Album Review - Radio For The Daydreamers ' Praying For The Be(a)st'

Scarcely had we time here at BAN to scrape our brains off the floor from Radio For The Daydreamer's last outing 'Mother Superior and Her Fields Of Migraine, than it's successor record, and the second in  the idiosyncratic US outfit's triptych of abstractly menacing ambient narratives of faustian folly, and quietly yearning sonic desolation, arrivess to rape our feeble minds yet again. And while 'Mother Superior' hinted at realms of  nightmarish imagination , here, we get to hear the band truly wig out and further explore their own little patch of hell . . .

Opener 'We are only Safe before sunrise ' is a stunning statment of intent,opening with an aria of gorgeous lilting piano , which is interrupted abruptly by creepy as hell click-clack  horror movie percussion, and the band's by now trademark restrained , dark electronica, overlaid with some chillingly realised and haunting female vocals.'Wasted Faces In Secret Places' lumbers up with some off kilter minimalist trickery a la UK techno loons Autechre , while the dub rhythms and surging, airy piano  of 'Don't Give Up On Me yet Dad'  send you crawling into the light for a  moment, dazzled by false hope . .

However, the funereal interlude of 'Glowing Like Angels , You Are On Fire'  drags us back down into the band's murky depths, and indeed, it is this balancing light and shadow that make this such a stunning record.Less of an album, than a soundtrack to possibly the most fucked up art film ever made, it's a fascinating and at times dizzyingly  diverse blend of styles.Take for instance the spaced out weirdness of the amusingly titled Prog Jazz( All Musicians are freaks) , or the world percussion/smooth jazz mix up of 'Necrosis Stupor' , and contrast it with the gorgeously melancholic,  cinematic stylings of a song like 'No One Ever Comes Here But Me',you might just find your sensibilities a little bit askew afterwards, but persevere, and the rewards are great.This is a record to explore , full as it is with narcotic wanderings and moments of overbearing paranoia, and one that will surely feed into your nightmares, waking and otherwise , and just waiting for you to buy into it's hellish alternate reality.Scared?You should be . . .

Rating:9/10
For fans of : Boards Of Canada, How To Destroy Angels, Aphex Twin, Pink Floyd
Released:December 2nd
Stephen O ' Connor
bornagainnihilist@gmail.com