Customer Reviews

A Dream In Sound

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This album is produced in a much cleaner more conventional way then "when the red king comes." It really works though and the songs are so well written that they thrive under the microscope as we can hear most every wonderful lyric. Both albums so superb in different ways... There is a definite glow to this album. I just saw these guys at the 40watt here in Athens and it was one of the best shows i've ever seen. The band is super nice and friendly... and their music is very one-of-a-kind and beautiful. So, go out and buy all the albums and see them when they come around your area. I really like the song "jane" on this album.

First, a preamble: I remember the day that I bought this record quite well. May 19, 1999. Now I don't normally make a habit of remembering the exact date I purchase records. However, this instance is burned into my psyche by the coincidence that it was the same day that "Stars Wars: The Phantom Menace" was released. We had tickets for the 3:00 A.M. showing and obviously plenty of time to kill waiting in line. With this in mind, a friend and I headed down to the local record bizarre. I was already into the whole Elephant 6 thing but at this point there wasn't a whole lot to choose from besides the big 3. I was anxious to get some new records by the collective and the name Elf Power appealed to the Middle Earth in me.

Anyway, there is a point to all this. While the arch of my story could stretch ad naseum into the disappointment I felt when I watched the movie or the fact that I drank way too much in the parking lot and threw an empty beer bottle across a SRO theatre, I'll spare you. My point is this: While the release of the first new Star Wars movie in nearly 20 years should have been the cultural windfall that has stayed with me since May 19, 2001 it was, in actuality, this inocuous little record out of Athens, Georgia that has left its indelible imprint on me. What a fantastic record this is! Enough good things cannot be said of Elf Power or their producer Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips)on this go `round. While their previous effort had some truly outstanding moments, "A Dream in Sound" is where it all comes together: the whimsical Neil Young-on-helium falsetto of Andrew Reiger, the T. Rex meets Robyn Hitchcock absuridty of the lyrical and musical hooks. This record has everything a fan of psychedelia appreciates. Honorable mention goes to the song "Jane", nothing short of one of the most beautiful songs that has ever graced my life.

I am left pondering the existence of a benign Force in the Universe. I am left to mull over the scattered remnants of a Rebel youth apparently dead within me. But moreover, somewhere in a galaxy not so far away, I hear the strangled singing of bird. His name is Simon. And apparently he has a candy bar for a head. And I will sleep secure that all is well in my star sytem. At least for tonight.

I rushed home to play my new CD (a birthday gift purchased from Amazon.com) but my bratty kids had a fit. We have just one DVD/CD player hooked to the home stereo system, and my little monsters had their hearts set on watching "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". We compromised by watching the movie to the sounds of "Elf Power". Life has never been the same since. This imaginative, creative masterpiece spins Snow and the boys into a frightening, psychedelic direction. It's pop music with dreamy yet distinct analytical lyrics about galaxies and creation, and the beginning of the universe. The bands fifth album sheds its Disneylike image, and seems to transform into more of a Grimm's Fairy Tale. With song titles like "Everlasting Scream" and "Unseen Hand", our family is certain to be blasting Halloween trick or treaters with "Creature' as they approach the front door.

Although its place in the genre of 'rock' is questionable, A Dream in Sound, along with The Winter is Coming and When The Red King Comes, is undoubtedly among the finest albums made recently, or ever. Combining skillful yet subtle instrumentals with enticing vocals, Elf Power is modern music at its best. I cannot speak highly enough about the album or the band.

With this 1999 release Elf Power have an interestingly detailed and certainly bold, albeit cloying record.

Most of the time, Andrew Rieger (vocals) is content to whimper in a syrupy, Jeff Buckley's-sickly-little-brother-with-asthma falsetto, though his voice would hold pitch better and soar beautifully if he'd breathe better and project more. I realise that he does this on purpose as a matter of aesthetics, but he sounds a bit like the Prince of Swamp Castle in Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail.

The guitars tend to slip beneathe the drums and layers of atmosphere in places, and it detracts from the band's sonic profile. The melodies wander to and fro from sweetly catchy to grating, the latter of which is made worse by Rieger's aforementioned vocal tendencies. The keyboards tend to be a bit annoying and garishly stark. Certain moments conjure the impression of cheesy christmas themes.

It seems that every other song on ADIS is either interestingly catchy and fey (Will My Feet Still Carry Me Home, Jane, We Dream In Sound, the Well, Simon, O What A Beautiful Dream) or embarrasingly sappy and juvenile (High Atop the Silver Branches, Olde Tyme Wayes, Carnival, Noble Experiment, etc.) It's like a giddy Radiohead hosting a daytime children's show on public television in the late 1970's.

Elf Power is one of the best indie rock groups around. If you don't believe me, listen to this album, "Creatures" and "Walking With The Beggar Boys". The lyrics may not be very interesting in the long run (though they are indeed very catchy and memorable which helps if you wish to sing along), but boy is it entertaining! Every song on this album has great instrumentation and is extremely fun. Andrew Rieger's vocals are, once again, very soothing and dreamy (though it varies - "Creatures" is way more dreamy sounding than this one). Every person I've played these two albums for ended up has humming or singing the choruses right after. If you're a music collector or even just a fan of rock music do yourself a favor and buy this album.

Highlights include:

the whole album!

No, it's not the kind of elf power that we saw in "Lord of the Rings," with the rings and the river and so on. It's one of those deliciously weird names that Elephant 6 bands frequently use. And in "A Dream in Sound," Elf Power magicks up a sweet, vaguely psychedelic batch of catchy pop tunes.

Expect to be hooked in by "Will My Feet Still Carry Me Home," a catchy, light little tune, because then it's off into the even catchier "High Atop The Silver Branches," a wistful yet bouncy melody, and the rollickingly staccato title track. This tendency peaks with "Simon (The Bird With The Candy Bar Head)," which is augmented by playful horns and birds twittering.

But don't expect Elf Power to be all brightness and fun. "Willowy Man" establishes a handful of aching, bittersweet ballads, like the melancholy "Jane." And "Carnival" is pure fun -- horns, sparkling twitters and fast drums establish a wonderful circus atmosphere, before dying out with a horn blat into the psychedelic-rocker "The Well."

Okay, who could resist checking out a band with a name like Elf Power? They don't measure up to sister band Neutral Milk Hotel, as few other Elephant 6 bands can. But taken alone, Elf Power is refreshingly fun, catchy, and has the talents of other Elephant 6 alums like Jeff Mangum to give it some extra flavor.

Their sound is more like Britpop, and less like the eerily strange creations of their sister bands. Instead of sounding surreal, they opt for catchiness. They start off with the obvious guitars and percussion, but also use lots of organs, horns, distortion and weird sound effects to make it sound just a little psychedelic.

Andrew Rieger's vocals are not stellar, but his airy lilts are somehow soothing, trying out the singsongy approach in "Will My Feet Still Carry Me Home," then murmuring in counterpoint to Laura Carter's even more lovely vocals. The songwriting isn't too amazing -- at one point, Rieger actually sings "tra la la!" -- but it's pleasant enough. "It took a thousand light years/for you to trip down into my eye..."

Elf Power has a power all its own. Don't compare it to its more highly-regarded siblings. Instead, appreciate it for its beautiful, catchy, and thoroughly addictive pop melodies in "A Dream in Sound."

elf power are a great thing, with plenty of trippy noise and sounds. however, their songs, like the apples in stereo are really cool and poppy and nice to listen to. i like.

This one grew on me slowly, until I couldn't take it off. Some of it reminds me of middle-period Kinks, some of XTC. Its simplicty is deceptive, and at first a little annoying, but the charming melodies and goofy lyrics start to make a lot of sense after about three times through. Can't say there's a single song I don't like, and that's rare. No great musical licks or singing here, just well-crafted arrangements and sincere, tuneful songs. Innocent art at its most endearing.

The town of Athens, GA. already has too much to answer for. It doesn't need this outfit added to the list. However, these guys have extremely great moments, and equally as great pitiful moments. That seems to be the general problem with this one...

This is a very "hit or miss" release. Some songs are brilliant, others are mind-numbingly awful. I think the problem lies in their (apparently) profound worship of XTC coupled with the waif-ey pop sounds of The Field Mice, Trembling Blue Stars, or, even, The Lightning Seeds. There is even sprinklings of Ray Davies and, if anyone remembers, Bob Geldoff. At times though, these guys get even more obtuse than (some of the more esoteric efforts of) XTC or Dukes of Stratosphere, presumably in the guise of "thought-provoking" art.

Don't get me entirely wrong about this. It is NOT an altogether horrible effort. It has its spectacular moments, when everything seems to come together brilliantly. Just be forewarned, you'll have to keep the remote well in hand to pass over the bad seeds.