Music From the Unrealized Film Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle

Olivia Tremor Control | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 3, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Cloud Recordings
• ASIN: B00008LO99
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #37,960 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #98 in Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Lo-Fi

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beatles + Neutral Milk Hotel = Olivia Tremor Control, October 9, 2004

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Music From the Unrealized Film Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle (Audio CD)

Take the heart of the Beatles and wrap it in the melodies of Neutral Milk Hotel and/or the Flaming Lips... and you have Olivia Tremor Control -- one of the best swirls of neo-psychedelica in history. "Music From the Unrealized Film Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle" is an intoxicating, sprawling mix of abstract soundscapes and Beatles-esque pop -- and it never stumbles once.

The first song opens with a slowly revving bass, haunted by a backdrop of peculiar feedback sounds... followed by a majestic, poppy "Opera House." Things take a slightly stranger turn in the eerie music-box melody of "Frosted Ambassador" and the fizzing, exotic "Tropical Bells." But still there is the upbeat, slightly warped Britpoppy "Courtyard" and slightly ominous beauty of "Holiday Surprise 1,2,3."

But after the lush piano-pop of "Marking Time," things take a rather surreal turn. A ten-song cycle called "Green Typewriters continues, mixing distortion, fuzz and sputtery percussion with synths and lilting vocals. They return to their previous sound with the brassy pop of "Spring Succeeds," but most of what remains is eerie and strange. The climax is "Dusk at Cubist Castle," a sprawling seven-and-a-half-miniute track with a dark, shimmery background and the sounds of a Tibetan prayer bowl.

It's hard to criticize any one song on "Music From the Unrealized Film Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle," because it feels more like a musical tapestry of many different colors. Diss one song while praising another? Can't be done. Even "Green Typewriters VIII," a ten-minute sprawl of ominous sounds, seems to fit in perfectly.

The biggest flaw might be the obvious debt to the Beatles -- at times you can almost swear you hear John and Paul in there. But the Beatles at their most psychedelic never made anything like this -- space bubbles, sparkling piano, trombones, the singing saw, Tibetan prayer bowls, all overlaid on jolly pop melodies and ominous soundscapes teeming with fuzz and distortion. Even at its most abstract, Olivia Tremor Control's sound is hypnotic.

The vocals are handled by Robert Schneider and Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum (who is rumored to have joined the circus or something like that). Their vocals are a bit off-key, but pleasant and warm. And the songwriting reflects the music -- it starts off relatively normal with "Conflict in our heads makes us see/without the depth that we used to/all of the problems in our way." Pretty ordinary, huh? But the second half has dreamlike songs like "Dusk at Cubist Castle/all the clouds are in past tense/all the kingdom is in fragments/and these paintings don't make sense..." You don't need to understand -- just listen.

Olivia Tremor Control's "Music From the Unrealized Film Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle" is a sweeping psychedelic tapestry, full of strange dreams and even stranger music. This unrecognized classic is a must have, for those willing to dream and imagine the Cubist Castle.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Music from the Unrealized Film Script, Dusk at Cubist Castle, February 5, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Music From the Unrealized Film Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle (Audio CD)

The debut double album by The Olivia Tremor Control, finally back in print! Their 74-minute psych-pop masterpiece from 1996 featuring Will Cullen Hart (guitar, vocals), Bill Doss (guitar, vocals), John Fernandes (bass, clarinet), Eric Harris (drums, organ), Jeff Mangum (chanter, slide guitar, vocals), Julian Koster (singing saw), and Robert Schneider (tibetan prayer bowl, production). Includes a 12-page booklet featuring the artwork of singer Will Cullen Hart.

Side One
1) The Opera House

2) Frosted Ambassador
3) Jumping Fences
4) Define a Transparent Dream
5) No Growing (exegesis)

Side Two
6) Holiday Surprise 1,2,3
7) Courtyard
8) Memories of Jacqueline 1906
9) Tropical Bells
10) Can You Come Down With Us?
11) Marking Time

Side Three
12) Green Typewriters

Side Four
13) Spring Succeeds
14) Theme for a Very Delicious Grand Piano
15) I Can Smell the Leaves
16) Dusk at Cubist Castle
17) The Gravity Car
18) NYC-25

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dusk at Cubist Castle as a Desert Island Pick, December 14, 2007

By 

Chris G. "hopebliss" (IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Music From the Unrealized Film Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle (Audio CD)

If I truly ever was stranded on a desert island, with only my discman, a few choice Cds, and a life-time supply of batteries, 'Music From the Unrealized Film Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle' 1996 debut album by The Olivia Tremor Control, would be one of the first albums that comes to mind, that I would want to take with me. There are not too many albums that I can think of in my musical library that brings a smile to my face, quite like this one does, every time I listen to it.
If you weren't familiar with OTC before listening to this, you would believe that this was a lost classic straight outta the '60s psyche era. A gorgeous album with textured beauty, and sonic passages that sends a mind-bending rush the listener's way, along with summer-shinin' melodies and eerie harmonies. You can sit back and sing along with choruses that take weeks to get out of your head (not that I would go that long w/o it), like in one of my favorite tracks, "Holiday Surprise 1,2,3"....Taking my time to waste your sunny day. Memorable images also stick in my brain, such as going to the opera house or the clouds being in past tense.
I have been familiar with bands off the Elephant 6 label before, like Neutral Milk Hotel and Apples in Stereo, but I have never heard anything quite like this, at least not from the 90s. I have heard The Circulatory System, which is lead vocalist Will Cullen Harts latest band, after The Olivia Tremor Control, before first hearing this.
Sure, the long instrumental passages from the "Green Typewriters" suite from track 12-21, may seem over-bearing and a bit too extensive, but not enough to effect this perfect 5 star rating. As my musical tastes progress, I feel that I was a bit too lenient giving 5 star ratings to pass reviews, oh well..
I do prefer this OTC debut over their 1999 album-'Black Foliage: Animation Music Volume 1' -which that sophomore release doesn't much feel like a happy slice of sunny pop, like this one does, and at 74 + minutes of sonic experimentation and catchy pop choruses, Dusk at Cubist Castle will remain one of my 'Top Shelf Albums' for years to come.