the press

U.S. publicity contact : Howard Wuelfing

Europe publicity contact : Joyce Nalewajk

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Photo by Dave Bias

Photo by Liz Linder

Cover illustration by Carson Ellis

Cover illustration by Brian Dewan

Click here to download promotional material on Dreamland.

PRESS QUOTES

"Boston's little circus of malcontents not only has the chops but features a fallen hellfire preacher/band leader (the captivating Brian Carpenter) who simultaneously channels Nick Cave and Johnny Cash. " -- Shawn Bosler, Village Voice

"The music and the wonderfully well-realized arrangements of Dreamland are, if anything, better than on the band's debut...the stylistically varied results make for a wonderfully imaginative record." -- Stewart Mason, All Music Guide

"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

"Beat Circus has created a singular intriguing sonic identity by filtering certain bizarre old-time American and European pre-jazz styles through a progressive contemporary fearlessness" -- Weekly Planet

"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

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

"Beat Circus could be the house band for the dark carnival in Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes, its full-length CD Ringleaders Revolt the accompaniment to some faded old black-and-white cartoon..." -- Scott Harrell, Creative Loafing

"Dreamland is an ambitious new Brechtian concept album with rich and tight orchestration..." -- New Yorker

"Their narrative songs evoke cabaret, Wild West saloons, circus sideshows, and Old World gypsies...but the prodigious musicianship and stylistic miscegenation is all modern; the results, refreshingly entertaining." -- Sean Fitzell, All About Jazz New York

"A jagged-edged, tightly-structured, nearly big-band form of bluegrass, they were the highlight of the night's music, with layers of sound packed with wit, energy, and dead-on musicianship." -- EDGE Boston