Quick, Before It Melts.

I think that you have to take Of Montreal at face value and not think too much about it. It also helps to avoid reading any reviews of their latest album, Skeletal Lamping before hearing the actual recordings because it can skew your opinion. That was my mistake--and I made it more than once, since I read about three different reviews, each with a different opinion. One flat out hated it, calling it schizophrenic, misguided and overdone. The second loved it, calling its patch work of musical collages inventive and intoxicating, like a sonic cocktail. The third review didn't quite know what it wanted to say, and jumped all over the place, simultaneously celebrating the fact that Skeletal Lamping has moved on from its predecessor Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? and lamenting the fact that it's not quite the same beast. I don't blame the reviewer for being unable to settle on an opinion one way or the other, Skeletal Lamping isn't an album that lends itself to being neatly encapsulated in 500 words or less. If I based my opinion solely on the reviews, I'd probably not even have considered it for a post, much less giving it a listen. curiosity always gets the better of me, and I have to listen and judge for myself. I'm glad I did.

The album is very much a patchwork of random musical moments of varying tempo, style, and length, pieced together to make whole songs that inevitably end up miles away from where the began. In lesser hands this would be an absolute mess, but Kevin Barnes is no slouch when it comes to musical composition. In my opinion, Barnes is in a compositional league by himself, elevating the standard pop-song elements into orchestral, epic, 5 minute movements that manage to never sound overblown and forced. case in point: "Platis Wafers", the album's longest song, gets the most mileage from this quilt-like construction. It begins with a disco beat that melts into some rock star guitar work in chorus before spiraling into a more laid-back chill-out groove; from there it devolves into a mess of percussion and echo-drenched vocals, but not before it takes a couple steps forwards and back again along the way.

I liked Hissing Fauna... well enough, but I'm loving Skeletal Lamping more and more with each successive listen. It may seem clichéd to say, but it's true: this album reveals something new with each listen. You know how some songs become permanently embedded in your brain after just one or two listens? Well, you'll never be able to fully wrap your head around these 15 tracks for all the changes they go through from start to finish. Suffice to say that each time, it's like listening to the album for the first time. how long that lasts remains to be seen, but for now, I'm joining the "love it" camp; Skeletal Lamping, YOU are the destroyer, laying waste to all other comers. The album should be out on October 21st (it was initially scheduled for yesterday) on Polyvinyl Records.

MP3: Of Montreal "Id Engager"
Myspace: Of Montreal
Video: Of Montreal "Gronlandic Edit"
Stream: Of Montreal Skeletal Lamping