Olivia Tremor Control//A Peculiar Noise Called ‘Train Director’

Now that we’ve opened the Pandora’s Box of Elephant 6, I figure we should just go with it. Yesterday’s song made me realize that I haven’t been listening to many of my favorite E6 albums lately, which caused me to revisit. So many of these bands really hold up…the stuff still sounds fucking great.

Of course, The Apples in Stereo’s Tone Soul Evolution is a brilliant pop gem, one that I will soon return on this blog, since it hasn’t been adequately covered yet. However, there’s also the equally amazing Black Foliage album by the lesser-known band in the original E6 trip, Olivia Tremor Control.

OTC are distinctively less poppy and more weird than TAiS. The songs veer out into strange territories sometimes, completely abandoning the hook and structure. Sometimes, the songs aren’t even really songs, just soundscapes. And yet, it’s not a problem. I’m not really a noise lover, but these guys make it work, dexterously weaving the ambient with the active and smoothing it all out with some harmonized 60s ooouhs and ahhhhhs in the background.



A Peculiar Noise Called ‘Train Director’.mp3

In the blink of eye you get several meanings.