Of Montreal

Of Montreal are not new. Nor have they just released an album. But the risk that somebody reading this hasn’t heard of them is so great that I HAD to make this post. Of Montreal are just one of those special bands that everybody deserves to hear. The genius behind them is Kevin Barnes and man is he talented. Not only can he do incredible things with his voice, but he somehow manages to channel this into highly polished pop songs. Each song contains a vastly different sound and will often contain a variety of ‘arcs’ within. How this guy manages to come up with so many fresh and quirky ideas is beyond me. The beauty of this music is it’s largely experimental, trying just about every vocal style imaginable. The result is music that is extremely fun to listen to, as you are constantly amazed at what they do. They have a new album due early next year, but here’s a song from each of their last two albums to win you over.

Lysergic Bliss – Satanic Panic in the Attic, released in 2004, can only be described with one word, perfection. To be honest it did take me a while to fully appreciate this band, but the more I listened to that album, the more I fell in love with them. There is never a dull moment on it and each song is awesome in it’s own special way. Listen to this song and you’ll begin to understand what they’re capable of.

I Was Never Young – Their next album, Sunlandic Twins, did not quite live up to the same standard. However that doesn’t mean it was ordinary, it just didn’t create the constant sense of awe produced by the above. This song however proves they still have it in them and there’s much to look forward to in the new album.

I have no idea why, but the album art appears to have inverted all the colours...you'll just have to use your imagination I guess