Crib Notes

Of Montreal’s “An Eluardian Instance,” from Skeletal Lamping has been given the remix treatment from producer/composer extrodanaire John Brion. The so-called “First Time High (Reconstructionist Remix)” is a sneak peak of what the forthcoming remix EP has to offer. If anything Brion’s interpretation reins the song in a bit, via some very subtle changes in the mix, and at a decidedly more logical pace.

“An Eluardian Instance First Time High (Reconstructionist Remix).”

(Photo courtesy of Polyvinyl Records)

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Last week Of Montreal unveiled the video for “An Eluardian Instance” on Rolling Stone’s Rock & Roll Daily blog.

At first glance it seems like the video player is stalling as it tries to keep up with the visual stream, but take a closer look and you’ll notice that the video is comprised of what appears to be hundreds of thousands of still images placed together, causing the herky jerky effect.

Of Montreal ~ An Eluardian Instance (2008) Dir: Jesse Ewles from jesse ewles on Vimeo.

We’ve seen this kind of thing before with something like No Age’s “Boy Void.”

… and closer to home with the Coathangers’ “Tanya Harding.”

The visual effect is cool and very psychedelic, and if you stare at it long enough the stop motion nature of it all feels very natural. But as with everything else, Of Montreal’s mastermind Kevin Barnes takes it one step beyond the realm of the rational with all sorts of added visual/mental stimuli, such as little crabs wandering through the frame, and all sorts of other Frankensteinian narratives and weirdo point-of-view shots that make you wonder what really is going on under the surface here.

Since the first time I listened to Skeletal lamping I have wondered about the mountian goats mentioned in the songs and if it bares any reference to the Mountian Goats’ frontman John Darnell. This video doesn’t answer anything in that department. In actuality the mountain goat that does make an appearance in the video only leaves more unanswered questions concering his symbolic significance and/or double entendre in this particular song. Make of it what you will …

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An Eluardian Instance EP

Last Thursday Of Montreal vocalist/mastermind Kevin Barnes spoke with Rolling Stone’s Rock and Roll Daily blog about what will come after Skeletal Lamping. Barnes told RS that he has something a little noisier in mind:

“It’s sort of abstract in my mind, but right now what I’ll create will be mesmeric and kind of physical music. Try to create music that you have a physical reaction to. Try to touch you on a level that’s not strictly intellectual but more physical, and that’s not to say you’ll dance to it.”

In the meantime a comprehensive Of Montreal DVD is in the works. The group filmed a show in Los Angeles during last year’s Hissing Fauna tour as well as a show at the Tabernacle in Atlanta last month. The plan is to release a DVD that compiles the group’s videos, the two live performances and some documentary material as well.

This week Of Montreal plays the Late Show with David Letterman on Thurs., Dec. 18th. After that the An Eluardian Instance EP featuring remixes from Grammy-nominated producer Jon Brion (Spoon, Kanye West, Elliott Smith, Fiona Apple) is due digitally Jan. 6th/Jan. 27th on CD and LP via Polyvinyl Records.

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Today’s Air Loaf features CL’s Chanté LaGon and Chad Radford chatting about Of Montreal and the new album from the Athens band, Skeletal Lamping.

Air Loaf is broadcast weekdays on 1690 WMLB-AM at approximately 8:10 a.m., 12:20 p.m. and 6:20 p.m.

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(Album cover image courtesy Polyvinyl Records)

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Of Montreal has abandoned the days of geometrically safe album packaging in “The Skeletal Lamping Collection,” a mind-bending line of totes, lamps, apparel, decals and CD’s stemming from the philosophy that all art objects should be unique, functional, and aesthetically pleasing. Designed by collective artists, Gemini Tactics and The Bee With Wheels, Skeletal Lamping products are what the Garden of Eden would look like on an acid trip; legless horses dashing through rich floral blobs, rigid bursts of light, and pale caricatures anonymously floating among the chaos. The band hopes to inspire new trends in the music industry, breaking away from standard packaging techniques, steering the infusion modern art and music in unexpected directions.

Read more about it at Pitchfork.

(Courtesy Of Montreal)

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Polyvinyl has pushed the release date for Of Montreal’s Skeletal Lamping to Oct. 21.

This new date falls three weeks later than the original release date of Oct. 7, which was reportedly changed due to the complexity of the CD and LP’s packaging needing more time to be completed. In the meantime, the album’s first single, “Id Engager” has received the remix treatment from Diplo’s Mad Decent and DJ Sega, and is due out Sept. 30.

And don’t forget, Of Montreal plays the Tabernacle in Atlanta with Icy Demons on Tues., November 11.

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According to a Myspace blog post from Of Montreal’s frontman Kevin Barnes, the group’s new album, Skeletal Lamping is recorded, mastered and ready for a projected October 2008 release date on Polyvinyl Records.

In his post, Barnes states, “i am so bored with art that makes sense and ‘works’. i wanted to do somethings that didn’t ‘work’.”

To read the rest of Barnes’ post, click here.

It’s hard to know what to make of all this romanticizing of dysfunction and disconnect. As both a long-standing fan and critic of the group, OM’s previous release Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? was a difficult one. The album is a conceptual take on Barnes’ descent into the role of a villain, and he spells out his life’s dramas with the willful and sickening cries for attention of a reality TV show — via a very dark conceptual trip.

On paper it sounds great, like an obscure, Roald Dahl novel set to music. But the album is impenetrable and somewhat unapproachable. Hissing Fauna is an insider’s look at a train wreck in progress. So what happens next? We’ll have to wait until October to see how Skeletal Lamping sifts through the debris.

Tentative song titles include:

“Exquisite Confessions”
“Feminine Effects”
“Mingusings”
“Our Last Summer as Independents”
“Softcore”
“Tender Fax”
“Paradigm Kisses”
“Plastis Wafer”
“Play With You”
“Jasmin’s Car”

(Photo by Rennie Solis)

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