by Matt Collar
In the liner notes to Soundscapes, the writer refers to the opening cut "Dreaming Out Loud" as a "killer" track. Inappropriate use of adjectives aside, don't expect to be knocked out by this group's mad beats. Dancing Fantasy is a German duo who -- judging by their song titles -- revel in generic new age symbolism, such as "The Sound of Colours" and "Feeling of Flight." The blandness of these titles is bested only by the synth-heavy compositions on what must be one of the groups weakest entries to date. Even a die-hard fan of this stuff would have to admit they've heard it before. Not only do Curtis McLaw and Chris W. Williams soil a perfectly good fetish on "Asian Fantasy," but they litter it with that "so already been done" Enigma flute sound. There is an uncredited poem on the inner sleeve of the disc that begins, "Lend me your ear and travel to a/land, where the sun goes up at/night and goes down in the morning/white rainbows, colored clouds/my eyes are delighted full of/ devotion by my favorite color/as here I have the gift to taste/every color/I only need to lick it." If one is to understand their complex logic correctly, then good music has become bad and bad music, now good. Therefore, this disc is brilliant.