Dreamend – As If By Ghosts
Label: Graveface
Style: Ambient Pop, Chamber Pop, Post-Rock
Released: 2004
My Grade: 4.5 stars
AMG: n/a
Sounds like: Sigur Ros, Mum, My Bloody Valentine

This is an amazingly honest album. I truly don’t know where it came from (having never heard of them, or of their label, Graveface), but it appeared and blew my mind away. The very first thing that caught my attention was the case, a simple cardboard case with a cutout center and an old (supposedly authentic) 1900s photo inserted, each album has a different photo, making the record that much more personal; if this was a marketing scheme to attract attention then it worked, I could not wait to hear what these guys sounded like.

The music itself is perfect, strong and powerful…and yet light enough to lift you into the clouds; I instantly compared it to both Sigur Ros and My Bloody Valentine, and I believe they do carry a good mixture of the two. This entire album is layered, thick with haunting textures, heavy guitars and deep, androgynous, vocals and the listener finds him/herself drifting in and out with the sound – from a sweet, ambient tune that suddenly opens up into something both growling and fragile ("Of Ravens & Winds") to a piece of superb math-rock ("The Almighty"). This is a truly stunning release, worth a thousand words and a thousand praises. Don’t miss out on your chance to own this tiny bit of American post-rock.

Reviewed by: Samuel Aaron