This Christmas marked what could be the single lowest point in my life thus far. Feeling lonely, dejected, and depressed, and having absolutely nothing in the world to do, I called up my equally lonely, dejected, and depressed friend Stephen, and we decided to, of all things, go and see the Dungeons and Dragons movie. After all, I figured, no better way to forget about a miserable holiday than to immerse oneself in a ridiculous, poorly-rendered fantasy world.

Major miscalculation. I expected the movie to be utter crap, but I hadn't anticipated it would lower the bar from b-movies to c. The whole plot boiled down to a Keanu Reeves impersonator trying to find a Christmas ornament on a plastic stick, with memorable moments in between including a vaguely homoerotic scene between Jeremy Irons and some guy in blue lipstick, and Thora Birch as a typical annoying, benevolent princess character proclaiming, "I hereby declare that everybody is equal!" Stephen and I left the theater ten times more depressed at the state of humanity than we were before we entered the theater.

When I first looked at the tracklist for this, a 2xCD compilation issued by Australian psych-pop label Camera Obscura, I couldn't help but recall the miserable faux-fantasy names that plagued the D&D; movie. Bands making appearances on the comp include Our Glassie Azoth, Alphane Moon, and yes, Lothars! I'm actually pretty sure that's the blue-lipsticked guy who had Jeremy Irons breathing down his neck. Or maybe I'm getting him mixed up with that loveable "Gorgar" from the Masters of the Hemisphere's Freemdoom epic.

More notable bands making appearances on the Serotonin Ronin II compilation include Seattle psych-pop purveyors the Green Pajamas, and other Camera Obscura psych staples such as the Tadpoles and Abunai. Though Camera Obscura is probably best known for its blissful psychedelic pop acts, this collection showcases the diversity of the label's artists with a fairly wide range of musical styles.

The first disc consists of tracks swiped from relatively recent releases. I've got to hand it to the folks at Camera Obscura-- they picked a pretty top-notch group of songs to represent the artists on their label. "Morning in Myra's Room," the excellent vaguely baroque psychedelic song from the Green Pajamas' latest full-length kicks off the compilation perfectly. Trance-like and beautifully orchestrated, the track is a nice example of the kind of deep, dreamy pop that the Pajamas, and labelmates the Tadpoles and Abunai, often make seem so effortless. Abunai's "Learning to Ask" follows, similarly well-chosen; that song, and the extended version of the Green Pajamas' "Sweet Sorrow," represent the pinnacle of the kind of highly melodic drone-pop that characterizes the imprint's best records.

The rest of the disc, like far too much of the compilation as a whole, is frustratingly uneven. Love and Death provide a decent 3½ minutes of rhythmic studio fuckery a la Warp records with "Mean Otto." And Vortex Navigation Company's "The Welcoming River" nicely showcases the more folk-inflected side of Camera Obscura's roster. Unfortunately, a few of the tracks here just can't keep up with the rest of it: Our Glassie Azoth is the worst offender, turning up with "Euterpe," a decidedly pointless ambient drone. And the mediocrity of "OGA" will be but a speck in your memory as you suffer through the awful faux-beatnik bullshit of Rake's "Resume the Cosmos." Unless a single wanky saxophone and spoken-word lyrics like, "I am the cosmos!/ The cosmos am!" appeal to you, in which case, your taste has gone to shit. Sorry.

The second disc could be easily equated to the first; the only main difference is, these songs haven't been formally released (although they were available via Camera Obscura's website, and the Green Pajamas track was recently included on a rarities LP). Again, the label's big talent, Abunai, the Tadpoles, and the Green Pajamas, carry the compilation. Also, for some reason, whoever was responsible for sequencing didn't seem to mind closing this disc-- as with the first-- with those Rake guys. Fortunately, this track, a live collaboration with Pelt Orchestra, constitutes a rather interesting, non-obtrusive drone, devoid of PCP-laced rambling.

All things considered, Serotonin Ronin II is a pretty enjoyable compilation. It has a few stellar high points, and each of its two discs seem to follow a rather logical progression, from pop to drone. So between the moments of excellence and the understandable flow of events, the record has succeeded in erasing any comparison, beyond a few poorly named bands, to the Dungeons and Dragons flick. But the truth is, if you really dig the kind of dreamy psychedelic pop that the best Camera Obscura artists produce, you'd be better off plunking down cash on one of those band's albums. As a matter of fact, you could probably spring for two single-band releases; unlike most label comps, which are typically outlandishly cheap, Serotonin Ronin II will likely cost you upwards of $20. So while it is at times most enjoyable, it's probably best reserved for Camera Obscura completists (you know who you are) and unabashed drone fetishists.

-Matt LeMay