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October 20, 2007
Ninja Fights, Skeletal Lamping
photo by Devon Banks
There were many inherent thrills in Of Montreal's set at the Roseland Ballroom last weekend; a giant "Close Encounters" stage bought from better than ever record sales and concert attendance, seeing a giant room full of severely wasted teenagers treating songs like "She's A Rejector" like the instant pop classics that they are, and of course the depicted metaphorical slow motion samurai sword fights fights between front man Kevin Barnes and his dark ninja of self-doubt. But to those of us who've played the band's Hissing Fauna, are You the Destroyer? album near to death, perhaps the most exciting aspect was getting a glimpse into its successor, already apparently finished and dubbed Skeletal Lamping. The two scavenged tracks below predict a 2008 album that's more varied, but no less accomplished than their last.
Of Montreal - "We Can Do it Softcore if You Want" (Live @ Roseland Ballroom, Manhattan)
This recording, made by the avid audio documentarians* known as nyctaper during last weekend's set, sees Kevin Barnes perpetuating the glam alter-ego, "Georgie Fruit," who appeared scattered throughout Hissing Fauna...'s narrative. Recent interviews with Barnes suggested that he might experiment with the ADD mini song suites that he's admired on Fiery Furnaces records. The sexually ambiguous "We Can Do it Softcore if You Want" does have it's share of diversions, but it's primarily the sort of sugar rush glitter ball that you might expect. If there are long from multi-part epics in store, I didn't see them last Saturday. There is some boot fetishism tacked on to the end, though, just for good measure.
Of Montreal - "Feminine Effects" (Live on Minnesota Public Radio)
While Hissing Fauna... was chock full of lyrics about emotional collapse, the music that scored them was often too rambunctiously catchy to really convey true vulnerability. It was as if Barnes was turning his despair into a suit of armor, proudly declaring himself the strongest, hottest mess on the planet. On this second bootleg Skeletal Lamping contender, recorded recently for a Minnesota Public Radio session, feels like a truly naked declaration. The crystal piano notes and vocal undulations put me in mind of tracks like "Lady Stardust" or maybe even "Goodbye Yellowbrick Road." Those comparisons are a bit misleading though, because there was still a proud brave face in those vocal performances that Bowie or Elton couldn't help but give. "Feminine Effects" is even more intimate, wounded, and lovely than that.
* I originally referred to nyctaper crew as bootleggers, which they've gently corrected in the comments.
Posted by Jeff Klingman at October 20, 2007 04:40 PM
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Comments
Thanks for the link and for your support of our site. We're happy you were able to use the new song as a preview of the new album.
The only thing is that we're not "bootleggers", in fact we're stridently anti-bootlegger. The site operates at a significant loss in order to offer free downloads, many with complete cooperation of the artists themselves. of Montreal was recorded with full permission, and is linked from the official of Montreal blog.
Thanks again for the link. Excellent site you have here.
Posted by: nyctaper at October 21, 2007 12:19 PM
