What The Hell Am I Listening To?!?
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
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
- Posted by Davy Minor on November 10, 2008 at 7:09 pm
