Comments on: Nine Years Later :: Black Foliage: Animation Music

by: eric

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 16:54:33 +0000

This is easily one of the best, most addicting CDs I’ve heard in the past couple years. I was introduced to OTC in 2006 and since the first day I had this CD it has become one of the most listened to in my collection. It is creative, well produced, and I guarantee that at some point everyone who has listened to this CD has had a song or two stuck in their head for days at a time. Depending on how you look at it, and I’m sure there are a few people who will oppose my saying this, but I think if John, Paul, George, and the Ring man were to be given a modern day studio Sgt.Pepper very well may have sounded a lot like Black Foliage. Amazing album to say the least.

Listen to this CD really, really LOUD. There is so much more tone variation laid on top of some of the songs that unless you listen to it loud you don’t get the full effect. Also Hilltop Procession has a quiet, short harmonica bit at the end that is a perfect example of the intricacies OTC integrates, which sound better at full volume. The Rolling Stones engineered their album to be played loud, I wouldn’t be surprised if OTC followed suit, this certainly is the CD for it.

by: Quinn

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 22:08:31 +0000

Karl Blau “AM” — it’s an awesome “album” album

by: Nathan

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:03:11 +0000

I think it would be easier to list every album that shouldn’t be listened to as a whole

by: p

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 05:21:52 +0000

A very very perfect album. Dusk at Cubist Castle is perfect too, and Circulatory System is better than perfect. So so so good…

by: Kenny

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 02:17:49 +0000

I can’t believe you are mentioning Olivia Tremor Control’s Black Foilage! I love that album! I can’t find it on vinyl! “A Sleepy Company” and “New Day” are amazing. This group’s output is definitely “Beatles” worthy.

It is sad to think that the next generation of bands might not care to create an “album experience” in the age of the Ipod. I see the benefit of cutting the fat off a band’s mediocre work and downloading whatever is decent. Lord knows with the recession looming I need every deal I can get. But, I prefer putting down $10 for a great album then start digging around Itunes for 10 “good” tracks. Below are 5 albums I feel need to be listen to as a WHOLE:

Internal Wrangler by Clinic
Broken Social Scene by Broken Social Scene
Leaves Turn Inside You by Unwound
Fantasma by Cornelius
Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating In Space by Spiritualized

by: Old Davy

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 21:27:41 +0000

I’ve not heard OTC’s “Black Foliage”, but with the description of the sound collage pieces, it sounds a bit like “Lolita Nation” by Game Theory. An album best taken as a whole, not in separate pieces. The strange tracks include song snippets from other works, sound effects, instrumentals and sometimes just a very short song.

by: DJ Max Power

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 21:39:54 +0000

I was actually discussing this topic with a co-worker the other day, albeit in a slightly different context. There is no doubt that digital release and pay-per-song options have forever shifted the concept of the “album.” Personally I think this can be good or bad, depending on the context. I mean, I can’t tell you how many full CDs I bought in the past just to get one or two good songs.

But back to the concept of between song “connective tissue” - let’s talk about the skits and/or interludes on rap albums. At this point they’ve become a trite way to stretch the track listing on an otherwise insubstantial album. In these cases, iTunes is a blessing. Back in the day though, they were an essential part of the album experience. Think of the threatening banter on “Enter The Wu-Tang” or the goofy intermissions on “The Chronic.” To this day, I automatically associate this “filler” with the album itself and how it connects the tracks adds to the listener’s enjoyment.

This is simply an experience you can’t get buying songs one at a time from a digital retailer. Oh well, add that to the list of things that has changed about the music consumer experience in the last 10 years. I don’t want to sound like an old man, so I guess I’ll stop there, before I start another sentence with “back in the day.”

by: Dave Rawkblog

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 18:14:22 +0000

Album absolutely destroys. So glad I got to see them on the reunion tour.

by: j. neas

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:09:31 +0000

As an example of how the album format has been snubbed by the industry for a while, look no further than Britpop/prog band Mansun. Their debut, Attack of the Grey Lantern, is hitched together so that tracks segue seemlessly into one another and create a gorgeous album work. But of course, when it got its American release, not only did they chop up and screw with the track listing, they removed and replaced a song. The result is a mess despite the solid songwriting. What they hoped to get out of it, I have no clue. Did they really think that re-working the album was going to turn a Prog-laden Britpop band into Stateside heroes? C’mon now.