Hey, what the hell, man? It’s been a year or so since their last official release, right? So where the fuck is the next clockwork-banged-out of Montreal Record??? Oh. Here it is. Good. I was getting so bored with them!
Okay, let’s see, let’s see; so the next record from Kevin Barnes and co. is called… lousy with sylvianbriar; okay. And… um, it’s out October 8 on Polyvinyl. Cool, cool, cool; but what else? Oh, here we go: it was “created with a new songwriting approach, a different recording method, and a fresh group of musicians,” according to the press release. Great, FRESH! That’s exactly what I’m ALL ABOUT. FRESHNESS! NEWNESS! NOWNESS! Ahhhhh! Does anyone else smell paint fumes? No? Anyway: the album will have a limited pressing of 1,500 copies on clear green vinyl available for preorder before the ugly old pink retail copies hit the market. Also, there’ll be a limited run of 250 cassettes on Joyful Noise Recordings.
But yeah, about that new approach thing: basically, Barnes “eschewed computer recording, with its pitch correction, limitless effects plug ins and editing possibilities” for this new one, opting instead — with the help of engineer Drew Vandenberg (Deerhunter, Toro y Moi) — to record the whole shebang on a weak-ass, dime-a-dozen 24-track tape machine in his home studio. Can you believe that?!? (I’m using my 24-track as a coat rack right now, personally.) Anyway, the band (which consisted of of Barnes [guitars, bass, vocals], Rebecca Cash [vocals], Clayton Rychlik [drums, vocals], Jojo Glidewell [keys], Bob Parins [pedal steel, bass], and Bennet Lewis [guitars, mandolin]) tracked everything live in the same room and were forced to work quickly, “with the band members composing their parts on the fly with little second guessing.” Hey, that’s kind of how I work too! Onward! New approach!
“I knew I wanted the process to be more in line with the way people used to make albums in the late 60s and early 70s,” Barnes said of the process. “I wanted to work fast and to maintain a high level of spontaneity and immediacy. I wanted the songs to be more lyric driven, and for the instrumental arrangements to be understated and uncluttered.” The album was done in three weeks. You can check out the first single from it below, but you’d better do it fast, because it’s going to be old-as-shit and passé-as-balls in a few weeks (heck, maybe even days, I don’t know!). Personally, I’m already just furious that I don’t know what the next of Montreal album is going to sound like.
lousy with sylvianbriar tracklisting:
01. fugitive air
02. obsidian currents
03. belle glade missionairies
04. sirens of your toxic spirit
05. colossus
06. triumph of disintegration
07. amphibian days
08. she ain’t speakin’ now
09. hegira émigré
10. raindrop in my skull
11. imbecile rages
• of Montreal: http://www.ofmontreal.net
• Polyvinyl: http://www.polyvinylrecords.com
• Joyful Noise: http://www.joyfulnoiserecordings.com
More about: of Montreal
