Does it offend you? Yeah?
03/Of Montreal/Skeletal Lamping
Houston, we had a problem.
I was sitting pretty, riding shotgun on the Fanboy Express for Of Montreal’s last disc Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? And after getting an earful of this disc’s lead single Ida Engager, I knew, just knew that I had nothing to worry about, Of Montreal would knock it out of the park again. I would buy this disc, hit play, and fall in love instantly. Except, I did not. Boy did I not. And problems arose with track one. Not a good look. What started off for me at the time as another trip down familiar psych pop lane quickly eroded and gave way to a No Age like breakdown/ending I had no time for. Oh boy. Would this be my fate with this disc? Would this be one of those unfortunate cases where a band follows up an LP of perfection with a meandering middle of the road LP that would go on to serve as the oft skipped over filler disc in their catalogue? The answer of course, is no. I just needed to calm the fuck down and take my time with this disc, as is expected with a long player that is permeated by the thoughts, sounds, and ideas of a one man (?) hype machine in the guise of a black shemale. Kevin Barnes’ wildly schizophrenic opus is sexy, opulent, and drop dead gorgeous; a well crafted oft-kilter LP that rewards the listener who is down for the cause, willing to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. The beats bounce, hiss, and vibrate; the words shock, titillate, and soothe. With each passing second, a new sound emerges, a great line seeps through, traditional song structures are toyed with and rearranged, and genres are stepped in, walked through, sat on and made comfortable as if Kevin Barnes and his Of Montreal imprint own the place. And he does. And they do, which is why I don’t see nothing wrong with riding along til the wheels fall off.
KEY TRACKS: For Our Elegant Caste/An Eluardian Instance/St. Exquisite's Confessions
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