Beat Circus
Dreamland

It's a strange and dark amusement park that the American Beat Circus has set up, an obscure Dark-Cabaret group from Boston that has recently given birth to this "Dreamland," a ramshackle yet evocative circus fresco that moves through smoky Central European atmospheres, typically American hints of bluegrass and nomadic furies of gypsy bands.

16 pieces, mostly instrumental, that describe an impressive lineup of colorful wagons, whip-wielding tamers awaiting the start of the show, the boisterous laughter of clowns and jugglers, the roar of the tiger jumping through the ring of fire, and the screams from the illuminated roller coasters silhouetted in the distance in the blue light of dusk.

It starts with the dazzling "Gyp The Blood", a captivating piece where violins, banjo, and the ominous puffs of the tuba take center stage. A rattling train introduces the dry notes of the banjo in "The Ghost of Emma Jean", a hallucinatory alcoholic chant that unfolds between the insistent delusions dictated by the male voice and the delicate female trills in the irresistible chorus. It's an evening walk through the stalls lit by the light of burning torches, a sinister shadow emerging from behind the tent, a procession of fat women, strong men, dwarfs, and village beauties that brushes against us with its exotic unease.

From here on, it's all a series of mockery and menacing interludes ("Hypnogogia," "Lucid state," "El Torero"), grotesque village caricatures ("Delirium Tremens", in my opinion the most successful piece of the record, "The Gem Saloon," "March Of The Freaks") and unexpected interludes of poetic meditation ("Meet Me Tonight In Dreamland").

"Dreamland" is an extraordinary divertissement that is sure to please those ready to discover the devil lurking under the makeup of the frenzied clowns, the elephants playing with the ball, the men with long top hats shouting their invitation into megaphones with electrically hoarse voices:

"COME ONE, COME ALL, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN..."