Olivia Tremor Control - Singles And Beyond

  by Cara Ross

published: 17 / 12 / 2001

---

Review

Ahhhh ! What can one say about this whole Elephant 6 recording company? It is easily a world apart from anything else that’s out there. Made up of a list of cronies helping one another out in various ways: the Olivia Tremor Control, the Apples in Stereo, Neutral Milk Hotel, the Minders, Beulah, Elf Power, the Music Tapes, the Essex Green, and on and on. It’s hard to mention one of these bands, and not mention the others. It’s also hard to like one of these bands and not like the others in the collective as well. The Elephant 6 recording collective have taken the idea of a Co-operative, in its purest sense, and applied it to a community of music. How can you tell if you’ll like any of these bands? Well apart from me telling you that YOU WILL, because really who doesn’t enjoy a PERFECT pop song, but what is it that will help heighten your true appreciation? Well, what’s your favourite Beach Boys album? Is it Pet Sounds? Do you know what a Theremin is? Yes, to both? Then look no further. No to both? Well, look no further anyway, or you will be forever regretting it. But now lets talk about this album specifically. 'Presents: singles and beyond' is like Candy Apple for your ears. Sweet and crunchy, and then sticky and a bit messy, you’re happy with your new cavity, but irritated with the mess, and you can’t stop eating. I say this because the album does indeed oscillate between wonderful psychedelic pop songs and then globs of experimental noises, and mind-altering tracks. Always a plus when you’re wearing headphones, it definitely has that disjointed feel that a lot of singles collections have, given that these tracks were never originally created together as a cohesive, flowing unit. As such the album runs the full gamut from music to non-music, lacking some of the depth their previous album Black Foliage had, but then it’s not supposed to, now is it? It saves all us E6 and OTC geeks from having to go out and find all these tracks on our own piece by piece (sure, I know that’s part of the challenge). Every track is amazing, mind you, but for decidedly different reasons, and speaking as someone who is disappointed as a general rule with singles collections, even I must admit that there are quite a few real gems here. Given that this collection spans the Olivia Tremor Control’s growth as a band over a number of years, with various E6 mates coming and going, it’s a real insight into their evolution musically.

Track Listing:-

1 Love Athena
2 Today I Lost A Tooth
3 California Demise Pt 1
4 California Demise Pt 2
5 A Sunshine Fix
6 Fireplace
7 Collage #1
8 Beneath The Climb
9 I Won This Dog At The Driftwood Reunion Carnival
10 Christmas With William S.
11 Giant Day, The
12 Shaving Spiders
13 Princess Turns The Key To Cubist Castle,
14 Curtain Call Part 3
15 I'm Not Feeling Human
16 Giant Day (Dusk), The
17 Late Music 2
18 Gypsum Oil Field Fire
19 King Of The Claws
20 Ships, The