There really isn't much that you can say about the Olivia Tremor Control that hasn’t already been said a thousand times. Yes, they are founding members of the Elephant 6. Yes, they have released two critically acclaimed albums. Yes, they have ties to the Polish government. Yes, they hail from Athens, GA. Yes, they like green tea. Yes, they know Michael Stipe. The list goes on and on. But here's something you can say about the OTC that hasn’t really been said over and over again: they sure do know how to screw over all the money-hungry record sellers on E-Bay. You see, before Presents: Singles and Beyond was released, copies of their impossible-to-find California Demise EP were selling for upwards of $75 -- but since its release, those greedy bastards have been reduced to practically giving them away! God bless the Olivia Tremor Control for that.

Exactly why the Olivias have decided to release Presents: Singles and Beyond now is a bit of a mystery. It's possible that the band was tired of watching their loyal fans get bamboozled by collector scum. Or perhaps they just wanted a piece of the action themselves. Regardless of their motivations, Singles and Beyond is a thorough compendium of the band’s early output, including compilation appearances and out-of-print 7” material. It shows their transformation from a group of young and inexperienced musicians to the tight knit unit of far-out psychedelic troubadours we have come to know and love.

The disc starts in grand fashion with the first six tracks from the aforementioned California Demise EP, the group’s first official release. At the time this EP was recorded, Jeff Mangum (now of Neutral Milk Hotel fame) was and integral part of the band. His presence shines through, especially on tracks like “Love Athena” and “Fireplace”, which are chock full of the racing acoustic-fuzz strum and vocal wallop that would later become NMH trademarks. Throughout the the album you'll find headfuck blasts of studio-manipulated sound collage, like “Collage #1,” “Christmas With William S.” and “Late Music 2”, all of which most likely stemmed from a stoned bunch of Olivias playing around with buttons, sliders and switches on the mixing desk. Other more straightforward (at least by OTC standards) highlights include the lovely lament to the night “The Giant Day (dusk),” the lo-fi campfire sing-a-long “I Won this Dog at the Driftwood Reunion Carnival” and the effervescent blast of whirring psych-pop that is “Gypsum Oil Field Fire”. Closer “The Ships” ends the disc in much the same fashion as it was started; blurry and odd, yet heartbreakingly beautiful.

If you’ve not already spent the majority of your life savings on these assorted bits and pieces of the Olivia Tremor Control’s catalogue, pick up Presents: Singles and Beyond. Even without screwing around on E-Bay, you'll quickly realize what a great deal you got.