Dreamland is a indulgent experiment by Krug but it's not so offputting despite it's limited palette suggested by the title Marimba and Shit-drums. But even though the marimba is a new instrument for Krug to dabble with, it hardly sounds shocking for his style. The twenty minute piece is still full of enchanting rhythms and melodies and even when the music slows to a near halt to reconfigure itself, it never really loses it's relevant pace. This is perhaps the most personal sounding work he has created since those hissing tape demos on Snake's Got A Leg. It's the sound of a man who's been trying to make sense of something most psychoanalysts would struggle with. It sounds like he's confined himself into a room for a week, tinkling away at the marimba and adding ineffects when desired. And it's sucessful in that respect but it will hardly draw in the Krug skeptics. Dreamland might well drive others away with it's length but if he broke this up into separate songs it would make less sense. The reason it's so long is because, as said, Krug is trying his best to find what these dreams all mean, putting them all in one place and working through them bit by bit. If you look at the lyrics on his site you'll also see that they are presented in individual paragraphs. There would be no point reading this as one long piece as it would imply he's figured something out when i can't say i'm convinced he has.

If you've ever had that scary feeling you're falling just as you fall alseep then you might begin to understand Dreamland, even if it is just a little. When we're sleeping we're still alive, our bodies functioning but our minds create worlds that we couldn't imagine conjuring up when we're awake. I've had some seriously freaky and beguiling dreams in my time so i can sympathize with Krug. I've always wondered what each dream meant and why some keep happening. Am i trying to tell myself something? I don't know but maybe if i looked into a bit more i might figure something out. And that's what Krug has done here and you can hardly blame a man for being curious.