MAGNIFICENT DREAM PEOPLE

I will admit that Bill Nelson's solo work is definitely an acquired taste. His quantity over quality often creates problems for me and I consider myself to be a true fan (followed his work since "Futurama"). That being said, this is a very good and consistent album that represents what he was doing during this period of time. It is one of my favorites and I've jotted a few notes down regarding each of the songs. Please excuse the format, I typically write in a more conventional form.

Sun At Six Windows- nice piano piece Bird Ornaments- "an invisible chicken in every pot" and "Emily had all her canaries in different cages" sound bites and snippets with some bluesy bits mixed in, lots of E-bow combination of styles and a stolen melody My Favorite Atom- repeated treated spoken phrase used as rhythm, developed with alternating quiet piano and orchestration The Girl I Never Forgot- another short piano piece Circle the World In a Paper Canoe- similar to Bird Ornaments but with a purposely mangled tape sound introduced into the electronic rhythm, lots of signature guitar work Queer Weather- another piano piece (primarily) with effects and treated guitar mixed low into the background Astro Coaster- repeated spoken title, piano, synths, and guitar over an electronic percussion Brutal Tinkerbell- repeated spoken word bits with piano for the first 2 minutes, then drums signal a melody change with a synth taking the lead The Waltz At the End of the World- mostly keyboard dominated waltz, almost carousel styled- close your eyes and you can see the midway and the arcade Secret Agent at Science Park- typical electronic percussion with very nice guitar work, one of the highlights of the recording (IMHO), very nicely done The Twentieth Century- more sound bites of spoken words with percussion and guitar soloing, very nice atmosphere to this piece Aura Hole- begins as a quiet piano piece and electronic percussion begins at about a minute and a half that picks up the pace, piano continues Radiant Nature Knows Not the Worker's Sorrow- another quiet piano piece Essoldo Stripshow- the sound bites of spoken word continue with some tasty guitar and piano over a backdrop of synths. Favorites for me are "Secret Agent...", "Bird Ornaments", "Circle the World...", "Brutal Tinkerbell", but all are good representation of Bill getting it right.

One of his most consistent and a 4 star effort in my opinion.