Dusk at Cubist Castle

Olivia Tremor Control | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 6, 1996)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Flydaddy Records
• ASIN: B000005MPJ
• Also Available in: Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #168,344 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Opera House

2. Frosted Ambassador

3. Jumping Fences

4. Define A Transparent Dream

5. No Growing (Exegesis)

6. Holiday Surprise

7. Courtyard

8. Memories of Jacqueline 1906

9. Tropical Bells

10. Can You Come Down With Us?

11. Marking Time

12. Green Typewriters

13. Green Typewriters [Continued]

14. Green Typewriters [Continued]

15. Green Typewriters [Continued]

16. Green Typewriters [Continued]

17. Green Typewriters [Continued]

18. Green Typewriters [Continued]

19. Green Typewriters [Continued]

20. Green Typewriters [Continued]

See all 26 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

Who needs psychotropic medicines when Olivia Tremor Control can thoroughly, positively alter one's mindset? OTC's crammed, lysergic debut full-length from 1996 is an undeniable masterpiece, but of what sort? Of the Elephant Six kind. Naturally, then, the vocals are smothered in Big Star/Beatles-like harmonies and the songs segue from musique concrète to delicate drone to Piper at the Gates of Dawn-style jams and even flat-out, poppy rock. The lyrics are a delirious update of psychedelia's most positive moments ("We feel OK, which is how we feel most of the time now / Nothing can be done without the willingness to succeed"). And oh yeah, it's a concept record (the full title is Music from the Unrealized Film Script 'Dusk at Cubist Castle') that has something to do with green typewriters and California sinking into the Pacific Ocean. This record is a life-affirming, druggy, beautiful mess. --Mike McGonigal

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Take a trip without leaving the farm, September 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Dusk at Cubist Castle (Audio CD)

Whatever is in the water that the Elephant Sixers have been drinking, spoon me out a dollop! Dusk at Cubist Castle is great on many levels. A song can remind you of an old sixties pop tune and Galaxie 500 in the same moment, then take you through a transistor radio into an alternate universe during the bridge. I had to let this record grow on me for months--you really do miss a lot on the first auditions. I agree that tracks 11-21 are overwrought "avant-garde" noise and that they could have cut some, but at the same time, the tracks are in keeping with the peak of a psychedelic experience, or the crisis points in any journey. So, structurally, the placement works. The noise really works perfectly for the beginning of the title track, for example. O.T.C. is very very good at crafting pop tunes that you feel you've heard before in a dream. Brilliant record.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible, August 12, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dusk at Cubist Castle (Audio CD)

This is the one.

The Olivia Tremor Control created the greatest psychedelic album I have heard in a long, long time. One of the best albums ever, period, in my opinion. I do not hesitate to give this 5 stars.

I hear a lot of "Beatles rip off" comments about these guys, but I don't really see it. Sure, some of the harmonies and sounds are reminiscent of the Beatles' more tripped-out moments. But OTC's influences and imagination run much, much deeper than that. The music runs from delirious pop to flat-out psych rock to trippy dream sequences and ambient noise excursions into the outer limits.

This is a HIGHLY creative album. It's also a very long album -- over 74 minutes. You get a whole lot for your cash.

The "Green Typewriters" section, which consists of tracks 12-21 on the disc, is far beyond anything the Beatles did. My only complaint is that track 19 goes on for about 9 minutes of ambient noise, and probably could have been cut a bit. But on the other hand, it only serves to make the entrance of track 20 even more startling. After being lulled into a hypnotic trance by the long, trippy ambient sequence, having a voice (recorded close up in the mix) suddenly sing, "How much longer can I wait?", is startling. It signals the beginning of the return from the heights of the amazing "green typewriters" trip, and the comedown. (The next track, number 21, says "When you're ready to come back down, I'll be waiting here...")

If you like amazing, trippy, harmony-drenched pop with strong melodies throughout, look no further. THIS IS THE ONE. A tremendous debut that took the band three years to record.

And -- if you happen to have two stereo systems to spare -- go pick up the "Explanations II" dream sequence album along with this. This album was meant to be played at the same time as you listen to Dusk At Cubist Castle. Start both CDs at the same time and, wow, what a trip.

And, oh yeah, check out Black Foliage too. It is just as infectious.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wow, like psychedelic, man, July 30, 1999

By 

M. E Mattson (Uva Ursi) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dusk at Cubist Castle (Audio CD)

There's a lot to look forward to during this disk, though you may want to put it on while you clean up the house, because there's a lot of "space" as well, which is not exactly sit-around-and-devote-all-your-attention-to stuff. But these guys can work up a pretty good head of steam, which is more than I can say for the rest of their talented labelmates (with the exceptions of Neutral Milk Hotel and Elf Power). Some people may be turned off by their "everything AND the kitchen sink" approach, but I think it's pretty refreshing to hear this mix of experimentation and pop thrown together. The result is a haphazard salad that takes a while to digest, but when you're done, you know you got some good vitamins and roughage.