Dreamland

Cuneiform Records 2008

1. Gyp The Blood
2: The Ghost Of Emma Jean

3: Hypnogogia

4: Delirium Tremens
5: Lucid State
6: Death Fugue
7: The Good Witch
8: Dark Eyes
9: Slavochka
10: The Gem Saloon
11: El Torero

12: The Rough Riders

13: Coney Island Creepshow
14: Hell Gate

15: Meet Me Tonight In Dreamland
16: March Of The Freaks

 

THE BAND
Brian Carpenter (vocals, harmonium, toy piano, mellotron, harmonica, trumpet, slide trumpet, brake drum, spring drum, objects), Alec K Redfearn (accordion, jawharp, vocals), Ron Caswell (tuba), Brandon Seabrook (banjo, mandolin, slide guitar), Kathe Hostetter (violin, viola), Julia Kent (cello), Curtis Hasselbring (trombone), Briggan Krauss (alto, baritone saxophone), Matt McLaren (drums, percussion, washboard).

With special guests Holly Brewer (vocals), M@ McNiss (chorus vocals), Orion Rigel Dommisse (vocals), Michael Hearst (theremin), Invert (string quartet), Brian Dewan (cover illustration, electric zither, autoharp), Jesse Sparhawk (harp), Dj Hazard (outside talker, chorus vocals), Sxip Shirey (triple pennywhistle, bells, breath blasts), Frank Difficult (electronics), and Todd Robbins (piano).

Click here for press and more information behind the making of Dreamland.

THE MAKING OF DREAMLAND (2005-2006)
In 2005 Brian Carpenter began the development of Dreamland, a 150-page through-composed score for nine musicians containing songs based around a stage play treatment of a story involving the turn-of-the-century Coney Island theme park which burned in a devastating fire in 1911. Dreamland began a shift away from instrumental music to narrative songs about children, dreams, fatherhood, revenge, and redemption. To develop the Dreamland score, Carpenter formed the second incarnation of the band with drummer Matt McLaren (a long-time collaborator of Cuneiform Records label-mate Alec K. Redfearn), Kaethe Hostetter from Boston, cellist Julia Kent of Antony & the Johnsons, trombonist Curtis Hasselbring, saxophonist Briggan Krauss of Sex Mob, and original members Alec K. Redfearn, Ron Caswell, and Brandon Seabrook. In 2006, Carpenter enlisted New York-based producer Martin Bisi to record and mix Dreamland in Brooklyn. Dreamland was released on January 29, 2008 on Cuneiform Records and marked the first part of Brian Carpenter's "Weird American Gothic" trilogy.

THE MUSIC
Dreamland, the second full-length studio album by Beat Circus, is a uniquely fierce and magical record composed by singer/songwriter Brian Carpenter, who sings dark narrative songs of Deadwood saloons, gangsters from the Bowery, Coney Island sideshows, and the Santa Fe Railway. Loosely based on historical events associated with turn-of-the-century New York, Dreamland is the culmination of a two-year effort by Beat Circus and marks the first installment of Brian Carpenter's Weird American Gothic trilogy. Carpenter leads a 9-piece band featuring tubist Ron Caswell (Slavic Soul Party), cellist Julia Kent (Antony & the Johnsons), trombonist Curtis Hasselbring (Golem), saxophonist Briggan Krauss (Sex Mob), accordionist Alec K. Redfearn and drummer Matt McLaren (The Eyesores), and violinist Kaethe Hostetter. Dreamland was produced by legendary NY producer Martin Bisi (Sonic Youth, Foetus, John Zorn, Swans, The Dresden Dolls).

THE PRAISE
"An ambitious new Brechtian concept album with rich and tight orchestration..." -- New Yorker

Beat Circus evokes a period so distant that it might seem like a Dreamland, transporting listeners to a world that's alluring and eerie." -- Mark Jenkins, Washington Post

Singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Brian Carpenter is the nucleus behind Beat Circus' twisted take of weirdo art-goth storytelling through songs that tap into the darkest parts of primitive European and early American motifs...Dreamland churns out an Edgar-Allen-Poe-skulk-meets-Coney-Island-at-turn-of-the-century brand of horrific narratives that could make for good children's stories if they weren't so disturbing." -- Creative Loafing Atlanta

"Dreamland realizes a lushly imaginative American mythology...a surreal melange" -- Time Out New York

"Dreamland uses the most vibrant turn-of-the-century park as a springboard of musical notions that blends gypsy swing, cowpoke twang, circus sounds, and classical rigor...it's feverish, frantic stuff, and cinematic to the core" -- Providence Phoenix

"Even if you've never visited Coney Island or met a haunting spirit, Dreamland sounds authentic, even familiar, like something you never knew you knew...as thrilling and disturbing as any sideshow attraction." -- Noah Schaffer, Boston Magazine

"Dreamland truly functions as a smorgasbord of the early twentieth-century music heard in both the old and new worlds. Carpenter possesses both vision and skill at execution in abundance." -- Michael Meade, Skyscraper Magazine

"The music and the wonderfully well-realized arrangements are, if anything, better than on the band's debut...the stylistically varied results make for a wonderfully imaginative record. Instrumental tracks like the opener "Gyp the Blood," and the mad Balkan dance tune "Slavochka" work the same stylistic street as folks like Beirut and A Hawk and a Hacksaw, while the more experimental pop-oriented songs recall the warped imagination of Elephant 6 associated eccentrics the Music Tapes. Fans of any of those acts will find much to love here. " -- Stewart Mason, All Music Guide

"Beat Circus rework a distinctly American mythos, drawing on the dissipated grandeur of Brecht and Weill, urban gothicism, and midway cabaret...by turns utterly familiar and shockingly inventive...." -- Liar Society

"This music so transcends categorization. It's just a beautiful piece of work. And the lyrics are beautifully and weirdly sung. The vocals may be my favorite part." -- Danny Blume, Good & Evil Studios

"With each cinematic piece melting into the next, Beat Circus has managed the rare trick of making a real album that defies genre and expectation. With the backdrop of Dreamland, Carpenter pulls together all the styles that interest him into a cohesive whole. " -- Warren Allen, Northeast Performer