Search - Olivia Tremor Control :: Singles & Beyond

A very mixed bag

PenaltyShot | CA | 11/25/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"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.""

Single again

E. A Solinas | MD USA | 01/08/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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."

A hodge-podge in the best sense of the word...

Rob Damm | 01/30/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

""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."