Common Loon

Champaign, Illinois, hardly seems like a catalyst for noteworthy bands, but Hum came from there and so does Common Loon, an act that occupies similarly atmospheric territory. A quick listen to any of the music from the band's new album, The Long Dream of Birds, reveals that these guys might share the same internal musical leanings as experimental filmmaker Gregg Araki. Like Araki's soundtracks, Common Loon's output consists of gossamer melodies blended with just the right amount of sparkly distortion. Akin to latter-day dream-pop bands like Tears Run Rings and the Helio Sequence, this duo also knows how to make languid, ethereal and hazy melodies seem vivid with songs that have the power to transport you to more beautiful universes, the type of place where the rush of everyday concerns has been abolished.