Circulatory System (Cloud Recordings) 9+
Circulatory System is Olivia Tremor Control's Will Cullen Hart. It's not a solo album however, with its 21 musicians, most of who have played with OTC. Without fellow songwriter foil Bill Doss, Hart has free reign to communicate his unique inner visions. Circulatory System is denser and darker than OTC, with minor chords and piles of instruments and incidental noises. The result is a hallucinatory listening experience -- nothing comes across as straightforward. Behind every melody and chorus are shadows and aural poltergeists. This is truly psychedelic music, yet unlike most of what passed for psychedelia in the sixties, aside from perhaps Jefferson Airplane's nightmarish Crown Of Creation (1968). Few psych bands had the studio know-how to weave so many elements together with such subtle mastery. It's as difficult to pick out individual songs as it is to remember page numbers of passages in your favorite novel. However, "Inside Blasts" stands out as a particularly striking example of Hart's craft. And on the album closer, Hart is joined by Neutral Milk Hotel front man Jeff Magnum, singing "we will live forever and you know it's true." They're talking about their shelf life in your CD collection.
