In my book, musical eclecticism is an asset. Mixing styles in innovative, or perhaps iconoclastic ways does run the danger of making an unlistenable musical mess, but in the right hands, the result can be quite interesting and engaging. In the past, we have featured mixtures of world music with different styles, and also combining popular but seemingly incompatible genres. Or sometimes, it just emerges from the quirky musical personalities of the artists.

This week we have one of those intriguing recordings that arises from an interesting jumble of mostly retro styles, with creative and I dare say fairly amusing results. It’s the fourth album by a Los Angeles band named Peel Dream Magazine, and it’s called Rose Main Reading Room. The primary influences are melodic 60s pop from the psychedelic days, with an undercurrent of the classical minimalist school with swirling motifs, in the tradition of composer Philip Glass, with a kind of curious instrumental mixture of almost early video-game style electronic sounds with orchestral instruments like woodwinds, and percussion like vibes and glockenspiel, combined with impressionist lyrics delivered in a whispery vocal style, with both male and female vocalists.

Peel Dream Magazine is led by multi-instrumentalist and composer Joseph Stevens. While the band is based in Los Angeles, Stevens is a New York native and some of the lyrics are recollections of New York City. The album’s title, Rose Main Reading Room is a hall in the New York Public Library, where Stevens apparently spent time. The “Peel” name, by the way, is a reference to the famous British pop radio host John Peel, who was so influential in promoting the band that would form the British Invasion of decades ago.

The rest of Peel Dream Magazine on the album are multi-instrumentalist Ian Gibbs, who handles drums among other things, vocalist Olivia Bubaka Black, with additional instruments from Lu Coy and Lina Tullgren. They weave a curious sonic mix of almost classical orchestral sounds with buzzy 1980-sounding synthesizers, acoustic drums with electronic percussion loops, almost nursery rhyme melodies with tricky interlocking rhythms. There are 15 short songs, with most under three minutes. There are a couple of instrumentals, but most feature almost whispery high vocals, reminiscent of the psychedelic pop of the 1960s.

The album opens with a sort of introductory piece called Dawn, drawing on a Philip Glass inspired minimalist style, with the woodwinds, glockenspiel, and eventually by the vocals that seem more impressionistic than word-oriented. It’s quite appealing. <<>>

The album’s longest track is one of composer Stevens’ recollections of life growing up in New York. It’s called Central Park West, and it’s also creative mix of old psychedelia with more hints of contemporary orchestral music. <<>>

The eclecticism continues with a piece called Oblast which is said to be a poke at the nuclear concept of mutually assured destruction. It’s again shows the band’s penchant for quirky rhythms. <<>>

The vocals of Olivia Black are featured on the track called Wish You Well which seems to have a degree of cynicism in its lyrics. <<>>

One of the oddest tracks on the quirky album is a short piece called Wood Paneling, Pt. 3 which features the narration from an apparent of an old documentary film to the accompaniment of retro sounding synthesizers. <<>>

Another amusing bit of psychedelic retro is a tune called I Wasn’t Made for War reflecting the lyrical direction of many songs from the 1960s, with an accompaniment to match. <<>>

One of the instrumentals is called Gems and Minerals an electronic sequenced piece, also replete with retro sounds. <<>>

More of the orchestral influence comes to the fore on a piece called Recital about recalling giving a school musical recital before an audience. It’s another of the highlights of the album. <<>>

The other instrumental is called Migratory Patterns which again draws on the influence of minimalism to creative effect. <<>>

The album ends with Stevens describes as a lullaby. It’s called Counting Sheep which shows the band’s appealing melodic pop side. <<>>

Rose Main Reading Room, the new fourth album by the band Peel Dream Magazine is as quirky as its title and the band name. Joseph Stevens and his group create a fascinating mix orchestral minimalism, 1960s psychedelia, and retro electronic sounds with a sharp melodic sense and a predilection for tricky rhythms. The sonic mixture has been described as “ear candy” with hummable tunes, and airy vocals but with underlying complexity. It’s a winning conglomeration that definitely stands apart from most music of the current generation.

Our audio quality grade is close to an “A.” This sort of music is mostly constructed in the studio, but the sound is warm and fairly clean, with an organic quality.

Most music fans have an album or two they can latch onto as being out of the ordinary and yet one that seems to hit all the right chords, so to speak. Peel Dream Magazine have created one of those gems of lovable eccentricity.

(c) Copyright 2024 George D. Graham. All rights reserved.
This review may not be copied to another Web site without written permission.

<<>> indicates audio excerpt played in produced radio review

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