Okay, The OTC's second album has this song called 'California Demise' on it which has received glowing reports on most of the album's reviews. Trouble is......oh, just have a listen to Dukes Of Stratosphear's 'Shiny Cage' and you'll see.
Shameless or completely accidental?
― You've Got Scourage On Your Breath (Haberdager), Sunday, January 7, 2007 11:27 PM (7 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
this comparison occurred to me just now when I decided 'A Peculiar Noise Called Train Director' might be better than any Dukes Of Stratosphear song
― imago, Tuesday, 6 May 2014 19:52 (ten years ago) link
those 2 songs aren't the same any more so than 'shiny cage' is the same as the beatles 'i'm only sleeping'
― ciderpress, Tuesday, 6 May 2014 20:28 (ten years ago) link
so discovering Dusk At Cubist Castle has been one of the biggest musical moments of 2014 for me; for whatever reason I'd never listened to it until a few months ago (probably because I just can't find a way to like Neutral Milk Hotel and kept seeing their name come up in conversations about the OTC for obvious reasons), but it absolutely flattened me from beginning to end (ESPECIALLY the very end - "NYC-25" is just one of the best songs ever). Black Foliage is good too, but it didn't kick my ass nearly as hard; Dusk makes me smile just thinking about it. it's like the precise midpoint between Van Dyke Parks' Song Cycle and Todd Rundgren's A Wizard/A True Star.
my question, obviously, is what should I check out next if I'm looking for something like Dusk? the most satisfying records I've uncovered while chasing this particular dragon so far have been the Soft Bulletin, Funtrick Noisemaker, Screamadelica, Of Montreal's Hissing Fauna and Satanic Panic, Arnold's Hillside (this album is SO good), and the Cleaners from Venus' Living With Victoria Grey, if that's helpful. a bunch of old favorites like Since I Left You and Mellon Collie and ESPECIALLY Beulah's The Coast Is Never Clear took on new resonance in the wake/context of Dusk, too.
― a duiving caTCH, a stuolllen bayeeeess (jamescobo), Saturday, 12 July 2014 23:30 (nine years ago) link
The Music Tapes "First Imaginary Symphony for Nomad"
― ©Oz Quiz© (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 12 July 2014 23:35 (nine years ago) link
Model portrait heads of Gertrude Stein
― calstars, Sunday, 13 July 2014 00:28 (nine years ago) link
i hate to say it - because their name is so stupid - but salvia plath's "the bardo story" scratches this itch for me
― the late great, Sunday, 13 July 2014 01:09 (nine years ago) link
Obvious suggestion but the s/t Circulatory System is pretty great—like a bad-trip version of OTC. I can't speak to the quality of their newer material, which I've yet to hear.
― bernard snowy, Sunday, 13 July 2014 01:26 (nine years ago) link
legit LOL at "Salvia Plath," that may be the worst band name I've heard since Cerebral Ballzy
― a duiving caTCH, a stuolllen bayeeeess (jamescobo), Sunday, 13 July 2014 01:27 (nine years ago) link
Also was going to suggest Dukes of Stratosphear, & maybe some Soft Boys or Robyn Hitchcock solo... not sure how widely you're casting the psychedelic-revival net here.
― bernard snowy, Sunday, 13 July 2014 01:28 (nine years ago) link
Xpost Omg how did I miss that pun
― bernard snowy, Sunday, 13 July 2014 01:29 (nine years ago) link
salvia plath used to be called run dmt, no joke
― the late great, Sunday, 13 July 2014 01:34 (nine years ago) link
I'm casting the net pretty wide - basically anything that just nails Beach Boys revivalism to within, like, seventeen decimal places
― a duiving caTCH, a stuolllen bayeeeess (jamescobo), Sunday, 13 July 2014 01:43 (nine years ago) link
well salvia plath sound exactly like OTC to my ears
― the late great, Sunday, 13 July 2014 01:46 (nine years ago) link
i guess for different people that's a plus or a minus
― the late great, Sunday, 13 July 2014 01:52 (nine years ago) link
I'm actually listening to Pour Pauwels by Guy Skornik for the first time - had some extra store credit at Amoeba a few weeks ago and the reissue had an intriguing employee-picks card so I bought it on faith - as I write this, and it's a pretty great example of the general steez I'm looking for here (and which I think Dusk captures so exquisitely):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLkWgNfsUSw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBcT92xlfqc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cambb-euIC4
― a duiving caTCH, a stuolllen bayeeeess (jamescobo), Sunday, 13 July 2014 01:53 (nine years ago) link
maybe Screen Prints? not as far out as OTC but they did great big hook filled lofi 60s inspired stuffhttp://youtu.be/Me7SsSb1dcw
― brimstead, Sunday, 13 July 2014 01:58 (nine years ago) link
this is a great one: http://youtu.be/naoG-ZEdVYw
― brimstead, Sunday, 13 July 2014 02:03 (nine years ago) link
Bring on the sunshine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MO01zKDvHg
― Hideous Lump, Sunday, 13 July 2014 02:29 (nine years ago) link
strapping fieldhands hit on the same ramshackle psych vibe
http://www.last.fm/music/Strapping+Fieldhands/Gobs+on+the+Midway:+Singles+1991-1995
"looking into the sun" is
― reggie (qualmsley), Sunday, 13 July 2014 02:55 (nine years ago) link
perfect
― reggie (qualmsley), Sunday, 13 July 2014 02:56 (nine years ago) link
the new circulatory system is really lovely in spots
― maura, Sunday, 13 July 2014 04:05 (nine years ago) link
I've only listened to it once but I agree, there are some really awesome moments. I was a little sad when I loaded the cd into my computer and played it through VLC media player and thought "man, these song titles all look like what you would name the files on your computer the day you wrote the song, how lazy and sad!" then I looked in the cd booklet and saw that every one of the titles that fit this description had been changed to "Mosaic #1", "Mosaic #2", etc. Weird.
― cwkiii, Sunday, 13 July 2014 17:25 (nine years ago) link
Pour Pauwels is awesome! Thanks for posting that.
― ©Oz Quiz© (Adam Bruneau), Sunday, 13 July 2014 17:54 (nine years ago) link
Pipes You See, Pipes You Don't never get enough love.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vP9knmux8I
― cwkiii, Monday, 14 July 2014 02:13 (nine years ago) link
Dusk at Cubist Castle is a personal fave, will definitely check out the recs here
― Nhex, Monday, 14 July 2014 06:10 (nine years ago) link
someone ripped the entirity of Pour Pauwels to Soundcloud, here it is: https://soundcloud.com/guy-skornik-albums/sets/pour-pauwels
― a duiving caTCH, a stuolllen bayeeeess (jamescobo), Monday, 14 July 2014 18:01 (nine years ago) link
The Steppes. They made a ton of albums in the late 80s through mid 90s. The best is the debut, Drop Of The Creature. This song is from the 2nd album, Stewdio (get it?) Awful album title, even worse cover, but great song which fits the bill 100%.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvQ1Kuf3z8w
― kornrulez6969, Monday, 14 July 2014 18:53 (nine years ago) link
Nice one! Sounds quite a bit like it could be a well produced Guided By Voices outtake from '94 or so, with a better drummer and an organ, complete with English accent and harmonies.
― calstars, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 02:14 (nine years ago) link
The Steppes were an Irish/US combo, so like GBV, I'm not sure where an English accent would've come from. There's been a 2CD compendium of stuff just recently that should be easy to find (probably need to go through my Steppes stuff to see if I need to pick that up myself).
― Wandering Boy Poet, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 11:57 (nine years ago) link
Just bought the 2cd comp. I have all the albums but I feel like I owe them. They were fantastic.
― kornrulez6969, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 12:14 (nine years ago) link
the secret square album is my favorite lost e6 gem - it's hilarie from the apples and a friend of hers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKErAZFJHtI
― maura, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 13:40 (nine years ago) link
for whatever reason I'd never listened to it until a few months ago (probably because I just can't find a way to like Neutral Milk Hotel and kept seeing their name come up in conversations about the OTC for obvious reasons)
― Nhex, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 13:59 (nine years ago) link
Agreed on the vox. Can't stand Jeff's voice (or john's either)
― calstars, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 14:30 (nine years ago) link
Secret Square really is terrific. Way more lo-fi than a lot of the other Elephant Six stuff.
The Essex Green and Ladybug Transistor rate highly among my E6 lush throwback pop favorites. High Llamas (Hawaii in particular) are an obvious go-to for Beach Boys-esque stuff, specifically.
― An Ice-Cold Glass of Frothy, Delicious Milk (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 15 July 2014 14:43 (nine years ago) link
Essex Green definitely have some really awesome stuff
― Nhex, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 14:46 (nine years ago) link
The Moles Untune the Sky hits some similar spots.I haven't listened to Secret Square in forever, I am pretty sure I don't have that cd anymore. Amazing cover of Candy Says.
― Trip Maker, Tuesday, 15 July 2014 14:48 (nine years ago) link
I've had 2.5 Circulatory System albums laying around for a while but never listened to them; thank you to the thread for giving me the impetus to finally check them out. Signal Morning is quite good - it's like seven-tenths of a Cubist Castle.
― a duiving caTCH, a stuolllen bayeeeess (jamescobo), Wednesday, 16 July 2014 23:22 (nine years ago) link
The first NMH is great and gnarly and very much "this guy is a weirdo". The second album is some of the worst music i've ever heard. Hifi indie is the worst shit.
― brimstead, Wednesday, 16 July 2014 23:31 (nine years ago) link
I wish the Circulatory System albums were a bit more pop
― calstars, Thursday, 17 July 2014 00:36 (nine years ago) link
I need to spend more time listening to the new Circulatory System, but so far it sounds like scraps from the Signal Morning. I don't know how much new recording Will Cullen Hart does anymore (he has MS) so they just might be raiding his tape archive at this point. There's supposedly a new Olivia album in the can, but Will found it too difficult to work on after Bill's death.
― DavidLeeRoth, Thursday, 17 July 2014 02:20 (nine years ago) link
that Salvia Plath album is fucking GREAT, excellent recommendation
― a duiving caTCH, a stuolllen bayeeeess (jamescobo), Saturday, 19 July 2014 02:11 (nine years ago) link
glad you think so, i like it a lot too
― the late great, Saturday, 19 July 2014 04:25 (nine years ago) link
damn I'm gonna hafta check out Salvia Plath now... video for "House of Leaves" was strangely compelling
― bernard snowy, Sunday, 20 July 2014 18:41 (nine years ago) link
damn that Steppes track is pretty groovy too... bingeing on youtube embeds at the cafe since I don't have internet at home currently
― bernard snowy, Sunday, 20 July 2014 18:44 (nine years ago) link
Forgot to mention, purely on the poppy side, I'm a huge fan of those first three Dressy Bessy albums (another E6 labelmate).
― Nhex, Monday, 21 July 2014 02:59 (nine years ago) link
Especially Sound Go Round and the California EP
don't sleep on Bressy Dessy either
― switching letters guy, Monday, 21 July 2014 03:11 (nine years ago) link
This is my favorite Steppes song, Make Us Bleed. It could be a Moby Grape outtake.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nf5M_UVr6g4
― kornrulez6969, Tuesday, 22 July 2014 00:00 (nine years ago) link
Saw/played a show w/ Circulatory System on Friday...they sounded so great, played great...and were great. I think the new album rules...it is up there with the first one. A little less dense, but still full of sneakily-catchy melodies and moments you swear you've heard this song before...
― dronestreet, Tuesday, 22 July 2014 14:18 (nine years ago) link
I am also indebted to this thread for turning me onto the Sunshine Fix LP, holy cow what a good album
― grinding like a jolly elf (jamescobo), Thursday, 14 May 2015 23:08 (nine years ago) link