Moonface – Dreamland EP: Marimba And Shit-Drums
by Ben on February 11th, 2010
Moonface- Dreamland EP: Marimba and Shit-Drums
January 26, 2010
Jagjaguwar
Score: 7.8
Spencer Krug is among the most prolific artists working in indie music today. As a member of three different functioning bands, Spencer Krug is seemingly releasing something new every couple of months. This has the dual effect of making his music singularly personal and insightful but also completely overwhelming on a grander scale. Dreamland is this phenomenon played out over one enormous and yet strangely ephemeral piece of music. It is on its face exactly what it says it is. Namely, short dreamlike vignettes backed by marimba and shitty-sounding drums. Each of the lyrical passages roughly matches with a dream that is posted on moonface.ca. The piece is propulsive as it works its way between sections and yet strangely sedentary; never quite moving beyond its stated theme or meter. This dichotomy is clearly one of the objects of the whole exercise. The title of the piece is utterly literal and yet it is by its very nature about interpreting dreams that are metaphorical and sometimes absurd.
So obviously the central question is: Does it work? The answer is yes.
Despite the fact that it is inherently indulgent, Dreamland manages to move, confound, and impress. From the very start you are dropped in seemingly mid-piece. The marimba kicks right in and the lyrics state “I venture into a dreamland” as if you’ve already missed the introduction. From there, Dreamland swerves and veers, coming back home and leaping off again. Spencer Krug has the unique ability to make a piece of music seem focused AND expansive. Despite its girth, Dreamland seems consistently on point. When the drums kick in, they seem important and crucial. As one theme seems to be losing steam, another picks up the pace and when we return to some of the previously heard elements later in the number, they are welcome. Dreamland peaks about two-thirds of the way through with the drums pounding, marimba stuttering, and Krug’s reverb-laden voice singing “and I have been here before/ I know your face from last time I dreamt I was losing control”. And in some ways, we have been here before. Krug does a wonderful job of representing what dreams are actually like and as a result, Dreamland feels familiar. This is quite an accomplishment because it would not have taken much for it to seem voyeuristic.
I should note a few mild critiques. One legitimate, one (I think) sort of stupid. Early on, Krug refers to “playing a glass guitar” and I did occasionally find myself wishing he could incorporate that glass guitar into the piece, as it would lend some sonic variety to what is a fairly consistent twenty minutes. This atmosphere works most of the time but when it doesn’t, Dreamland comes dangerously close to becoming a parody of itself. At one point around the 16-minute mark, I was reminded of Mike Myers’ and Dana Carvey’s “doodlydoodoodlydoo” transitions to their dream sequences (ok, yeah sort of stupid).
Also, I’m not sure I can separate my feelings about Dreamland from the way it was disseminated. Initially, it was released digitally using the In Rainbows pay-what-you-want model (it can be downloaded here). This was probably the perfect mode of release for a piece like this because I had no expectations. If it had been marketed as a full-fledged new Spencer Krug album, I might have felt a touch gypped, but as it was I was able to come into it unconcerned about whether or not it would be terrible. I think this is a mark in favour of the EP as it represents an awareness about what it was and what it was not.
How much you will enjoy Dreamland really depends on how committed you are to the Spencer Krug experience. If you are already a fan, then Moonface is another enjoyable, deep, and rather remarkable addition to his already stunning career. If you come from the camp that thinks that his music is bloated, over-wrought, and masturbatory, well, I doubt this EP is going to do much to change your opinion. I won’t be using this to get people in to Sunset Rubdown anytime soon.
Dreamland ends with Krug harmonizing with himself saying “I am making hissing sounds with my mouth”. The piece goes out as it came in. As if it could go on forever, as if you were listening to one section of a possibly infinite album that detailed the spare psychedelia of our subconscious. Many works that try to pass themselves off as about dreams or the dreamworld do very little that seems accurate. Dreamland manages to capture the feeling of waking disoriented as if you had just experienced something profound. It is spot on in that when it’s over, you’re not sure how it started and you’re not sure how you came to the end. It seems as if you may have gained some blazing insight into yourself but it is possible it was all just nonsense.
Benjamin Pattison
Menomena