Search - Joseph Nothing :: Dreamland Idle Orchestra

Quirky Electronica, with a Strong Element of Playful Fun...

fetish_2000 | U.K. | 06/08/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Joseph Nothing - "Dreamland Idle Orchestra" (Electronica) : This album is which feels loosely based around the idea of composing tracks that in some way reference a fantasy (or idyllic) childlike world, is in many ways truly imaginative & innovative. First track "Dreamland Geist Orchestra" moves around a scuffed drum programmed beat (with occasional `Spin Back' effects), over which a synth melody permeates, it feels like something truly unusual compared to most electronica, and shares more in common with a warped interpretation of `Alice in Wonderland' (for which I'd be very surprised if this album wasn't influenced by it) it's a wonderful track in its own right, although such is the quirky nature, that some listeners may take a few listens to truly penetrate this track. "Skinny Land" is only a minute and a half in length, but it has the subtly and composition of ambient tracks several times its length, it uses elegant soundscapes with ever so slight keyboard notes filtering slowly in and out of the track and serve to beautifully underlie the track. A wistful flute melody is the main driving force here, with some deft sonic trickery fooling the listener into thinking this is a truly organic sound, such is the beauty of this track, that to not fully flesh it out into a full track, feels strange considering how impossibly sweet and bold the melody."Brown Sky Walker" changes tack completely, and feels like a knowing referencing to the computer games era of old, with a rampant Drum `n' bass breakbeat, ramping up the BPM, and were it not for the twee synthesized medieval melody, sprightly Zelda-esque jaunt, this will almost surely cause listeners to reminisce over fond memories of the SNES classic. Not necessarily something that you'd listen to loud whilst driving the car perhaps, but within the saccharine nature of the majority of the songs. Its playful approach more than justifies its inclusion on here."Underground Café" feels like the spiritual successor to an instrumental version of a lost Mercury Rev/Flaming lips song. Although instrumental, it has that feeling of Dream Pop/Psychedelic pop, and spacey whimsy that both bands do so well....its lush harmonics and soothing textures bathing in reflective, hypnotic synth orchestration that belies it's simplicity. it's as symphonic as it is emotionally sweeping, and shows Joseph Nothings understanding of the layout of tracks throughout the album, by holding back some of the more expressive and complex tracks, to the latter half of the album.Dreamland Idle Orchestra possibly won't appeal to everyone, Its resolutely Quirky, musically shifting dynamics from track to track, without much consideration of what went before, yet there feels like a bizarre sense of cohesion when the album is judged as a whole. It's not an album that'll impress anyone with a fixed view on music, it's conceptually based around imaginative childlike themes, that run strongly throughout the album, and every track in itself brings new ideas to the table. It certainly needs an eclectic ear to get the most out of it, as beneath the playful exterior, there's an album of surprising complexity, that'll be missed on those that aren't prepared to listen to it more than once. It has the eclecticism of something like `Cornelius', and the kitsch exuberantly sweet nature of "Fantastic Plastic Machine", with the inventiveness of many of electronica's greatest artists. And the approach to home listening music that feels similar to the more quirky end of `IDM' (Intelligent Dance Music), like "Wagon Christ / Mr Scruff", but lets not forget that a lack of widespread appeal, needn't diminish an albums brilliance, as this is essential stuff."