Bright Blue Dream

Following a trio of self-released efforts under the Sunset name, Bill Baird's first album via a label, Bright Blue Dream, finds the former Sound Team member kicking things off with a drum stomp on "Dear Broken Friend," which doesn't merely sound like "We Are the Champions" on downers — it is, as the concluding soft vocals of "We will...we will..." confirm. This isn't a bad thing at all, it should be noted, since the surging keyboards, spindly guitars, and Baird's own straightforward but gently inviting singing all make the song very much his own, a good signpost for the rest of Bright Blue Dream. Working with almost 20 different performers, Bright Blue Dream isn't a solo album as such, but Baird is the guy behind almost everything else; it may be attractively rough around the edges but it falls more in line with widescreen rock dreams than lo-fi bemusements. Unlike nearly all the albums that have come out over time assuming that Dave Fridmann and The Soft Bulletin actually founded rock & roll, however, Baird's work steers away from bombast in favor of intriguing contemplation. If anything, songs like "Diamond Studded Caskets," with its moody guitar breaks and understated piano glaze, suggest the restrained power of the Church in its later years. But much of Bright Blue Dream is in its own particular world, a synthesis that can't easily be pinned down, ranging from the dark humor of "I Love My Job," concluding with the title phrase repeated over a fading piano figure melding into a finger-snapping swing, to the quietly majestic massed vocals/guitar/harmonica beauty of "Gulf of Mexico," also one of the album's best lyrics, a portrait of a seaside ferry trip given a cosmic impact. The title track, the album's longest song at almost a quarter of an hour, is a mesmerizing instrumental that in combination with the immediately following "Moebius" makes for one of 2008's best drone pieces, meditative yet melodic, just.