na (sort of): Of Montreal
I used to be a pretty big Of Montreal. And now that Polyvinyl is reissuing a lot of their back catalogue, it’s brought back a flood of memories. And a lot of brilliant lo-fi pop to my ears once again. A quick user’s guide…
The Bird Who Continues to Eat the Rabbit’s Flower (1997)
Covers are the name of the game on this one. Of Montreal take on the Who’s “Disguises” and Elf Power’s “Secret Ocean” are the sound of a band figuring out how to write great pop songs by copying already-great pop songwriters. Take the covers and get out quickly. And, for goodness sakes, don’t download “I Felt Like Smashing My Face in a Clear Glass Window” if you can help it. Although I do love the line about “Daddy’s always smelling like he’s been pickled in booze,” I can’t recommend it.
The Bedside Drama (1998)
Here is where things started to get interesting, imo, for Of Montreal. Before The Bedside Drama, Barnes seemed content to play with ’60s signifiers and cute lo-fi pop. But listening to some of the lyrics on this album, you’ll soon find a dark, strange undercurrent of dead parents (”Happy Yellow Bumblebee”) and, well, “It’s Easy to Sleep When You’re Dead.” Here is where ambition started to creep in (and not a moment too soon).
Early Four Track Recordings (2001)
The title pretty much says it all here. I haven’t listened closely enough to find favorites amid the hodgepodge since I bought it a few years ago, but my main memory is that the track titles and the Darger-esque cover art are still the best part.
If He’s Protecting Our Nation, Then Who Is Protecting Big Oil, Our Children? (2003)
This one is a limited edition tour EP. It’s a fascinating one, though, because it’s the last time that the band really seemed to work as a band. After this, a number of members left to concentrate on other projects and Barnes ended up recording all the instruments on the excellent – and completely different – Satanic Panic in the Attic. Check the cover of the Zombies’ “Friends of Mine.”
In addition to being a (very happy) CD Baby subscriber, i’m also a musician. For the past six months, i’ve been trying to get my newest album up on eMusic through CD Baby. After the first three months, i talked to a customer service representative at CD Baby, who said that eMusic now would only post albums from artists that specifically requested it.
So, i was a little disappointed, but i went ahead and requested it back at the very beginning of August, believing the problem solved. It’s now November, and still no album. i’ve contacted eMusic multiple times via email and have received no human response, not even a ‘we’re looking into it’, just an automated ‘rate our customer service’ form. i re-contacted a CD Baby rep about the problem, and received this in reply:
“…I understand your frustration as eMusic has been unresponsive to my inquiries as well. It’s very strange. They’ve usually been very responsive, getting a reply back by the next day but lately (about the last month or so) they never reply back. The “Vertical Lines A” album is not the only one they’ve been having issues with. I’ve already emailed my tech contact there 3 times asking how we can resolve this. I’ll email them once again after I send this email.”
This is extremely disheartening. i’d like to hope that this is just a misunderstanding, but i am not impressed regardless. This certainly needs to be resolved, if only because it’s a damn shame. What the hell is going on? Can someone involved in this blog at least look into it? Or something? Anything?