IN THE LAND OF DREAMS

This is where it all comes together.

6LA8, whom I just learned of this summer dished out this album not too long ago but I've had many listens since it's release and honestly, it's one of the best albums this year. In the Land of Dreams is exactly what the band implies, a hazy and droney effort that gives the illusion of a dream state. Those trips 6LA8 had taken me on in previous albums aren't even as great as where this album takes me.

What really does it for this album is the sound clips that go along with the music, spoken word to me has this brilliant effect on music to where it's kind of blending two important aspects of culture, music and literature. It's something about that combination that really appeals to me and those are put to good use here.

Another important piece of this album is the fact that the band is master of the art of drone. These guys know how it's done and they put it together with so many other genres, the taste on this album is similar to other albums, undefinable.

And yet, something in this albums takes me on a bigger trip than the rest. Maybe it's the dream concept lurking in the background, I don't know.

All I know is, I love this album. A possible contender for album of the year. 5 golden stars.

Opening with a selection of Henrik Ibsen's literary classic A Doll's House mingling with a gentle drone, this marks 6LA8's first usage of spoken word samples that I've actually enjoyed. Unfortunately, referencing a popular classic doesn't save an almost 2 hour album of uninspired filler material.

First of all, In the Land of Dreams probably has more spoken word samples in 6LA8's discography, which is a real bummer. This would be a much bigger deal if the music behind the words didn't sound so bland on this album, which seems to focus almost entirely on the post-rock aspect more than any other. Post-rock generally starts out quiet and builds up to some kind of climax, sometimes more than once in a single song, but these tracks start out at one level and simply ride it through to the end without changing much at all - this is the majority of the album. Then there are tracks like "Mellow Creativity" that serve as random sounding filler tracks that are not emotional nor entertaining.

Approximately 1/4th of this album is standout material, but mostly standouts in regard to this album alone rather than in their entire discography thus far. "Don't Hate Me For Hiring the Clowns" is a shiny display of cascading synths and chiming noises that develop into a near morbidity laid over a krautrock type of beat, which is kind of goofy sounding but it is a standout moment on this album nonetheless. "Drowning in a Clumsy Fashion" is a slow, doomy track with an imperial acoustic percussion beat that breaks down into a growling synth passage that sounds similar to the opening of Rush's "Tom Sawyer" repeated at different pitches. "Nearer To My Lord When the Bombs Fall" is a rather proggy track that switches between passages of doom, drone, ambient, industrial noise, and there's even a beautiful (probably a wooden) flute passage - this is without a doubt the most interesting track on the album. Considering that these tracks are relatively enjoyable with one truly engaging song, they do not at all make up for the 1 hour and 17 minutes of filler material that this albums seems to be a dumping ground for.

I wouldn't feel comfortable suggesting this In the Land of Dreams to anyone to listen to as an introduction to this band, and I'd recommend this album stay as a last resort, only to be listened to when the better albums in 6LA8's discography have been exhausted. If you do desire to listen to this album, it is available for free online. I'm sure that a lot of people out there will really love this album, but I personally just didn't dig it.