Customer Reviews

Singles & Beyond

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4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Unlike the two proper studio albums that OTC put out, this is merely a collection of odds and sods, including songs from their "Giant Day" EP and other early songs that didn't make it to albums. It's not a collection of "singles" in the traditional sense of "hits." And a lot of the album consists of stuff that qualifies as more "beyond" than "single."

Gone are the multiple layers of instrumentation. Gone is the cohesiveness and flow. This is just a bunch of early songs and sound experiments, with decidedly mixed results.

Track by track:

1. Love Athena -- best song on the album. Great power-chord track.

2. Today I Lost A Tooth -- a 1:18 minute track with spare instrumentation. It's about as big of a deal as its title.

3 & 4. California Demise 1 & 2 -- Forget your memory of the great California Demise 3 from Black Foliage. These two earlier songs consist of a simple chord progression, a few backwards guitars, and "ooo ba ba nya nya nya" serving as the lyrics.

5. A Sunshine Fix -- I like this one. A bit ominous sounding. Cool brass line. Sort of a carnival-sounding break after the verses.

6. Fireplace -- I dig this one a lot. It really sounds like a great lost psychedelic song from '68.

7. Collage #1 -- Fun with tape loops and random studio knob-twiddling. Program your CD player around this.

8. Beneath The Climb -- starts with the spoken word "Apples." And it sounds like an Apples In Stereo song. Very poppy. Has a bit of a Thirteenth Floor Elevators jug sound in the background at certain points.

9. I Won This Dog At The Dirtwood... -- lasts a little over a minute. Nothing special. Sounds like an idea for a song that never really got off the ground.

10. Christmas With William S. -- another annoying sound collage. Skip over this one.

11. The Giant Day -- starts out promisingly, with a cool staccato guitar riff, but sort of ends up being a muddled affair that never really goes anywhere before ending abruptly after less than 2 minutes.

12. Shaving Spiders -- teeters halfway between being a real song and a sound collage. Lots of weird noises that don't really enhance the song. Not too crazy about this one.

13. The Princess Turns The Key To Cubist Castle -- Mellow, piano-driven song for its first half, strange guitar noises for the second. Ends with percussion. Not terrible, but not terribly great either.

14. Curtain Call Pt. 3 -- lyrics spoken on every on-beat, then degenerates into a strange ending. Not that great.

15. I'm Not Feeling Human -- another song idea that didn't really end up being fleshed out into a song. This lasts less than 2 minutes. It's just OK.

16. The Giant Day (Dusk) -- another 1/4 of a song that quickly degenerates into a sound collage. Someone was having a lot of fun slicing and dicing on this one. Too bad it's not very fun for listeners.

17. Late Music 2 -- arrrggh, yet ANOTHER directionless sound collage that sounds like something a three-year old could've put together by pressing studio buttons as if it were a busy box.

18. Gypsum Oil Field Fire -- pretty much stays on one chord throughout. Degenerates into noodling at the end. Not much to write home about.

19. King Of The Claws -- this one would be pleasant except for the annoying skipping guitar line that plays over the first verse. Otherwise, pretty cool.

20. The Ships -- this song has vocals that are broken up as if sliced by helicopter blades. Then about 2 minutes into it, about all you hear is helicopter-like blades. Then it shifts into a lot of unfocused instrumental weirdness. Another somewhat interesting song that degenerates halfway through.

So, a few good songs -- Love Athena, A Sunshine Fix, and Fireplace being the best of them -- and a lot of throwaway stuff. Still, it's interesting enough for OTC fans. Just don't expect a "Dusk" or "Foliage."

Lo-fi fuzz-pop. Experimental soundscape. Even a little rock'n'roll. Olivia Tremor Control has them all in "Presents Singles & Beyond," a collection of assorted singles. It lacks the cohesion that makes the full LPs such a marvelous listen, but taken alone it's still a good collection.

It kicks off with lo-fi pop in "Love Athena," before switching to the weird ballad "Today I Lost A Tooth," and the acoustic guitar duo "California Demise 1 & 2." But soon they switch into darker turf -- a bizarrely gritty "Fireplace" and the sputteringly melodic "Collage 1," which resonates with computerized notes and squeals.

After that, there's no stopping them: lo-fi pop, eerie experimental numbers, morbid rock. "The Giant Day" is something that few Olivia Tremor Control songs are -- danceable and hookish. Then it's the roiling lo-fi grind of "Shaving Spiders," backed up by what sounds like a cracking whip. It ends on an appropriately eerie note with the electronic-warped ballad "The Ships."

Olivia Tremor Control is the symphony of indie rock -- sprawling, complex, and thoroughly beautiful. And taken individually, each song in "Presents Singles and Beyond" is enjoyable at worst, outstanding at best. Even the rough, lo-fi stuff sounds meticulously put together.

The flaw? Olivia Tremor Control is best listened to as a sprawling sonic experience, each song complementing what comes before and after. "Singles and Beyond" doesn't do that. They feel like a handful of beautiful mosaic beads strung together randomly -- still pretty, but not as pretty as they would be if they were carefully arranged.

But musically this can't be faulted. There are one or two less-than-astounding songs, like the rather dull "California Demise" songs. But the majority do what Olivia Tremor Control does best, melding gentle ballads (the lovely "The Princess Turns The Key To The Cubist Castle") with warped experimental numbers. Lo-fi fuzz is used like an instrument, right next to guitars, rippling keyboards and drums.

"Presents Singles and Beyond" is the weakest release by Olivia Tremor Control, but that still puts it head and shoulders above most music. An enchanting collection of singles.... and beyond.

"Singles and Beyond" is the only OTC album currently in print in US, and therefore will wind up being the first and maybe only OTC album in new fans' collections. I only got into Olivia recently, by way of Neutral Milk Hotel and Of Montreal, so I was left with little choice but to buy Singles while waiting to find imports or collectible versions of the two "real" albums. That said, Singles is pretty enjoyable in its own right. As befits an Elephant 6 band (THE Elephant 6 band, some would say) for every moment of lo-fi pop-perfection, there are moments (sometimes no less compelling) of Eno-esque nob-twiddling. Also, even in this collection of early work, there seems to be the trademark oblique narratives and themes that exist in many E6 albums--- childhood dreams, fractured memories, fantastic worlds within worlds--- which bind it together as a coherent whole. It is best listened to as an album, start to finish. The melodies are often incredibly infectious and also ragged. This is shambolic, experimental pop of the highest order.

However, having heard the two proper OTC albums, I must say they are both vastly superior and more thematically coherent. So, only start with Singles if you have no other choice.

Olivia Tremor Control's Singles and Beyond is an excellent sampler of the differents sides of this Elephant 6 superstar. Included on this disc are some of the psychedelic pop gems that the band is known for, as well as some "noise" tracks. While the noise may not be for everyone, the pop tunes will sound amazing to almost any ear. Keep in mind however, that this is a reissue of some early material. Part of the magic of this band is that their albums are basically incredible home recordings, and this is no exception, yet this collection documents an era when the Olivia's were still mastering their craft. To those who don't enjoy lo-fi multitrack recordings, this is not for you. For all serious fans of the genre, this album is definately a must own. Included on this collection are some of my favorite OTC tracks to date (Love Athena, The Curtain Call trilogy, The Giant Day, Gypsum Oil Field Fire, etc.)

I was sooo excited when I saw the OTC disc entitled Singles and Beyond that I immediately bought it. I had tried out Black Foliage and my impression was that OTC was immensely talented and could write some really fun, catchy and thoughtful songs, but WHY oh why did they clutter it with noise all over the place? I mean I'm all for experimentation and progressiveness, but I don't think their noise tracks do anything interesting. It's like they let some kid loose in the studio and he played with a bunch of levers and buttons. (If you want reasonable experimentation, Radiohead's Kid A is a good compromise between experimentation and songcraft) So I thought Singles and Beyond would just be SONGS. Well, as previous reviewers have already pointed out, I was wrong. The songs on this CD are great, which makes it all the more frustrating when the second half of this CD becomes overcome with their signature NOISE tracks. Why do they insist on doing that? I'll research it and see what I find. I say listen to it before you buy it, and if you think the SONGS are good enough to overcome the noise and make it worth your 10-15 bucks, go right ahead. Otherwise, just get some friend of yours who already has all the OTC albums to make a mix of just the songs.

A few years ago, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art hosted an extensive exhibit from the Van Gogh Museum. Van Gogh's works were clustered chronologically and geographically into five groups displayed in five rooms. The earliest works in the first room showed Van Gogh trying to be a classic Dutch painter. The next room (Paris) showed Van Gogh trying to be everybody. The works imitated Cezanne, Seurat, Japanese prints, Courbet, etc. It was a time of experimentation and searching for his own voice.

In the third room (when Van Gogh was in Arles), Van Gogh became Van Gogh. In Arles, Van Gogh embraced his own approach, painting boldly with spontenaity and confidence. The Arles room was a relief; the master was finally revealed.

But Arles could not have existed without Paris. The confident masterworks were the fruit of the tentative experimentation.

"Dusk at Cubist Castle" and "Black Foliage" are Arles. "Singles and Beyond" is Paris.

The joy of "Singles and Beyond" is in hearing the seeds of what would become "Dusk at Cubist Castle" and "Black Foliage." Of course, "Singles" is a hodge-podge. Of course, it isn't cohesive. They cobbled "Singles" together from bits a pieces of pre-"Dusk" tapes and EPs.

"Singles" is worthwhile for the glimpse it gives into what comes later. If you are already an Olivia Tremor Control fan, buy it for this. If you are new to OTC, pass on "Singles" until after you have digested "Black Foliage" and "Dusk."

greatest hits type records can either dramaticly short change a band or it can provide an interesting perspective on a band's career. All in all, this is a pretty solid take on one of elephant 6's finest. My first reaction, however, was that otc never quite got back to "california demise" form. But if you're interested in the band i would recomend this collection as a great place to start (especially considering how difficult it is to find anything else from otc)

If you're new to the Olivia Tremor Control, get Black Foliage. It's incredible. This, however, is a horribly mixed effort, a collection of everything they did between their debut (the California Demise 7") and their first full (well, double) album, Dusk at Cubist Castle. There is some great stuff on here--notably the songs "Beneath the Climb" (sounding surprisingly mainstream and Guided-By-Voices-ish, but still horribly catchy), "Fireplace" (the savior of the California Demise 7", and a great vehicle for Jeff Mangum to sing Really Low), "The Giant Day" (argh, too catchy, get it out of my head!!), and "I'm Not Feeling Human" (the obligatory vegetable song that any Beach Boys-inspired band must live up to). There's also "Collage #2", which is by far their most fun sound collage, because you can recognize bits of stuff from "Courtyard", "The Sylvan Screen" and other later songs hidden in it. However, the majority of this CD is purely and utterly horrible. From embarassments like "Today I Lost a Tooth" to pointless experimental wanking like "Late Music 2" (I love experimentalism, and it works very well on Black Foliage, but that's because of something called CONTEXT, which is lacking here) to whiny clunkers like "I Won This Dog at the Driftwood Reunion Festival", this is by far OTC's worst release still in print.

The OTC have never quite earned a solid place in my list of favorites like many other Elephant 6 bands have (NMH, Apples, etc). Their major flaw is the experimental "noise" tracks that litter their albums. This type of filler is rather frustrating when coupled with their alredy inconsistant songwriting. That being said, I went into this collection of the bands early tracks with low expectations. Luckily, this album managed to deliver more than I thought it would. This one does have the usual staple of noise tracks, especially in the latter half, but they aren't as grating as say, the incredibly long green typewriters tracks. Several of the proper songs are also rather disposable, such as "Today I Lost a Tooth" or the unlistenable "I Won This Dog..." The standout tracks, however, are some of the bands best ever. "Love Athena," "The Giant Day," "I'm Not Feeling Human," and the wonderful "Fireplace" all send this cd above even the much heralded Cubist Castle album. If you are new to OTC, check out Black Foliage, but if you already enjoy their style, you'll enjoy this. See if you can't pick up a used copy.

ok, I get it - the OLT gang are all into experimentalism and all that, and they are very groovy, oh yeah they are groovy. when they sing, they shine brightly, PET SOUNDS style with a twist, vodka music from early 20's. but they rarly sing. most of this cd is nothing but annoying time wating money wasting niplish special effect noise. OK, great, you are experimelntal, you are expanding our horizons, but why oh why can't you do this hearable?. songs like "late music 2" are just unworthy. the thin line between art and just plane poopoo isn't even available for the eye - this cd is way way in the poopoo land.

go hear other E6 bands. go go go.