Of Montreal

Of Montreal

of Montreal is an American indie rock band from Athens, Georgia.

History

Early years

Kevin Barnes created the band, allegedly naming it for a failed romance with a woman from Montreal. Barnes was the only member of the "group" prior to his relocation to Athens, Georgia. There, he met Derek Almstead (Circulatory System, M Coast, Elf Power) and Bryan Poole, who also performs as The Late B.P. Helium. Together, they recorded their debut album, Cherry Peel, and subsequent releases The Bird Who Ate the Rabbit's Flower and The Bedside Drama: A Petite Tragedy.

After production on The Gay Parade, the band's third album, began in 1998, Poole left the band to focus on his duties with Elf Power, another Elephant Six band. Barnes then recruited James Huggins and Dottie Alexander, who had been performing together as Lightning Bug vs. Firefly. Derek moved from drums to bass, and Marshmallow Coast's Andy Gonzales joined soon after. Prior to the release of The Gay Parade in 1999, Of Montreal released a number of singles and a re-release of The Bird Who Continues to Eat the Rabbit's Flower. With contributions from several members of the Elephant Six collective at the time, The Gay Parade also featured artwork from Kevin's brother David Barnes, who would continue to do artwork for future albums.

Kindercore (1999-2002)

Following the release of The Gay Parade, the band signed with Kindercore Records, who released a number of singles and compilations. In 2001, the concept album Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verse was released, again featuring contributions from across the Elephant Six spectrum.

of Montreal front figure Kevin Barnes playing in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2005

In 2002, Aldhils Arboretum was released, with a slightly different sound than its predecessors, as the songs were more directly structured. This album marks the beginning of the change in of Montreal's sound, with more danceable rhythms than before, particularly on the album's closer, "Death Dance Of The Omipapas and Sons For You". A successful tour ensued, including the band's first trip to the UK, along with a tour-only EP.

Polyvinyl (2004-present)

Kindercore Records would fold shortly after the release of Arboretum, and Andy and Derek left the band. These factors threatened of Montreal's status. Barnes, uncomfortable with the unrest, as well as some divisions within the band, took to writing and performing their 2004 album Satanic Panic in the Attic mostly by himself. Released by Polyvinyl Records, it became one of their more successful efforts to that point. During the tour for Satanic, the Late B.P. Helium (Bryan Poole) rejoined the band. In 2003, Kevin was married to Nina Grøttland, who would also play some bass for the tour. The album marked a shift to an electronic bass, with drum machines and synthesizers featured in singles such as "Disconnect the Dots."

This style would continue to evolve into 2005's The Sunlandic Twins, which was even more of a solo effort by Barnes. Recorded in Athens, with the exception of one track recorded in Norway, it was a much more pronounced electronic album. The album became a success, mostly due to the singles "So Begins Our Alabee" and the MTV clip for "Wraith Pinned to the Mist (and Other Games)". The band released several collections of singles in early 2006.

Kevin Barnes recorded most of the band's 2007 release, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?, by himself while living in Norway and Athens, Georgia. The album's autobiographical themes of suicide, depression and isolation was a direct product of his troubled personal life during that period. Barnes also released a companion CD to Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? called Icons, Abstract Thee. In 2007, Kevin Barnes performed five songs nude during a performance in Las Vegas. In Paris, they did a Take-Away Show acoustic video session shot by Vincent Moon.

Dottie Alexander on stage with of Montreal on January 24th, 2009 in Brighton, UK.

of Montreal's next album, Skeletal Lamping, was released on October 21, 2008. It was released in ten different formats, including conventional CD and vinyl, as well as t-shirts, button sets, wall decals, tote bags, and a paper lantern, the latter formats complete with a digital download code for the album. All items for the collection were designed by The Bee With Wheels (David Barnes) and Gemini Tactics (Nina Barnes). In an essay addressing the concept behind the album's release, Kevin Barnes stated, "We feel that there's no reason to produce another object that just sits on a shelf. We only want to produce objects that have a function and that can be treasured for their singularness." In an interview with NPR, Kevin Barnes revealed that the concept of the CD may be going the way of the 8-track in favor of MP3 downloads. David Barnes joked that fans would buy the album via MP3 download and the version that comes with an amazing sandwich. The album reached number one on emusic's Most Downloaded Albums Chart. The video for the album's second single, "An Eluardian Instance", was directed by Jesse Ewles.

Currently, of Montreal is working on its next album, tentatively titled False Priest, due for release in September 2010. On May 23rd 2010, during their show at The Mohawk in Austin, Texas, of Montreal played a new song called "Famine Affair". The of Montreal crew was recently featured on Janelle Monae's 2010 album, The ArchAndroid, in the song "Make The Bus." They also performed at 2010's B.O.M.B. Fest.

In recent years, the band has lent its songs many times to commercials, television programs, and films. The song "Wraith Pinned to the Mist (And Other Games)" can be heard on radio and television commercials (with words changed) for an advertisement for Outback Steakhouse. Similarly, their song "Every Day Feels Like Sunday" was used in television commercials for NASDAQ. "A Sentence of Sorts In Kongsvinger" was used in a Comcast commercial. "Gronlandic Edit" was used for a T-Mobile commercial which also featured the band as actors. A remix of "The Party's Crashing Us" was used in ABC's series Ugly Betty, in the episode "Sisters on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown". A brief clip of the original song was also played on the radio program Marketplace in 2008. The song "Wraith Pinned To The Mist And Other Games" was played in the Showtime comedy-drama Weeds, and appears on the soundtrack album Weeds: Music from the Original Series, Volume 2. The song "Gallery Piece" was also used in the ending credits of Weeds. "Suffer for Fashion" was featured in the 2009 movie The September Issue.

Style

Kevin Barnes singing atop a masked David Barnes in Baltimore in 2007.

The group has a style that is typical of many Elephant 6 bands due to its interest in combining musical experimentation and the basic tenets of pop, such as catchy melodies and sing-along choruses. The band's style has been influenced by not only more conventional indie pop and psychedelic music, but also by vaudeville and music hall on their earlier releases and by afrobeat, funk, and krautrock in their more recent releases.

Kevin Barnes, Jamey Huggins, and Matt Dawson on stage in Sweden, 2005.

The band's style has been known to change between albums. At first, the band embraced a more simple, quirky, lo-fi indie pop sound, which occasionally bordered on twee pop. Later the band moved to a fuller sound, as seen on the concept albums The Gay Parade and its follow-up, Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verse. These albums contain more narrative lyrics, as opposed to the rather personal lyrical matter of those preceding it, and often imitating the style of old 1950s radio plays.

2004's Satanic Panic in the Attic marked the result of an evolving change in style. The sound shifted to something more electronic, although at this point still with more standard instrumentation, and prominent guitars on most tracks, with more traditional pop and rock structures, to be further advanced in later albums and new songs. In their most recent releases and concerts, the band has fully embraced a sort of techno-pop glam image, with little of their previous incarnations surfacing.

Kevin Barnes and B.P. Helium on stage in San Francisco, 2007.

Lyrically, their style has changed dramatically throughout the years. In the beginning, many songs were narratives of personal or humorous situations, such as "Tim, I Wish You Were Born A Girl", from Cherry Peel. This style, however, changed with The Gay Parade, where many songs involve small narratives surrounding invented characters (in songs such as "Jacques Lamure", "The Autobiographical Grandpa", "Mimi Merlot" and "Rose Robert"). Others act as extracts from fictional conversations ("Advice From a Divorced Gentleman to His Bachelor Friend Considering Marriage" and "Good Morning Mr. Edminton" as examples). With Aldhils Arboretum came a slight return to the previous writing style, except following more poppy, classical lyrical structures (such as the use of choruses, which are generally absent in the Gay Parade/Coquelicot years). This style continued throughout Satanic Panic and The Sunlandic Twins to some extent. On the band's 2007 album Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?, the lyrics are much more personal than previously used, with songs detailing emotions within the speaker.

Another characteristic of the band is the fusion of ostensibly gloomy lyrics with bouncy, upbeat melodies and hooks. For example, the lyrical themes of songs like "Doing Nothing" and "Old People in the Cemetery" (from Aldhils Arboretum) include apathy, loneliness and death, while the instrumentation is generally upbeat. Another example of this tendency is shown in their choice of covers; for example, Yoko Ono's "I Feel like Smashing my Head Through a Clear Glass Window" from The Bird Who Continues to Eat the Rabbit's Flower.

Side projects

True to the style of most Elephant Six recording artists, Of Montreal's members have been in a variety of side project with other bands:

• Kevin Barnes has been collaborating with Andrew VanWyngarden from MGMT, on a project called Blikk Fang (formerly Ocelot Fang).
• Kevin Barnes played keyboard for "The Difference in the Shades" on the Bright Eyes' album Letting Off the Happiness.
• Kevin Barnes, Nina Barnes, and David Barnes did a comedy tour called "A Pollinaire Rave".
• The band performed as the backing band for Marshmallow Coast on record and on tour.
• Dottie Alexander released the song "The You I Created" on the Kindercore singles club, under the pseudonym My First Keyboard. Of Montreal acted as her backing band.
• Bryan Poole has a solo career as the Late B.P. Helium.
• Davey Pierce and Travis Adams from the now-defunct emo band My Hotel Year, created the band Inkwell in 2004.
• James Huggins released A Parallax I under the name "James Husband" which featured a cover of The Beatles' "We Can Work it Out".
• Ahmed Gallab has a solo career as post-rock jazz Sinkane, and has also drummed for Born Ruffians and Caribou. He currently plays with Yeasayer.
• Derek Almstead has worked with many artists as a musician and engineer including his collaboration with Andy Gonzales M Coast, Elf Power, and Circulatory System.
• The group worked with artist Janelle Monáe on a track called "Make The Bus" in her 2010 LP The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III).
• Kevin produced Solange Knowles latest album.

Discography

Main article: Of Montreal discography

• 1997 Cherry Peel (Bar/None)
• 1998 The Bedside Drama: A Petite Tragedy (Kindercore)
• 1999 The Gay Parade (Bar/None)
• 2001 Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verse (Kindercore)
• 2002 Aldhils Arboretum (Kindercore)
• 2004 Satanic Panic in the Attic (Polyvinyl)
• 2005 The Sunlandic Twins (Polyvinyl)
• 2007 Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? (Polyvinyl, #72 US)
• 2008 Skeletal Lamping (Polyvinyl, #38 US)
• 2010 False Priest

External links

• Of Montreal's official site

Interviews

• of Montreal adds swag to its musical swagger Boston Herald
• Lazy-i Interview from April 2004
• Interview with the Cornell Daily Sun
• Interview with Synthesis magazine
• Of Montreal interview at exclaim
• Of Montreal at rolling stone
• of Montreal concerts and interviews at NPR Music
• 'Linear Notes' from Kevin Barnes with DIRTY - 20 October, 2008
• interview with Kevin Barnes, July 2009
• Interview with James Huggins for Aural States, January 2010