Transparent Dreams: The Brain-Melting Animation Music of the Olivia Tremor Control

The Olivia Tremor Control is/was a wonderfully unique (and criminally under-recognized) musical entity consisting of five or six men, all of whom have two nostrils, but only one forehead. A member of the colorful Elephant Six Recording Company (along with friends Neutral Milk Hotel, Outback Steakhouse associates Of Montreal, and infinity-billion other like-minded mid-90s groups), the Olivia Tremor Control remained active throughout the better part of the nineties, recording the type of groovy psych-rock that noise-cancelling headphones were created for. Ignore those who claim that the music requires any illegal mind-altering substances; rather, the music is the mind-altering substance.

The band released their debut album in 1996, "Dusk at Cubist Castle", a brilliant and surreal concept album, supposedly soundtracking a non-existent film. Like their idols, The Beatles and the Beach Boys, the band never sacrifices fantastic popcraft in the name of avant-garde experimentalism. The melodies stick like a gopher smothered in glue. My personal favorite track would have to be "Green Typewriters X", a wonderful come-down after 9.5 minutes of ambient tension. I dare you not to be moved as the swirling harmonies, layered guitar and crackly lo-fi production lead to a stunning musical orgasm. Yet, who can argue with the gorgeous, Beatles-esque melodic genius (and bike horns!) of "No Growing (Exergesis)", or the carnival-like celebration of "Spring Succeeds"? The type of music that never gets old, this album is a rare accomplishment, in which 73 minutes and 53 seconds are truly worth it.

By the way, their 1999 sophomore release, "Black Foliage: Animation Music" is even better. No, seriously. On this extraordinary record, the group turned the tape loops, repeating themes, and genius melodies up to ten, building up to a indescribable cacophony of sonic bliss. Excuse me if I overuse the word genius, as this album is easily one of my top 15 favorites of all time. Of course, I use the word 'album' loosely, since it's really more of an experience, for those who can handle it.

As the liner notes describe:

"The idea as black foliage began was to take a section of the guitar line from black foliage (now called itself) and make a set of animated departures stemming from that bass guitar melody, twisting it to many variations. As time moved on and the animation sections became intermingled with out daily lives, we added new hunks of sound. Everyday, the animation sections began to include pieces of each other. Example: the vocals from 1 were reshaped and sampled into 2. That reworking would be used again, reshaped for 3, etc. As the other songs began to take shape, we began extracting elements from them. Example: horns from "Hideaway" and string part from "A Sleepy Company." As each song became integrated as a whole into the new songs, edits became edits withing edits.. Which birthed "Combinations"- pieces of songs. Melodies, vocal parts, drum fills etc. became electronic interludes that are derived from the songs themselves, all of which are in various states of becoming or drifting back from animation. Including dreams along the way from our "send us your dream" appeal. Careful thought was also considered as to making the music pulse with rhythm of modern life. At times things seem quiet, or multiple sounds merge... Let your environment in..."

The band's schizophrenic musical contrast is also taken to an extreme, as 10+ minutes of avant-garde noise somehow manage to coexist alongside the simple 2-3 minute pop songs. Like a party inside your mind, and the most unusual instruments and wonderful harmonies are invited, floating through your subconscious. And yes, 'float' seems to be the apt word to use - the voices 'float' in and out, the samples 'float' around, popping up at the right moment. Not to mention one of the best tracks, "I Have Been Floated": A chaotic beast with a melody hiding underneath. And then, the flip is switched at 36 seconds. Everything expands in an acid-drenched frenzy, leading to a violin solo, a second verse, a brilliant acoustic break-down. It's a whole `nother dimension, my brothers. More psychedelic than a weasel sandwich on Mars. And, no, your stereo/ipod isn't broken; it's supposed to sound like that. "Hideaway" could've been a top 40 hit in a parallel universe, "California Demise" builds up to a blissful climax, emphasized by fuzzy guitars and horns. Another favorite is "Grass Canons" - I distinctly remember listening to the last fifteen seconds of this song on headphones in a quiet library - no joke, I honestly thought for a second that those drums in the background were being played somewhere in the library.

And then there's "The Sylvan Screen". It begins with just an acoustic guitar and echoey-voice: "everyday I sit and I look at my window/the cars go back and forth and they seem to never stop/no one seems me looking at them from my window/and I can be any one of them I want to be." The gigantic chorus, the explosion around 3 minutes, the completely random transition into Beach Boys harmonies. Just ask me to define "musical orgasm", and I'll hand you this song in a chewable tablet.

The album ends with "Hilltop Procession (Momentum Gained)", a gorgeous acoustic number, in a musical universe somewhere between Elliott Smith and Syd Barret. The layered vocals lead us into an addictive chorus of "don't look to me to validate your dreams!", as the bizarre production warps in and out. And the album ends on a blissful refrain of "da da da da...da da da" slowly fading out.

Then it's over.

"...Black Foliage is their SMiLE — it's an imploding masterpiece, a work teetering on the cliff's edge between genius and madness. Torn at the seams between pop transcendence and noise radicalism, the group attempts to have it both ways...Ultimately, Black Foliage just might be an end-of-the-millennium appeal that speaks directly and solely to the unconscious."

-Allmusic.com

"The first thing you'll need is a box of Q-tips. In order for your ears to have a chance at capturing the 32,486,978 distinct sounds that collectively make up Black Foliage, you'll want those canals to be whistle clean... the outlandish production that makes Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" look like a cubicle divider. "

-Pitchforkmedia.com

How much longer...can I wait?

Take a trip to the surreal kingdom of the Olivia Tremor Control today - order "Black Foliage" on Amazon.com, or visit your local independent music supplier today. Please....do it for the children.

Oh, and for all you hip kids these days doing the Youtube thang, here's a terrible sound-quality performance of "The Sylvan Screen"!