Circulatory System
Circulatory System
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Circulatory System
Circulatory System
Cloud, 2001
RiYL: Olivia Tremor Control, Black Swan Network, the Left Banke |
Doss was one of the principal songwriters for OTC, a primary force behind the group's two opuses, Dusk At Cubist Castle and Black Foliage, and it's thus only natural his former bandmates would install a new name for their latest project. In the spirit of fairness, then, we shouldn't listen to Circulatory System's eponymous debut as an OTC album or the follow-up to Black Foliage (ignoring the familiar voices and chugging home-made rhythms, or the uncannily Cubist Castle-like cover art). To do so would be to pine for the proliferation of memorable pop melodies that dotted that album's soundscape, for the youthful exuberance of Cubist Castle, for the trance-inducing flow that was the mark of both OTC's albums.
But the sonic differences are not all down to Doss, lest you peg him the one defining factor of OTC. We must remember the willful mutability of these southern musical imps. It was some of the same folk who, calling themselves the Black Swan Network, created some of the most idiosyncratic instrumental music of recent memory by processing mailed-in tape recordings of fans' dreams for an album called Late Music, Vol. 1.
Though captivating in its originality, there was something unsettling about that project that made it unfit for daily consumption. Something to do with the lack of songs and the unexpected, jarring noise patterns that made up the bulk of Late Music cast it from the car-stereo, summer-day listening realm of the OTC albums. Circulatory System also falls outside of that category.
While there are certainly hooks and songs, and fun moments, and most of the touchstones of classic Elephant Six material on Circulatory System, there's just nothing song-wise that connects on as distinct a level as some of these guys' other projects (most notably Neutral Milk Hotel's In The Aeroplane Over The Sea). It's no slag on these talented musicians, but their latest effort just ain't as exciting in a pop or rock sense.
However, the album is fascinating in its own, different way. The flow of Circulatory System is impeccable, and the way its songs blend into one another makes listening a pleasant, dream-like experience. Also, the album strips away anything remotely derivative from the OTC oeuvre -- you won't find any Beatles or Love homages on the record, just straight up Circulatory System.
So if the less effervescent portions of OTC's musical gumbo were the bits you relished the most, if you dug the off-kilter shuffle of Black Foliage's animation segments, and if you have both patience and a love of pastoral dreamscapes, this is the record for you. Enjoy it, and keep your fingers crossed about Neutral Milk Hotel.
TROY CARPENTER | Troy Carpenter founded NATN from a Chicago apartment during the ambitious winter of 1998 with co-conspirators Ben French and Jonathan Cohen. After a five-year stint in New York, he and wife Lourdes have recently relocated to Indianapolis, where he spends days listening to music and nights in the kitchen at Elements restaurant. Musical heroes: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Super Furry Animals. What else makes life worth living: Sushi, Phucty, runs in the park, and the Atlanta Braves.