythms and Tangerine Dream-styled guitar. Turn up the volume and let it envelop you!

6. "Infinite Possibilities" is an attempt at achieving just that... birds, breathy synths, throbbing bass lines, drum tracks, Theremin-like synth slides, bells and chimes, African chants, bright pads, poppy synth sequences, swooshing breathy backgrounds, and maybe even the kitchen sink (but I'm not sure what that sounds like). Points for utilizing the full arsenal of synth motifs, but it remains a bit too wandering and fragmented (for me).

7. "Transition Zone" reminds me a little of the percussion and sequences of SYNTH.NL. It's the kind of piece that would fill the background ambience of a house party. Not too invasive. Not too quiet. But when there's a pause in the conversation, there's definitely some head-nodding, shoulder-swaying to be done without breaking into all out dance. Nice melodic theme carried throughout.

8. "Puzzle Box" has loads of arpeggios and VCO bursts, built up layer by layer, with a 4-note melody repeating over and over. This piece is all about how the layers play against each other, and mess with your head as they fully exploit the L/R separation of your stereo system. Shortest piece on the album, but engrossing.

This is an "excellent addition to any prog rock music collection". Four stars.