Bill Baird’s most ambitious work since the demise of his former project Sound Team, Bright Blue Dream seems at first like it's Baird’s way of putting that book back on the shelf for good – but that’s only half of the story. Almost every member of Sound Team contributes to this new record, including former lead singer Matt Oliver, and guitarist Sam Sanford has even joined up. And still, Bright Blue Dream is a definitive step away from the hypnotic crunch of Movie Monster, that gave Sound Team such a buzz in the first place. With {{{Sunset}}}, Baird has pulled away from pulsing confrontation into a more subliminal, free-form introspection. While it still commands a pull and urgency, Bright Blue Dream is a record of ambiance and the sonic contemplation.

{{{Sunset}}} "Man's Heart Complaint" (mp3)

The differences between {{{Sunset}}} and Sound Team or even with Baird's solo material are readily evident. Bright Blue Dream isn’t afraid to cloud song structures with electronic soundscapes or feedback, and Baird even stretches the title track to twelve minutes of pulsing, sometimes sinister electronic overlays, while “Moebius” continues in the same vein for another five minutes. More fleshed out that Baird’s previous self-released material, this album does lack some of the quirky country flirtation previously exhibited on songs “Half a Man, Half a Man” or hinted at on this record’s “Old Sandy Bull Lee.” This limitation, along with Baird’s truncated vocal range, do tend to keep Bright Blue Dream from offering up many surprises other than an the inspiring turn at production here and there, and Baird's tendency to come out of left field with an unexpected song twist. That said, the album's most solid tracks, including “Diamond Studded Caskets” and “Man’s Heart Complaint,” offer variations of the established Bill Baird sound that blend a serious undercurrent with aural pleasantries.

{{{Sunset}}}: [website] [myspace]
Autobus Records: [website] [myspace]

Strictly speaking, Paige Dearman’s Midget and Hairs project first bloomed in the '90s while she was living in Ruston, Louisiana and Denver, Colorado, but other than the odd appearance on a small label’s compilation or a self-released 7”, her output has been extraordinary minimal. Having lived in Austin for almost a decade, and given the fact that this is her first real album - a self-titled release put out by Royal Rhino Flying records out of Morgantown, West Virginia - Dearman has just about as much history recording here than anywhere else.

Midget & Hairs "Little Girl" (mp3)

The songs on Midget and Hairs are both unreleased tracks previously unheard by most individuals, or come from those aforementioned past vinyl releases. Dearman recorded with a plethora of big name Elephant Six artists, including Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel), Will Hart (Olivia Tremor Control), Andy Gonzales (Marshmallow Coast), Robert Schneider and Hilarie Sidney (The Apples in Stereo), and their contributions are scattered across the record. Dearman’s songs are lo-fi, folk and punk-tinged oddities that range from unhinged pop (“Little Girl”), pretty, driving anti-ballads (“A Time for Us”), and are rounded out by the freaked-out dissolution centerpiece “Engaged to Fear.” Occasionally the drumming flips over the beat like a fish yanked out of water, but as on “Goodbye Ethel Malloy,” the lack of synchronicity is more captivating and relaxed than jarring. Not all listeners will want to savor the whistle and percussive weirdness of “Pennywhistle” or the voice/noise collage “Pea on Cigs, Kids in the Attic” with myriad listens, but Midget and Hairs is required listening for either Elephant Six devotees or weird-pop aficionados. Or, to give it a local spin, the album also sits comfortably next to the Texas-brewed, much-loved poeticism of Daniel Johnston’s now classic Continued Story and Hi, How Are You albums.

Midget and Hairs: [myspace]
Royal Rhino Flying Records: [myspace]