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Album Details

• Artist: Olivia Tremor Control
• Album: Music From The Unrealized Film "Dusk At Cubist Castle"
• Label: Cloud
• Year of Release: 1996
• ME Rating: Indie Classic
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2004-04-21

Remember the Elephant 6 collective? The group of musicians that shared ideas and musicians? More a commune than a collective. Olivia Tremor Control was one of the most important bands in this little retro/forward thinking musical movement. There are so many elements in William Cullen Hart and Bill Doss project that people overlooked. OTC was a band that surpassed pretty much every expectation that anyone had in the collective and then imploded. Dusk At Cubist Castle is probably considered the most important work in the bands catalog. This album is filled with what some may consider Beatlesque songscapes that push most listeners limits with their experimentalism. The premise behind the album is that is was a soundtrack for a film about Olivia and Jacqueline and many adventures that they went through together. There are so many spaced out interludes that it provides a great escape interspersed with great music. You have to get something after wading through 27 songs. Olivia Tremor Control basically take Guided By Voices to a fully flushed out version. Songs are pretty much complete, even though they may be a little on the lo-fi sound at times. Tracks that push the listeners limits are "Green Typewriters VIII", number 8 in a ten piece Green Typewriter opus. But then there are absolute gems like "NYC-25" and "No Growing (Exegesis)". This album has been reissued by Cloud Recordings, as well as their equally brilliant Black Foilage. Neutral Milk Hotel stole all of Olivia Tremor Control's thunder but hopefully with these re-releases, OTC will get a little more credit where it is due.

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