It began with a nightmare. When he woke, Jascha Hoffman decided to keep track of his dreams on a blog. Then he began to set them to music. In this way he accumulated a sort of pop dream diary, a set of vulnerable and eccentric songs at the heart of his debut album, *A Cure for Sleep*... With their unexpected twists, the songs on A Cure for Sleep open up a world of intimacy and loneliness. They have the playfulness of Regina Spektor, the vulnerability of Sufjan Stevens, and the wit of the Magnetic Fields. Like dreams they cover a wide range of moods and registers—lullabies and laments, hymns and whodunits. A Cure for Sleep features an impressive roster of musical talent, from string players Loren Ludwig and Dina Maccabee (Wilco) to Norwegian guitarist Bjørn Solli. It was produced by Jesse Olsen and recorded in San Francisco by Scott McDowell (Sean Hayes, Billy Joel), with a dreamlike cover designed by Shawn Feeney (ILM). Since cutting the record Jascha (ya-sha) has embarked on an experiment in open-source songwriting by inviting fans to critique budding songs at jaschavsjascha.com. As a result, hundreds of listeners on Facebook and other social networking sites will have the chance to contribute to the next album.