Artist: Of Montreal
Title: Skeletal Lamping
Label: Polyvinyl
Genre: Indie
Bitrate: 173kbit av.
Time: 00:57:57
Size: 77.35 mb
Rip Date: 2008-10-03
Str Date: 2008-10-07
1. Nonpareil Of Favour 5:48
2. Wicked Wisdom 5:00
3. For Our Elegant Caste 2:34
4. Touched Something's Hollow 1:25
5. An Eluardian Instance 4:35
6. Gallery Piece 3:47
7. Women's Studies Victims 2:59
8. St. Exquiste's Confessions 4:34
9. Triphallus, To Punctuate! 3:22
10. And I've Seen A Bloody Shadow 2:23
11. Plastis Wafer 7:11
12. Death Isn't A Parallel Move 3:01
13. Beware Our Nubile Miscreants 4:52
14. Mingusings 3:01
15. ID Engager 3:25
Release Notes:
These ass holes did it again. They managed to follow up the
masterpiece Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? with a
quirky, trippy hodgepodge of sexual freak funk you're ever
likely to hear. The record isn't perfect. That much is true.
But it's damn near. Hit the jump for the full review.
I would be lying if I said I didn't have apprehensions.
Everything seemed to be moving in a direction that I didn't
want front man Kevin Barnes to move in. He had repeatedly
stated in interviews that Skeletal Lamping would closely
resemble the second half of Hissing Fauna, the more
experimental freak funk half, under the guise of his on stage
persona, Georgie Fruit (a black shemale,) who was birthed
during the epic 'The Past Is A Grotesque Animal,' the
mid-point on Hissing Fauna. It's not that the songs were bad,
they just were not the best on the album. He also went on to
say that not many people will understand the record because it
was something he had to make. Something personal. Kevin Barnes
poured his soul into this record and it shows.
The prevalent theme seems to be sex, as it's mentioned in
nearly every song, and can be quite lurid at times. There╞s
elements of folk/psych-indie pop/shoegaze/disco/funk/R&B
sprinkled throughout the production, but it all feels very
natural in Barne's very competent hands. The album can feel a
bit disjointed from the constant shifting that normally
occupies a Fiery Furnaces record, but the moment something
becomes too abstract, he reigns it back in, creating miniature
moments of brilliance. And they're all over the record. There
were times where he would bring up a melody that I wish would
have been expanded to a whole song, and if there's one thing
that Barne's excels at, it's creating memorable hooks and
melodies. He's a fucking genious at it, if Hissing Fauna is
any indication.
The lyrics are less abstract than previous efforts, but remain
just as clever. Lines like 'he's the kind of guy who'll leave
you in a K-hole to go play Halo in the other room÷show that he
can be relevant and clever. Barne's really steps it up in the
vocal department as well, stretching his voice further than
it╞s ever gone before. He hits a Prince like falsetto in
'Wicked Wisdom' and 'St. Exquisite's Confessions,' and even
brings back his The Gay Parade voice in 'Touched Something's
Hollow.' There's also a little reference to Sunlandic Twin, as
he also referenced this record in Hissing Fauna.
In short, Skeletal Lamping is a very worthy successor to the
brilliant Hissing Fauna. It turned out much better than I
could have ever imagined, though the album loses a bit of
steam toward the back end, and seems to end on a strange song,
which leads me to wonder if it's supposed to tie into the next
record. I can't wait to see where Barne's takes of Montreal
next, as my confidence in him has become unshakable.
Key track: 'Women's Studies Victims'