Friday, February 8, 2008

BEAT CIRCUS"Dreamland"Cuneiform

BEAT CIRCUS EVOKES a period so distant that it might seem like a "Dreamland," as the title of the Boston band's new album puts it. The photographs and postcards on the CD cover include many century-old views of Coney Island, which boasted a grand Dreamland pavilion. But the music's evocation of the exotic, somewhat tacky aura of the sideshow is not restricted to Brooklyn.

Principal composer Brian Carpenter, who plays trumpet, keyboards and percussion, draws on ragtime, klezmer, German cabaret and other light-footed historical styles. Although most of the album's 16 numbers are instrumental, Carpenter sings, sometimes in a demonic barker's voice, on such ominous ditties as "The Ghost of Emma Jean" and "Coney Island Creepshow."

If the latter slathers the tawdriness a little too thickly, such instrumental sketches as "Hypnogogia" and "The Good Witch" are deft time machines, transporting listeners to a world that's alluring and eerie.

-- Mark Jenkins

Appearing Sunday with the Cassettes at the Black Cat (202-667-7960,http://www.blackcatdc.com). Show starts at 9.