Frank & Earthy

Once Upon A Time - Kahimi Karie with the Olivia Tremor Control
released by Polydor Japan (2000)
download here

(file expires on April 9th.)

I'm a pretty big Olivia Tremor Control fan, but somehow -- until this past weekend -- I totally missed the existence of Once Upon a Time. Yet, there it is, nestled in the discography over at elephant6.com. Recorded in 2000 backing Japanese singer Kahimi Karie and released on Polydor in her native country, the Olivias serve up five tracks of spaced-out psychedelia replete with concrété chaos, horns, violins, cosmic blurps, and everything else one might expect (save for the giant Beatles choruses).

In an odd convergence, a few months ago, I asked my now ex-neighbor to give me the strangest music on her iPod. She gave me some tracks by Kahimi Karie that she'd lifted from a Japanese teen's mp3 collection. And, lo, they were strange. Funny to find out now that she's both a protégé of Cornelius (another fave), and has worked with the Olivia Tremor Control. Bizarro headphone candy, for sure. Once again, a peculiar noise called the Olivia Tremor Control...

(I'm pretty sure this EP/mini-album was never released in the States. It sure doesn't turn up on Amazon. If anybody's got any beef with me circulating it, let me know.)