Ohmpark » 31 Knots

What The Hell Am I Listening To?!?

Davy Minor — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 23:09:11 +0000

I’ve never paid much attention to record labels or kept track of what bands were on what rosters. But lately I keep noticing parallels between bands and then discovering they are on the same label, so I’ve become much more interested in that stuff now. Two records in my heavy rotation took me a very long time to get my head around, because they are both quite a departure from each bands’ previous album in terms of structure. Both records have been mostly dissed by the majority of reviews they have received, and all of these negative reviews seem to concentrate on the writer’s personal taste preferences rather than an objective discussion of the album’s quality. I think if you come to both of these records with no preconceptions of how you want the band to sound, you’ll find two of the most ambitious and successful records to come out so far this year. Also, both were released on Polyvinyl:

Of Montreal (Athens ,GA)

I remember Kevin Barnes talking about Skeletal Lamping last year and describing it as an album with about a hundred one minute songs, and I wondered how that might turn out. The ridiculously schizophrenic result has been too much to handle for the critics who think every album has to be crafted in the same, cohesive, boring fashion as everything else. For me, the tumultuous sonic journey complete with hilariously clever lyrics make for one of the most interesting pieces of work to come out in a long time. There is nothing I enjoy more than a band that takes big chances with their creative decisions and then have the ability to pull them off flawlessly. Here are the first two tracks:

Of Montreal : Nonpareil Of Favor

Of Montreal : Wicked Wisdom

Buy Skeletal Lamping

Of Montreal myspace

31 Knots (Portland, OR)

I’m really tired of the consensus among music journalist elites that an album can’t be good if it is negative and serious. Irony is cool and all, but I didn’t get the memo that everything not soaking in it sucks. There are many reviews ripping on 31 Knots‘ newest LP, Worried Well, but none of them actual address faults with the music, but rather complain about the lyrical content. Nothing bothers me more than when critics want to dismiss an entire piece of art simply because they don’t agree with the message the artist is trying to communicate. If you are above such petty hang ups, and “prog” isn’t a dirty word to you, I think you’ll find this album incredible:

31 Knots : Something Up There This Way Comes

31 Knots : Worried But Not Well

Buy Worried Well: [LP] [CD]

31 Knots myspace

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Post tags: 31 Knots, Of Montreal, What The Hell

Ohmpark’s Top 50 Best Albums Of 2007

Davy Minor — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 21:56:33 +0000

2007 was an incredible year of music and there were so many albums I really liked that didn’t make this list. I noticed that most of the lists I pay attention to were very similar to one another this year as opposed to last year. Also, I’ve found myself in more of a disagreeance with those lists than last year. If there is any theme to be taken out of this list, I think it’s that I feel like too many great albums were underrated by the blogosphere elites, and that they were way in love with some albums I think are overrated. This list represents my personal assertions more so than the rest of the Ohmpark crew, but I worked hard to get every one’s opinions and influences in this thing. Feel free to comment on how much you hate or love it. I feel like every album on this is an essential one from last year, so go listen to some new music:

CONTINUE READING Ohmpark’s Top 50 Best Albums Of 2007 (5,568 words)

© Davy Minor for Ohmpark, 2008. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 31 Knots, 65Daysofstatic, Akron/Family, Animal Collective, Baroness, Bat For Lashes, Battles, Behold The Arctopus, Best of 2007, Between The Buried And Me, Blonde Redhead, Caribou, Cloud Cult, CocoRosie, Cyann & Ben, Dan Deacon, Deerhoof, Deerhunter, Dirty Projectors, Do Make Say Think, Earlimart, Explosions In The Sky, Fiery Furnaces, Gazpacho, Ghost, Iron & Wine, Justice, Kevin Drew, Liars, Marnie Stern, Menomena, Minus The Bear, Modest Mouse, No Age, Of Montreal, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Panda Bear, Phosphorescent, PJ Harvey, Porcupine Tree, Queens Of The Stone Age, Radiohead, Sea Wolf, Smashing Pumpkins, St. Vincent, Sunset Rubdown, The Cinematic Orchestra, The Nels Cline Singers, Thurston Moore, Wilco, Yeasayer

What The Hell Am I Listening To?!?

Davy Minor — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 05:53:01 +0000

31Knots

31Knots : From The Days And Nights Of Everything Anywhere

This 3-piece claiming both Portland and San Francisco have been jamming hard on my ipod for the last week. They remind me a little bit of Cursive and Q And Not U, but have a different style of their own. Check them out:

Buy From The Days And Nights Of Everyting Anywhere Here

31Knots Myspace page

Arbouretum

Arbouretum : Rites Of Uncovering

Some stoner-folk-rock from Baltimore, MD. Former drummer for Anomoanon plays guitar and sings in this project and does both very well. Kind of Jeff Buckley meets Neil Young. Give these track a listen and then pick this one up:

Buy Rites Of Uncovering Here

Arbouretum Myspace Page

Arbouretum will be at the Drunken Unicorn on April 18th

© Davy Minor for Ohmpark, 2007. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 31 Knots, Arbouretum, What The Hell