The Olivia Tremor Control - Music From the Unrealized Film Script: Dusk At Cubist Castle
A Review by niv
Date - 2005-07-20 00:00:00
In case you have not noticed, I have gone on a bit of a indie rock binge. I think it is waning a bit now, but I definitely see why people who tend to search for good music usually end up engrossed in the indie music scene. The music seems to be more daring and intellectual, in general. There is also a lot more emotion put into the music, and this combination of emotion and musical daring can be found only in the best of the best mainstream bands. While indie bands do not always execute as well as the really great bands you hear on the radio (not generic radio crap, but the really great stuff that you fall in love with), these guys have their hearts in the right places, unadulterated by money and whatnot. It's pretty refreshing.
I listened through this album on the way to work, and by track 5, "No Growing (Exegesis)", I realized exactly where I thought this album fell in terms of other albums I had already heard. It is basically a varying combination of Pet Sounds and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the two seminal and competing albums from the late 1960s. Parts of the album are dominated by instrumentation and vocal harmonies a la Brian Wilson, and others have touches of the pop-psychedlia that made The Beatles's disc so damn good. There are varying shades throughout the album, of course, with some songs taking the psychadelia to an extreme and other songs being relatively straightforward. I found myself liking this album at times but never really loving it. There were moments when I thought it was a bit tedious and overdone, and I think the album is a little too slow and soft for me, overall.
I like Pet Sounds and I love Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Clubs Band. However, while these guys have their hearts in the right place, they just are unable to execute in a way that keeps me engaged. It's worth checking out if you miss the 60's or want something a bit different than ... well, most anything else around right now.
Score: 6/10
I listened through this album on the way to work, and by track 5, "No Growing (Exegesis)", I realized exactly where I thought this album fell in terms of other albums I had already heard. It is basically a varying combination of Pet Sounds and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the two seminal and competing albums from the late 1960s. Parts of the album are dominated by instrumentation and vocal harmonies a la Brian Wilson, and others have touches of the pop-psychedlia that made The Beatles's disc so damn good. There are varying shades throughout the album, of course, with some songs taking the psychadelia to an extreme and other songs being relatively straightforward. I found myself liking this album at times but never really loving it. There were moments when I thought it was a bit tedious and overdone, and I think the album is a little too slow and soft for me, overall.
I like Pet Sounds and I love Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Clubs Band. However, while these guys have their hearts in the right place, they just are unable to execute in a way that keeps me engaged. It's worth checking out if you miss the 60's or want something a bit different than ... well, most anything else around right now.
Score: 6/10