I have a confession to make and I’m scared that I will alienate alot of you, so I ask in advance please don’t hold it against me. I don’t get the hype surrounding Of Montreal.
I mean the songs are good on paper and everything and I’m sure there really is something I’m just not picking up on. So many people whose musical tastes I really respect love Hissing Fauna.
Still, there’s something not quite satisfying to me about Polyvinyl records flagship strippers/drag queens/synth pop darlings. It’s not that the songs aren’t good it’s just that they don’t make me want to hit repeat.
So…what am I missing?
[mp3] Of Montreal – Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse
[mp3] Of Montreal – Disconnect the Dots
Hard to Find a Friend - A Music Blog 
March 2, 2007 at 12:03 am |
You are missing nothing, imo. It’s perfectly ok not to like everything everybody else likes. In the future, the way to say you don’t like something is to just not post about them.
March 2, 2007 at 12:48 am |
Bands evolve, it’s how they get better.
March 2, 2007 at 1:41 am |
Whew! I thought I was alone. I keep trying to “get it,” but I’m not there yet. I do appreciate that artists evolve, and there have been more than I can count that I’ve either started to like after they’ve evolved through a couple of albums. Then there are the old vets who appear to have a slump, then I go back and discover that an album I didn’t think I liked when it came out (blank) years before suddenly becomes a favorite.
I guess we evolve too! They say our musical taste is established by age 25, but I don’t believe that. If that were true (and now I’m giving away my geezer status), I would not like hip-hop, and in fact, I like a lot of hip-hop. Especially for a white girl.
Thanks for the tunes, now to another attempt at “getting it.”
March 2, 2007 at 9:18 pm |
I like them.
But I don’t understand the hype either.
I have to be in a certain mood to listen to them.
But I will say that I really enjoy their cover of “Know Your Onion!”
March 3, 2007 at 12:55 am |
but honestly, im not a big of montreal fan either. some of their songs are catchy, but it really isn’t anything novel.
March 4, 2007 at 9:36 pm |
You definitely have to be in the right mood to listen to them = not an angry or mellow one. More like a happy dance sort of mood. Or mulling over love’s complications. I think their new song ‘The Past Is A Grotesque Animal’ makes my case in point. It’s pop, has a good beat, but has intense lyrics.
March 14, 2007 at 7:36 pm |
listen to “Cherry Peel”. its the first official release and its much different. First of all, Of Montreal is all Kevin Barnes in the studio usually and if you can make all that music by yourself…well damn it…you got something big.
Frankly, has been one of my favorite songwriters for a long time. plus, each new records changes up the style a bit.
March 18, 2007 at 2:52 pm |
Perception is such a personal thing. I may be able to highlight some of the things I don’t miss in hopes you will both notice the detail that led me to such a perception, and further, that you will find it aesthetically pleasing.
1) The singer takes vocal risks, stylistically. Singing in squeaky, throaty falsetto, with towering harmonies only works if the details support a larger composition — if they complement some other aspect of the music. And yes, Of Montreal seems to have been a lot about happy-time dancing music — so a little grit and weirdness is welcome.
2) The specter of “the breakup record” brings a lot of hype — anytime an artist suffers, and it’s publicly known, there’s buzz. Sure, “The Past Is A Grotesque Animal” is Kevin’s during-the-breakup soul on parade, in all its tangled emotion. It’s also a great song. The lyrics refer to a particularly disturbing French surrealist work, and how that bonded him with his love. Irony or fact? Perhaps. Any work that challenges me to expand my understanding of other artforms and their relevance gets my vote.
3) This is a huge electronic evolution step for Of Montreal. Prior records stuck mostly to psychedelic guitars for odd textures; now we have growling from synthesizers on the intro and outro of “Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse” Oh, and yes, again, any art that causes me to dig into mythology to understand it again gets my vote. Perhaps it’s too cerebral for some.
4) Again, openness is a virtue. During “Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse” Kevin wrestles with imbalance. Who here knows about being stuck in a negative emotion, wishing for some change?
All that said, those are just words. If you don’t get it, you don’t get it. Hype is of the hype machine. Let it go. The hype machine will be on to something new before Of Montreal loses any luster anyway.
March 19, 2007 at 12:36 am |
Who are you who is so wise in the ways of science?
March 30, 2007 at 2:51 pm |
People keep telling me I should like Of Montreal. But I find their music cheesy and annoying. Just bad pop music to me.