Not
the Beatles, but an incredible facsimile: on their sprawling 27-song debut opus,
Music From the Unrealized Film Script, Dusk at Cubist Castle,
the Olivia Tremor Control manage to summon not only the sound of the
White Album-era Fab Four, but also the unfettered creativity. The soundtrack to an unmade film about a pair of women named Olivia and Jacqueline and a massive earthquake dubbed the California Demise, the album incorporates a slew of influences and textures (including
Beach Boys-flavored pop, psychedelia, Krautrock, noise, and folk-rock) and synthesizes them into a distinct homebrew of shimmering harmonies, guitar drones, backward tape loops, and inventive effects. As an added bonus, the first few thousand copies came with a bonus CD of ambient "dream sequences" -- titled Explanation II -- which, when played simultaneously with the first disc, realizes true quadraphonic sound. Amazing. ~ Jason Ankeny