CRAZY GIRL!

Here's (half) a new Of Montreal song to get kick off your weekend. Gotta love Kevin Barnes spoken word interludes.

Meet your kid's new role model.

You've probably heard about Yo Gabba Gabba, that trippy kids show with the monsters and hip indie bands. Well the show is finally releasing an full length album and it features this new little ditty by Of Montreal. "Brush Brush Brush" as you probably guessed is our new favorite song about the glamtastic awesomeness of oral hygiene. But it begs the question: do you really want your kids taking dental advice from a guy who parades around in his golden underoos on a horse??? We're gonna say YES. I mean we turned out alright.

Listen here: Brush Brush Brush - Of Montreal

Hooray for random cover posts!

Yup the title pretty much says it all. Enjoy!

Where Eagles Dare (Misfits cover)- Of Montreal

Crown of Love (Arcade Fire cover) - This is Ivy League

Water Runs Dry (Boyz II Men cover) - Jens Lekman

Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (Vampire Weekend cover) - Hot Chip & Peter Gabriel

Dreams Come True Girl (Cass McComb cover) - Girls

Of Montreal @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY 4/17/09

Given Of Montreal's penchant for glam-rock theatricality, it's no surprise their live show is one of the most visually stunning spectacles you're likely to see. Friday's show at Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg was no exception. Allow this colorful photo splodge to illustrate:

Feather confetti explosion!


Dancing bedazzled ninjas

The most surreal Christmas this side of the Flaming Lips


Weirdly costumed creatures





And a song:

An Eluardian Instance - Of Montreal

Thanks to Bill for the photos.

Top 26 Songs of 2008 (Jess Edition, Part 1)

Here's my list of fave songs of the year. Stay tuned for the other gals' lists of songs. And then check back at the end of the month for our cumulative top albums list.

26. Mykonos – Fleet Foxes
This is the song that convinced that Fleet Foxes were waaaaay more then Grizzly Bear-lite. Swelling harmonies and tribal rhythms rarely sound this compelling.

25.Run (I'm a Natural Disaster) – Gnarls Barkley
It’s all in the little “woos” and “las”. Simultaneously menacing and dizzyingly fun.

24. Slapped Actress – The Hold Steady
With this song, The Hold Steady finally managed to become epic. Massive crescendos, lots of “woah woah woah-ing” and Craig Finn’s as-always urgent delivery work in perfect unison.

23. Pieces of You – Islands
Ultra-bouncy and deceptively intricate song that bubbles its way into full-fledged orchestral grandeur.

22. Another Day – Jamie Lidell
The sunniest single Motown never released (by a British white boy, no less).

21. Too Drunk to Dream – The Magnetic Fields
The title says it all –a bitingly witty (and boozy) ode to my two favorite verbs.

20. Chasing Pavements – Adele
While most of the British neo-soul songstress’ debut album errs a bit on the sleepy side for my taste, this song just explodes once it hits the chorus. Heartbreak rarely sounds as bombastic as it feels.

19. The Crook of My Good Arm –Pale Young Gentlemen
Theatrical crooning, a clanging bell and one of the catchiest choruses I’ve heard all year (RUN! RUN!) make for an awesomely frantic song - from a damn-underappreciated band at that.

18. Dying is Fine – Ra Ra Riot
e. e. cummings’ poetry and rocking cello make for an epic combination.

17. Heart of Chambers – Beach House
Victoria Legrand, oh my, your voice! Oh my, this song! Where does it come from? I’m thinking it’s gotta be from some otherworldly realm where Nico and woozy organ drones collided to form a black hole of exponential melancholy.

16. Two Weeks – Grizzly Bear (Live on Letterman)
It’s a bit more sprightly then their usual hazy-as-codeine sound. And by that I mean it has a lot of bouncy keyboards. Yet it still retains the haunting-as-fuck aesthetic of anything they’ve ever recorded. In other words, it’s the sound of a group howling at the moon while dancing in its light.

15. Raincoat Song – The Decemberists
Songs about rain and loneliness are by no means a rare thing and Colin Meloy manages to breathe a breath of fresh air into the fowl weather canon with a sparse acoustic melody and wistful lyricism. “You sleep like a spinster and you’re twenty-eight/ you’ve been thinking late, you couldn’t catch a cold” Sadly, some of can relate.

14. Id Engager – Of Montreal
Sure the album, was a bit choppy (and let’s face it, nothing’s gonna top last year’s Hissing Fauna) BUT we’re talking about songs here and as far as songs go, you don’t much more audaciously sexually playful then this (unless of course you’re Prince). Kevin Barnes coos out from a jungle of swooping synths and a self-proclaimed “phalocentric tyranny”. Baby, I’ll play with you any day!

Stay tuned for the final 13 songs later in the week...

List lovers and haters delight!

As we mentioned in a previous post, it's list time again! We'd like to alert you to our fave aggregator of year-end music lists at Largehearted Boy. It's updated on a daily basis and is by far the most complete compilation of annual argument starters.

If you find yourself fuming while combing through the list of lists, just keep these immortal words of Of Montreal to heart:

There is Nothing Wrong With Hating Rock Critics - of Montrealmp3

As for us, well we'll wait till (gasp) December before posting our best-of picks. Stay tuned.

Of Montreal @ Roseland Ballroom, NY, October 10, 2008

All you need to know about Of Montreal's current tour: Kevin Barnes rides a white horse (like a real, live horse, not some fake, prop horse) wearing nothing but gold underwear!

If you've never seen this band live, you're in for a real head trip. The glammy absurdism borders on surreal, like a Dali painting come to life. Think bizzaro costume changes, ninja actors parading around in glittery masks and more eye makeup then you or I have owned in our entire lives. Also if I hear one more teeny bopper shout "Let's go to Outback tonight!" I will break their knee caps.


Skeletal Lamping is due out later this month. If you're in the mood for a romp through sexed-up disco-funk-land you'll want to visit this album. Seriously Kevin Barnes explicitly states that he wants to make you "come 200 times a day". I listened this album only twice, but I think he succeeded.

Id Engager - Of Montreal

and a slightly older, mellower flip-side to the above scenario:
Eros' Entropic Tundra - Of Montreal

"I just got broken up with and we weren't even dating."

Received the following email yesterday (names have been changed):

You need to work some magic. I feel like I just got broken up with, and we weren't even dating. Steve sat me down VERY nicely and wanted to clarify with me that he doesn't return the feelings I so clearly and artlessly display for him on a regular basis. I am a mess. I feel broadsided. He was WONDERFUL about it which sucks because if he was an asshole, I would be angry and bitchy and feel justified in hating him. As it is, his actions were carefully and deliberately designed to preserve our friendship, which he hopes, sincerely, will last forever.

And it probably will.

But I still feel like I just got run over by a dump truck. And I'm angry at myself because oh shit have I been here before; I'm walking in relational circles.

So, here's my request. I would like for the mix masters of VK to make for me and my stupid wounded heart a playlist with the theme, "I just got broken up with and we weren't even dating."

If you all don't have time, by all means I understand. But I think it would make for an excellent theme, and a good challenge, anyway.

We ladies here at VK know your plight and feel your pain. Here's an hour and a half of tunes we wrangled together to commiserate and help you deal, in confusion sadness and anger (or lack thereof):

Barcelona - Why Do You Have So Much Fun Without Me.mp3

The Bens - Bruised.m4a

The Beatles - I'll Follow the Sun.mp3

Beulah - Landslide Baby.mp3

Brendan Benson - Feel Like Myself.m4a

Eamon - Fuck It (I Don't Want You Back).m4a

Jude - I'm Sorry Now.mp3

Lady Sovereign - Love Me Or Hate Me.mp3

The Lucksmiths - A Hiccup in Your Happiness.m4a

The Magnetic Fields - I Thought Your Were My Boyfriend.mp3

The Magnetic Fields - The Cactus Where Your Heart Should Be.mp3

The Mayflies USA - I Was the One.m4a

of Montreal - Eros' Entropic Tundra.mp3

OK Go - It's Tough To Have A Crush When The Boy Doesn't Feel The Same Way You Do.mp3

OK Go - Get Over It.mp3

Rufus Wainwright - 14th Street.mp3

Rufus Wainwright - Danny Boy.m4a

Smashing Pumpkins - An Ode to No One.mp3

The Smiths - I Know It's Over.mp3

Sufjan Stevens - Dumb I Sound.mp3

They Might Be Giants - Snail Dust.mp3

Tori Amos - Cruel (live).mp3

Tori Amos - Over It (B's Over the Pool mix).mp3

Tori Amos - here. in my head..mp3

The Vandals - My Girlfriend's Dead.mp3

Wilco - We're Just Friends.m4a

Every Of Montreal cover. Ever.

Well almost. You Ain't No Picasso has just posted a whopping 52! covers songs by the likes of everyone's favorite glam-tastic E6 band. Get 'em while they're hot.

Top 2007 Albums

These albums were chosen by the four of us using a weighted rating system, with each of us having 10 points to evenly distribute over 8-15 albums. Click on an artist's name to see our review of the album, the album name to purchase a copy, and mp3s to download ahoy before you ring in the New Year!*

The 12 winners (ties at #2 and #8) with their point totals are below:

1. Jens Lekman: Night Falls over Kortedala (26.8)

The Opposite of Hallelujah.mp3

Don't mind Jess plagiarizing herelf, but she's gonna quote her blurb in The L Magazine's top 25 album list, (which you should all check out as well, even though it's not as cool as this list because Jens is only #6 and not #1)

Every song on Kortedala joyously unfolds like the start of a newfound love affair, replete with all the smitten excitement, endearing awkwardness and the good kind of nervousness that any worthwhile relationship naturally entails. With its swirling retro-pop samples seamlessly integrated into the Swedish troubadour’s distinctly contemporary tales of romantic melancholy, it’s hard not to be won over by his lyrical wit, aw-shucks charm and total lack of irony. Whether he’s slicing up avocados, getting a haircut or flirting with a deaf girl, Jens effortlessly transforms those mundane little moments into the stuff that magical glockenspiel-laden epiphanies are made of. Doing what few albums this year (or any year) could accomplish: Kortedala inspires, reaffirming life and restoring faith in that crazy little thing called love, for even the most cynical. Don’t let anyone stand in your way.

2. Andrew Bird: Armchair Apocrypha (18.3)

Heretics.mp3 Dark Matter.mp3

Our favorite fine feathered friend fingerling-a-lings a finely focused effort.

2. Okkervil River: The Stage Names (18.3)

A Hand To Take Hold Of The Scene.mp3, Plus Ones.mp3
The audio equivalent of a rich, satisfying novel.

3.The National: Boxer (17)

Slow Show.mp3

Listen for our friend Sufjan ticking the ivories on a few tracks of this rock-solid rock album.

4. Arcade Fire: Neon Bible (13.3)

Intervention.mp3

"It's got enough atmosphere to start a planet: One minute of rapt attention, at two minutes my mind was blown. By the time the three-minute mark rolled around, my face was so melted as to leave my corpse unidentifiable." -June

5. Patrick Wolf: The Magic Position (11.3)

Overture.mp3, Accident & Emergency.mp3
Creepy and joyous, all at the same time: Wolf's broad-reaching voice and lyrics take back seat to impressive layers of Rachmaninoff-inspired pop compositions as colorful as the packaging.

6.
Radiohead: In Rainbows (11)

Nude.mp3

Not only the best pick-your-price album of the year, but one of the best in general. A real return to real rock, and their best opus since OK computer.
7. Of Montreal: Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? (10.3)

Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse.mp3

Jess again quotes herself: "It’s a weird mix of accessible melodies and dark synth-powered vitriol, a constant battle between the two tones, ending gloriously in a draw."

8. Rufus Wainwright: Release the Stars (10)

Between My Legs.mp3, Slideshow.mp3
Epic and operatic and tongue in cheek and melancholy and oh-so-very Rufus.

8.
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists: Living With the Living (10)

A Bottle of Buckie.mp3

9. Magnolia Electric Co.: Sojourner (9.6)

10. Architecture in Helsinki: Places Like This (8)

Hold Music.mp3, Lazy (Lazy).mp3
A more mature sounding recording that doesn't sacrifice any of the playfulness of their earlier albums.

---

Runners-Up (chosen by two or more of us)

Spoon: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb.mp3

So few bands actually sound their best when they sound more like themselves. Spoon is one of them.

The Shins: Wincing the Night Away

Sleeping lessons.mp3

Mmmmmm...slacker-rific! Now, with new improved sound and delicious hooks!

Wilco: Sky Blue Sky

Either Way.mp3

Does liking this album take me one step closer to soccer mom-dom? Aw, fuck it. Jeff Tweedy will never break my heart.

White Stripes: Icky Thump

You Don't Know What Love Is (You just Do As You're Told.).mp3
People keep saying the White Stripes have done all they can. People can be dumb sometimes.

Feist: The Reminder

I Feel It All.mp3
Please, let's divorce this album from all its commercial appeal, because let's face it no matter how hard Apple might try, Feist proves you can't commodify a broken heart.

---

EPs we liked (not ranked)

Los Campesino!: Sticking Fingers Into Sockets

You! Me! Dancing.mp3
The most fun 16 minutes I've heard all year, like if AiH had a love child with Art Brut.

Black Kids: Wizard of Ahhs

I've Underestimated My Charm (Again).mp3
Yeah, maybe the blogs overestimated their charm, but hey you gotta admit they're catchy.

Grizzly Bear: Friend EP

He Hit Me.mp3
Psych-folk masters rework old material and freak the crap out of me. In a good way, of course.

Jukebox The Ghost: Jukebox The Ghost

Hold It In.mp3
Damn near-addictive piano-based, power-pop, proving quirky vocals and handclaps are always a winning combination.

The Viking Moses: Swollen & Small: The Songs of Neutral Milk Hotel

Holland, 1945.mp3
A small selection of pared-back Neutral Milk Hotel covers from one of the best acts to come
out of new weird America.

Two Gallants: The Scenery of Farewell

Seems Like Home To Me.mp3
With voices that sound older then they are as inherently American as Bruce Springsteen and pb&j.

Flight of the Conchords: The Distant Future

The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room (live).mp3

New Zealand's 4th-most-popular guitar-based digi-bongo a capella rap-funk-comedy folk duo!

---

Individual picks

Jess liked...

Richard Hawley: Lady's Bridge

Serious.mp3
I'm really just a sucker for his croon.

Sea Wolf: Leaves in the River

The Cold, The Dark & The Silence.mp3
This album is so gorgeous, I can't even justify its majestic, autumnal gorgeousness.

The Felice Brothers: The Adventures of the Felice Bros., Vol. 1

Whiskey in My Whiskey.mp3

The penned landscape of downtrodden America; Americana at its must rustic, rural--and authentic.

LCD Soundsystem: The Sound of Silver

North American Scum.mp3

The one album that made me want to dance and cry at the same time, despite not being coordinated enough to do so.

June liked...

Oliver Future: Pax Futura

Stranger Than Stranger.mp3

Instantly arresting lyrics, unstoppable guitar riffs and rock beats; the songs stand on their own but work best as a collective unit.

Deerhoof: Friend Opportunity

Kidz Are So Small.mp3

Where cacophany, noise rock, J-pop and a complete lack of irony in the joy of music collide into brilliance.

Castanets: In the Vines

Sway.mp3

Haunting gorgeous... or gorgeously haunting? Asthmatic Kitty's best release this year.

Saul Williams: The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust!

Tr(n)igger.mp3

Trent Reznor has been busy this year, putting out his own album (Year Zero) and producing this fantastic over-the-top grindcore work from preacher/poet/musician Saul Williams.

Megan liked...

CoCo Rosie: The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn

Werewolf.mp3
Everything I hate combined to make something I love.

Faker: Be The Twilight

Are You Magnetic.mp3

Megan raved about this album at length just a few posts down, but she'll say it again: kickass album with kickass choruses!

Bright Eyes: Cassadaga

If The Brakeman Turns My Way.mp3
The boy wonder isn't a boy anymore, and it's fitting that his new album has a more mature
sound. Sure, a lot of the clumsy charm of his earlier stuff is gone, but the polished, grown up
songs on Cassadaga are just as rewarding in their own way.

The New Pornographers: Challengers

Myriad Habour.mp3
Energetic and melodic and instantly enjoyable.

Lizzie liked...

Peel

State Radio: Year of the Crow

Griffin House: Flying Upside Down

Willy Mason: If the Ocean Gets Rough

*For those of us currently West of, say, Casablanca.

New Of Montreal: Feminine Effects

I didn't know Of Montreal had this in them, but I'm surely glad they did.

"Feminine Effects," which premiered on Minnesotan public radio earlier this month, is everything your typical Of Montreal song isn't: subdued, elegiac, purely piano-based and absolutely devastating. There are no zany synths or references to obscure mythologies. "Feminine Effects" is a ballad, and a damn good one. Kevin Barnes laments his past nïaveté and subsequent jadedness to heartbreaking effect.

Feminine Effects - Of Montreal
Bobby baby, you make me blurry, so blurry inside...

Top albums for the first half of 2007

July 2 is the midpoint of the year, so we though It'd be nice to do a little review of what we've loved so far. Let me tell you, black is THE color for albums this year. In no order:

Rufus Wainwright - Release the Stars


Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position


The National - Boxer


Wilco - Sky Blue Sky


Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha


Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?

In Jess' words: "OF FUCKING MONTREAL (best album of the year)!!!!" 'nuff said!