Dan Kaufman Superstar Eruption

With a title like this for an album, you’d be excused for thinking that former Thorazine Frisbee mastermind Dan Kaufman has an absurdist, zen-like sense of humor. At first blush, the arrangement of sounds here bears comparison to the music put out by the Elephant 6 collective. Instead of Brian Wilson, though, this act draws more from the decidedly darker psychedelia of Syd Barrett. Bursts of expansive sound are present on intense songs such as “With These Letters” and “Too Early,” while a sinister, neo-folky element shows up on “Almost” and “As Pretty As Iris.” Alluring as a dangerous animal and seductive as the forces of evil, Century is something of a concept album that contains willfully discomforting recurring themes throughout.