no way. best one is sunlandic twins. last two are afterglow
― kamerad, Wednesday, 17 June 2009 04:22 (fifteen years ago) link
i dunno, i still think aldhils is the best
― do not read if you meatus (electricsound), Wednesday, 17 June 2009 04:26 (fifteen years ago) link
is it the first one you heard?
― kamerad, Wednesday, 17 June 2009 04:34 (fifteen years ago) link
not by a long shot
― do not read if you meatus (electricsound), Wednesday, 17 June 2009 04:35 (fifteen years ago) link
me either. first one i heard was the gay parade. they're dynamic enough though that i can imagine first one heard remains the favorite
― kamerad, Wednesday, 17 June 2009 04:36 (fifteen years ago) link
omg the track-titles for their 'early four-track recordings'
― gosh I actually dig this shit (country matters), Wednesday, 17 June 2009 10:19 (fifteen years ago) link
It really is all about the second half (Triphallus onward) of Skeletal Lamping, although interestingly I still can't pick a standout track. It's all about the journey, not the stop-offs.
― gosh I actually dig this shit (country matters), Wednesday, 17 June 2009 11:40 (fifteen years ago) link
what's odd about skeletal lamping is that is does seem genuinely self-indulgent in about three different ways, none of which really maps onto what people usually mean in calling music self-indulgent
― thomp, Wednesday, 17 June 2009 11:49 (fifteen years ago) link
it is a somewhat monomaniacal exorcism of self in sound, but it traverses quite a lot of interesting territory in an effort to splatter every tortured psychosexual aspect of him and his weird shemale alter-egos into our consciousness
― gosh I actually dig this shit (country matters), Wednesday, 17 June 2009 11:52 (fifteen years ago) link
^^^i hope this conveys the record's self-indulgence
― gosh I actually dig this shit (country matters), Wednesday, 17 June 2009 11:53 (fifteen years ago) link
― do not read if you meatus (electricsound), Wednesday, 17 June 2009 04:26 (7 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
― kamerad, Wednesday, 17 June 2009 04:34 (7 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
― do not read if you meatus (electricsound), Wednesday, 17 June 2009 04:35 (7 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
Aldhils is the only thing by these guys that has really resonated with and it was the first one I heard... what does this mean kamerad do you think
― DJ MARTIAN IS A KING AMONG MEN. Dan Perry, Tuesday, 15 January 2002 (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 17 June 2009 12:03 (fifteen years ago) link
resonated with *me* obv
― DJ MARTIAN IS A KING AMONG MEN. Dan Perry, Tuesday, 15 January 2002 (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 17 June 2009 12:04 (fifteen years ago) link
i think maybe i just don't find his 'psychosexual hangups' very interesting, amounting to, as it does:
i. i like having sexii. i like the intimacy of romantic relationshipsiii. sometimes i wonder if the primacy of (ii) over immediate, hedonistic (i) is not a big lieiv. sometimes i think queers/women (delete as apt.) have it easier
^ in every straight person ever
― thomp, Wednesday, 17 June 2009 12:12 (fifteen years ago) link
the standout track on skeletal lamping is "eluardian instance" for that bit where it goes "noooow iiii'm view-ing my me-mo-ry reel in reve-er-erse". the single version included an edit that made it a lot more palatable to those who don't get that whole mishmash steez they do.,
― dog latin, Wednesday, 17 June 2009 12:13 (fifteen years ago) link
& the more he worries at it, the more glaring becomes his inability to actually write, perform and record dirty mind
(xpots.)
― thomp, Wednesday, 17 June 2009 12:15 (fifteen years ago) link
Quite a lot of interesting MUSICAL territory. I don't really listen to the lyrics as much more than a stream of fairly loosely-linked horndog imagery.
― gosh I actually dig this shit (country matters), Wednesday, 17 June 2009 12:22 (fifteen years ago) link
― dog latin, Wednesday, June 17, 2009 8:13 AM (3 hours ago)
oh man you're so right, after about the thirtieth time i'd listened to this track it was defnitiely my favorite part too.
― Thanks, Casey Westcott Fleet Foxes (k3vin k.), Wednesday, 17 June 2009 16:09 (fifteen years ago) link
also i'm not usually a big 'lyrics' guy (in music i like them to be serviceable and not get in the way), but of montreal's lyrics are pretty special to me. the last album especially which is about exploring oft-subverted facets of your personality and the fantasies which accompany them is really resonant with me, though sadly not on a completely literal level ;)
― Thanks, Casey Westcott Fleet Foxes (k3vin k.), Wednesday, 17 June 2009 16:11 (fifteen years ago) link
the last minute of "an eluardian instance" is awesome and does not go on for long enough but I suppose that is the point
― gosh I actually dig this shit (country matters), Wednesday, 17 June 2009 16:14 (fifteen years ago) link
the whole thing is really an outlier - sonically and structurally, at least - on the album. very straightforward and a classic of montreal tune in every sense. my favorite on skeletal lamping has got to be "nonpareil of favor" though. they played it when i saw them a few months ago and your mans kk was like ^______^
― Thanks, Casey Westcott Fleet Foxes (k3vin k.), Wednesday, 17 June 2009 16:24 (fifteen years ago) link
^^^that opening track is stone classic, especially because after 2 mins of classic schiz-pop-ness it gets *stuck* in some noise groove and *cannot* escape it despite blatantly trying to...it's such a cool experiment in tension
― gosh I actually dig this shit (country matters), Wednesday, 17 June 2009 16:26 (fifteen years ago) link
my favorite from "hissing fauna" is "we were born mutants again with leafling". they're actually really similar songs, and i like listening to one after the other
― Thanks, Casey Westcott Fleet Foxes (k3vin k.), Wednesday, 17 June 2009 16:43 (fifteen years ago) link
― thomp, Wednesday, 17 June 2009 13:15 (4 hours ago) Bookmark
^^^this otm now I think about it.
I kind of didn't like Hissing Fauna, maybe I should try again. (Loved Skeletal Lamping, couldn't be bothered with the others.)
― b!tchass, birdchested bastard sees a dude bigger than he (a hoy hoy), Wednesday, 17 June 2009 17:02 (fifteen years ago) link
I prefer the moments to the songs, as I've said. The exchange about "you don't think I've got caller ID?" into that chorus in Triphallus is one of the most perfect pop moments this decade
Hissing Fauna seems quite good, but The Past Is A Grotesque Animal and maybe the two tracks after it kinda tower over everything else
― gosh I actually dig this shit (country matters), Wednesday, 17 June 2009 17:03 (fifteen years ago) link
i love love hissing fauna. sam, maybe you should try the final track ("we were mutants...") first, then "the past is a grotesque animal", then maybe the singles ("heimdalsgate", "a sentence of sorts").
― Thanks, Casey Westcott Fleet Foxes (k3vin k.), Wednesday, 17 June 2009 17:46 (fifteen years ago) link
especially "a sentence of sorts in kongsvinger". goddamn that goes over incredibly live
listening, first time, to skeletal lamping, when the DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN tchk tchk do do tchk tchk groove comes in, i had this horrible feeling of 'i am going to spend my next x listens to this trying to convince myself that this moment succeeds musically in what it is trying to do'
this is common to me when listening to follow-ups by indie bands who have managed to make something that succeeds fantastically on its own terms
the sorts of craft being displayed on hissing fauna seem more sympa to kevin barnes than those he attempts to put on show in skeletal lamping: also, the former's grounding in real events help lend perspective and/or meaning to the georgie fruit shenanigans
i mean 'real events' as in "the narrator of a song is referring to something that actually happened in context of the song" rather than "stuff that actually happened to kevin barnes": although, probably, the latter too
― thomp, Wednesday, 17 June 2009 20:39 (fifteen years ago) link
I have listened to Skeletal Lamping so much that I've kind of forgotten that Hissing Fauna existed. (This might be because my CD drive plays the former and rejects the latter)
He writes so absolutely clinically *on* about depression that I'm prepared to forgive him his occasional missteps about sexuality - except, honestly, most of the time, they don't feel like missteps, more like brutal honesty. The songs, lyrically, work for me, even without knowing whether he's singing them from a Personna or not. (I tend to ignore artists when they sing in "Personas" - because, honestly, every aspect of songwriting and performance is done from a stance or personna anyway. I have never understood why songwriting is always supposed to only be written in the first person experiential, like musicians are unable to have imaginations in the way that novelists or painters do?)
― Violent In Design (Masonic Boom), Wednesday, 17 June 2009 20:59 (fifteen years ago) link
(It's all about Plastis Wafers -> Death Is Not A Parallel Move for me)
― Violent In Design (Masonic Boom), Wednesday, 17 June 2009 21:01 (fifteen years ago) link
dan what i think i meant was that i've always felt they're a weird kind of love-hate band: people tend to love the first record they hear by them and then not care as much for the rest of their stuff. they're like a really smart but way too hyper-active friend you're charmed by at first but then get sick of after a while. except the first one i heard (gay parade) i couldn't stand, and the next one i heard, sunlandic twins, i still love, so my portrayal here isn't exactly airtight
― kamerad, Thursday, 18 June 2009 22:09 (fifteen years ago) link
Aldhils Arboretum is such a goddamn sad album :/ Never really noticed when playing it in the background because it sounds so upbeat/goofy.
― CompuPost, Sunday, 20 June 2010 22:51 (fourteen years ago) link
'kissing in the grass' is probably their most perfect pop song ever.
― keythhtyek, Monday, 21 June 2010 04:21 (fourteen years ago) link
free show in Toronto tomorrow night. I got boys' clubbed out of the poker game my husband's going to, so I might go dance around at Yonge-Dundas square!
― she started dancing to that (Finefinemusic), Friday, 15 June 2012 14:47 (twelve years ago) link
Riiiight. Busy weekend this weekend.
― BC Forgbs (Ówen P.), Friday, 15 June 2012 15:02 (twelve years ago) link
I saw Iggy Pop last year(?) and the crowd was insane.. hoping the OM crowd will be a bit smaller, but I think the Flaming Lips are playing later so maybe not.. at least I'm tall. :P
― she started dancing to that (Finefinemusic), Friday, 15 June 2012 15:04 (twelve years ago) link
If you're not at work you should go to this show (not of Montreal but seeing as we're talking about NxNE shit) it's happening right now
I can't go I have a cold and am also at work
http://justshows.com/toronto/2012/06/15/nxne-nxnexperiment-ii/1671/
― BC Forgbs (Ówen P.), Friday, 15 June 2012 17:22 (twelve years ago) link
Just got off work but have a hair appointment on Queen west in 15 minutes. :(Feel better!
― she started dancing to that (Finefinemusic), Friday, 15 June 2012 17:28 (twelve years ago) link
I realize this is such an obvious statement that it was incorporated into the Hipster Olympics sketch that came out years ago, however:
They jumped the shark after the Outback Steakhouse commercial. It's one thing to license your music to advertise a steakhouse; it's quite another to take one of your popular songs, add a digeridoo and change the lyrics to be about steak.
Everything was downhill from there. Hissing Fauna was totally overdone and self-indulgent. I gave the next album one listen, and all I remember about it was that it sucked and that he got Janelle Monae to awkwardly sing the word 'nigger' on one of the track. And that it was canned and underproduced -- like Kevin Barnes' band is slowly quitting and now it's just him and his laptop singing along to the sound of his own multitracked voice.
Satanic Panic in the Attic deserves more love on this thread, though. Sunlandic Twins was their breakthrough, but the previous album is just one pop gem after another, from start to finish -- and there are a lot of tracks on that album.
Also their debut album is very good.
― 3×5, Saturday, 16 June 2012 05:42 (twelve years ago) link
The show was insane. So many weirdly becostumed dancers, crowd surfing and Kevin Barnes eyeliner. High energy. Much of the crowd just standing, waiting for the Flaming Lips but I felt like I floated out of there. Dance party in my front room now.
"it's like we weren't made for this world..but I wouldn't wanna meet someone who was"
― she started dancing to that (Finefinemusic), Sunday, 17 June 2012 02:33 (twelve years ago) link
And free! And I was back home exactly two hours after I'd left. Perfect dose of badass music!
― she started dancing to that (Finefinemusic), Sunday, 17 June 2012 02:34 (twelve years ago) link
Really like the two new acoustic songs in this. (Don't know the story behind "Feminine Effects," the first song on it. It's on the outtakes/rarities album that came out last year.)
http://www.npr.org/event/music/169709211/of-montreal-tiny-desk-concert
― timellison, Thursday, 21 February 2013 05:42 (eleven years ago) link
"Feminine Effects" has been floating around for years - the version I have is Barnes solo on piano. First came out circa Hissing Fauna iirc.
― Roz, Thursday, 21 February 2013 06:08 (eleven years ago) link
What do people think of Daughter of Cloud, the out-takes album? For me I think it's okay but OM's last album has so totally ruined that band for me, I find it hard to even go back to things I used to love by the band.
― dog latin, Thursday, 21 February 2013 10:30 (eleven years ago) link
Don't know, but I had that Sunlandic-era tour EP with "Psychotic Feeling" and "Noir Blues to Tinnitus" on it. Those tracks are something.
― timellison, Friday, 22 February 2013 00:39 (eleven years ago) link
Liking Daughter of Cloud more than Paralytic Stalks.
― 'Separate Lives', by Phil Collins & Marilyn Manson (PaulTMA), Friday, 22 February 2013 13:16 (eleven years ago) link
gave up on this dude after whatever the one after "skeletal lamping" was (skeletal lamping ruled tho)
― k3vin k., Friday, 22 February 2013 13:55 (eleven years ago) link
agreed.
could be a thread: "releases that ruined bands you previously loved"
― dog latin, Friday, 22 February 2013 13:57 (eleven years ago) link
How has it managed to ruin them for you? They have a pretty massive amount of albums out, I'm not sure why the latest one has managed to tarnish them that much. I think the album is OK, personally, but completely understand why it has gone down less well with some...
― 'Separate Lives', by Phil Collins & Marilyn Manson (PaulTMA), Friday, 22 February 2013 14:35 (eleven years ago) link
As I've said elsewhere, the last OM was my album of 2012 and the best thing I've heard OM do. So, let's put it down to the vast scope of subjectivity and allow them their scorn.
― c'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas le beurre (imago), Friday, 22 February 2013 14:39 (eleven years ago) link
Daughter of Cloud is ok. Nothing on it feels particularly essential. I've changed my mind on Paralytic Stalks though, it took me a while but I think it's great now.
False Priest ("the one after "skeletal lamping"") is actually my favorite of Montreal album
― silverfish, Friday, 22 February 2013 15:04 (eleven years ago) link
whoa last song is amazing
― k3vin k., Friday, 30 March 2018 03:00 (six years ago) link
really into "writing the circles..." and "plateau phase..." now -- the latter almost strikes me as an erykah badu attempt
― k3vin k., Sunday, 1 April 2018 02:01 (six years ago) link
Kevin Barnes is a genius. He should release albums more frequently
― PaulTMA, Sunday, 1 April 2018 02:08 (six years ago) link
plateau phase is the best
― flappy bird, Sunday, 1 April 2018 03:25 (six years ago) link
The bass playing on "Forecast Fascist Future."
― timellison, Friday, 7 September 2018 03:59 (six years ago) link
love that tune. this band is coming to Honolulu this month and i think i'm going to see them. kevin fired the whole lineup and got a new band together since they last were here, from what i've heard, which is a shame. i wonder what happened
― davey, Friday, 7 September 2018 05:18 (six years ago) link
satanic panic in the attic is straight gas from front to back, cant believe how little it was discussed in this thread. perfect summertime pop music, so much fun and strikingly beautiful in its sincerity
― boobie, Thursday, 12 September 2019 23:25 (five years ago) link
of Montreal should release an album...
― frame casual (dog latin), Wednesday, 2 October 2019 15:42 (four years ago) link
in seriousness, while I fell out lof love with this band a looong time ago, I'm revisiting some of their better work and putting a playlist together. Despite being familiar with a good chunk of their output, there's still a lot of stuff I don't know, especially the early and more recent albums.
I've made this list collaborative, so fans: feel free to add your personal faves. I'm sure even the recent stuff has at least one good song on each album.
https://open.spotify.com/user/1153731601/playlist/0niIJHexTQ6bah96EhXTJa?si=DIu-W5TDQ365EAzkp3d0NA
― frame casual (dog latin), Wednesday, 2 October 2019 15:44 (four years ago) link
i feel the same as you, going to try out your playlist. thanks for taking the time and sharing it.
― Bee OK, Wednesday, 2 October 2019 23:12 (four years ago) link
Due feb/march I think. There was a bunch of Instagram stories containing previews recently. Sounded poppy and good!
― PaulTMA, Thursday, 3 October 2019 00:00 (four years ago) link
thanks for the playlist DL, most of your faves are mine too. Forgot how great "No Conclusion" is.
Their early years were pretty nauseatingly saccharine/twee, but there were a couple of decent gems in there. I'll try to add some later.
― Roz, Thursday, 3 October 2019 03:53 (four years ago) link
their imperial phase managed to balance the early tweeness and the later navel-gazing just about enough. Sadly Barnes succumbs to both way too easily, to the point where often it's hard to tell if he's as serious as he appears to be trying to be...
― frame casual (dog latin), Thursday, 3 October 2019 07:47 (four years ago) link
turning point was whenever he fired his band (~2013?)
― flappy bird, Thursday, 17 October 2019 00:12 (four years ago) link
Well, what are you asserting occurred at that turning point?
― timellison, Thursday, 17 October 2019 01:14 (four years ago) link
he recruited a new live band who were possibly even better, is what happened. witness 'snare lustrous doomings'. we saw them on that tour and they were absolutely fucking incredible. end of story
― imago, Thursday, 17 October 2019 01:19 (four years ago) link
I should go next time they come. Have not seen them in a long while.
Added a few faves to the playlist.
― timellison, Thursday, 17 October 2019 01:31 (four years ago) link
xp first time I saw em was in 2014 and they were amazing, the new band is great but the 2013 record was awful... nothing since has grabbed me. white is relic has its moments
― flappy bird, Thursday, 17 October 2019 01:36 (four years ago) link
lousy with sylvianbriar wasn't so strong but it has gained something in retrospect and is worth a return
since then his albums have gone amazing-> bad -> pretty good so he's still got it afaic
― imago, Thursday, 17 October 2019 01:47 (four years ago) link
innocence reaches wasn't even that bad, just much less good with some highlights, like false priest before it
― imago, Thursday, 17 October 2019 01:48 (four years ago) link
There was a Tiny Desk Concert performance where he did a couple of really amazing solo guitar versions of Sylvianbriar songs!
― timellison, Thursday, 17 October 2019 01:49 (four years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-H9Vf2Wa1c
Ur Funof MontrealAlternativeExpected Jan 17, 2020
1. Peace To All Freaks2. Polyaneurism3. Get God's Attention By Being an Atheist4. Gypsy That Remains5. You've Had Me Everywhere6. Carmillas of Love7. Don't Let Me Die In America8. St. Sebastian9. Deliberate Self-harm Ha Ha10. 20th Century Schizofriendic Revengoid-man
― PaulTMA, Thursday, 14 November 2019 12:45 (four years ago) link
Hey my birthday. Not like I’ve kept up with their recent releases though.
― Roz, Thursday, 14 November 2019 12:57 (four years ago) link
based on the preview track, seems like a bad one! that's okay he does this. maybe it's going to strictly alternate from here on. the problemawoke sexpop/insane progge dialectic played out without resolution. maybe you cannot have one without the other. maybe I'm being reductive and spotting patterns which aren't there. maybe it's all different shades of insane problemawoke sexproggepop
― imago, Thursday, 14 November 2019 13:02 (four years ago) link
I like the new logo :)
― PaulTMA, Thursday, 14 November 2019 13:12 (four years ago) link
lmao at "20th Century Schizofriendic Revengoid-man"
I don't hate the single!
― Simon H., Thursday, 14 November 2019 16:42 (four years ago) link
new anthem
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3mOomxq-ec&list=OLAK5uy_k47gvF-4g2GKfl6Mddw85tqRt_fqmOa7g&index=7
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Friday, 31 January 2020 20:58 (four years ago) link
shit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3mOomxq-ec&list=OLAK5uy_k47gvF-4g2GKfl6Mddw85tqRt_fqmOa7g
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Friday, 31 January 2020 20:59 (four years ago) link
I love UR Fun. Best album since Hissing Fauna...?
― PaulTMA, Saturday, 1 February 2020 02:27 (four years ago) link
it's like the 6th best since then
first 3 or 4 tracks good, never really recovers that level, decent album overall
― opden gnash (imago), Saturday, 1 February 2020 07:48 (four years ago) link
new one is pleasingly all over the shop, and Kcrraanggaanngg!! is an anthem
― imago, Friday, 5 March 2021 15:12 (three years ago) link
WHO NEEDS A HEART WHEN A HEART DOES MURDERPISSING ON ITSELF IN HEAVEN'S GARBAGE
― imago, Friday, 5 March 2021 18:01 (three years ago) link
so good. where r u ilm. is kevin yesterday's news already
― imago, Friday, 19 March 2021 13:18 (three years ago) link
i got around to listening to this today. it did make an impression on me and will have to play again to see if i like it.
― Bee OK, Friday, 26 March 2021 21:18 (three years ago) link
this album is pearls before fuckin swine tbh
― imago, Saturday, 3 April 2021 17:31 (three years ago) link
enjoyed this, looking forward to going on a walk tomorrow to it
― nxd, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 17:29 (three years ago) link
thank god lol
― imago, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 17:31 (three years ago) link
deffo stood out more than anything ive listened to since hissing, don't think i've repeated any of them albums
― nxd, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 17:32 (three years ago) link
Lousy With Sylvianbriar stood out like crazy whether you enjoyed it or not. I thought it was fantastic, but it was a big departure from their established sound.
― Evan, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 17:35 (three years ago) link
― imago, Friday, 19 March 2021 13:18 (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink
― imago, Friday, 29 July 2022 15:44 (two years ago) link
oh no, someone who torched their popularity ten years ago surely can't be making some of the most cutting-edge pop now, they must be really old and bad or something
listen to the new album you fools
― imago, Friday, 29 July 2022 15:46 (two years ago) link
Okay fine I will
― she started dancing to that (Finefinemusic), Friday, 29 July 2022 16:23 (two years ago) link
getting a White Is Relic twinned with a less obnoxious I Feel Safe With You, Trash vibe. No bangers. Good album
― PaulTMA, Friday, 29 July 2022 17:36 (two years ago) link