UMBRELLA MINDS Will It Be The Ocean Umbrella minds. It took me two weeks to connect the dots and understand the meaning of the name and its significance, believe it or not. My brother David, whom I hadn't spoken to in well over a year, called me up to rave about Zoran's music. He liked it so much he designed the UM website (www.umbrellaminds.com). (David often speaks to me through music. About 20 years ago he gave me a tape with bands I'd never heard of, including U2, with lyrics from a cut off "October": He was my brother/ I said there was no other/ Way out of here/ Be my brother/ I got to get out.) So I ordered the UM disc from CD Baby -- it's as good as therapy and helps bring families together. The 12-song set on "Will It Be The Ocean" is brilliantly and insidiously seductive. It's no surprise to learn Zoran recorded it in his living room; it has the warmth of familiarity like a stack of pillows by a fireplace or a cup of latte in your hand and a lover in your arms. Like an old dog curled up on your feet. That's not to say it's John Tesh -- it's not. It's just comfortable music with enough of an edge to make it appealing to those who reminisce about the long lost days of pirate radio. Zoran bends guitar strings to make the tones curdle in your ears. He has summoned Pacific humpbacks and heavy bass licks. And if that's a drum machine driving it, then this skin whacker will burn his sticks in the crackling fireplace because Zoran knows how to make passionate percussion with machines. Still, I came away wishing for more tracks like the first, "Sirens." But you need to buy it. Then turn off (the lights), tune up (the hi-fi) and fire up (fill in the blank). You're in for a rainy night in post-Cobain Emerald City. James Gordon Meek Washington, D.C.