- Release Info -
Artist: of Montreal
Album: thecontrollersphere
Label: Polyvinyl Record Co.
Playtime: 23:46 min
Genre: Indie
URL: http://www.ofmontreal.net
Rip date: 2011-04-21
Street date: 2011-04-26
Size: 45.71 MB
Type: Normal
Quality: 254 kbps / 4410Hz / Joint Stereo
- Release Notes -
"Completing the triptych journey he began four years ago, indie-pop’s Lothario
provocateur Kevin Barnes finally exhibits strengths absent from much of
Montreal’s recent material: subtlety and depth. Though the trips down realms
of blue-eyed soul and processed funk acted as an entertaining diversion from
the caustic Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?, it shows that – without the
catharsis – Barnes simply isn’t all too interesting (and at times, he can be
jarringly annoying). For the good part of three years, of Montreal has been
operating solely on fumes and residual spectacle. thecontrollersphere however,
is a release so relentlessly catchy and psychologically savage that it draws
fourth a somewhat hyperbolic conclusion: this is easily among the best
releases from of Montreal. At the very least, it makes up for the “filler-pop”
of some recent Of Montreal material.
While still exploring the promiscuous ego of Georgie Fruit, Kevin Barnes
cycles through the densest of Montreal release yet. And though he claims that
the songs on this EP are merely leftovers from the False Priest sessions, I
can’t help but feel that he’s understating their quality by playing coy.
Though the funk and soul tinges are still broad enough to recognize this as a
logical progression, the songs here certainly don’t feel lifted from the same
place, time, or even mindset of the band that recorded Skeletal Lamping and
False Priest. The most apparent deviation from Georgie Fruit’s Dionysian
mindset is opener “Black Lion Massacre”, a dark avant-garde piece within the
vein of This Heat. Further severing his symbiotic relationship with the
fictional Mr./Ms. Fruit, the hallucinatory pastoral folk ballad “Flunkt Sass
vs. the Root Plume” channels the spirit of early career David Bowie (mellotron
and overly dramatic vocals included) to create a nostalgic piece of
psychedelia.
The remainder of the album acts as a testament to Barnes’ indefatigable nature
and reputation as a pop composer. Whether he’s raiding foreign discotheques
for peculiar and alien sounds (such as on the quasi-Mesopotamian epic,
“Holiday Call”), or wrestling with the rattle and hum of bi-polarism (i.e.
“Slave Translator”), Barnes composes himself with a sort of strategic bravado,
the likes of which that made Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? so
compelling. Even the lyricism is becoming more and more compelling as the
story of Georgie Fruit retrogresses into a sort of Disco Bloodbath.
Deconstructing the celebutante, Barnes drops lines of hopelessness, such as
“even this ghetto world that has nothing doesn’t want me” and “I’m cutting
myself and I feel like dirt”. Though lewd sex acts are still treated as pillow
talk, it’s becoming more and more obvious that the coke trails are coming to
an end and Georgie Fruit is becoming more and more spiritually violent.
The orgasms are getting shorter, the ecstasy is wearing off, and all the while
the hangovers are deepening. Killing off Georgie Fruit could very well be the
smartest artistic choice Barnes has made yet, for it provides a narrative that
is emotionally taught, while at the same time, wildly entertaining. When he
croons “I was only stabbing your heart because I was trying to get your
attention” during the closer, one can’t help but think back to the ostensibly
gloomy passages that were sprinkled throughout of Montreal’s poppy palette.
Georgie Fruit was fun, but it was little more than an excessive celebratory
victory lap. Even though Barnes has always been (and will most likely always
will be) firmly rooted in the tenants of camp, pomp, and kitsch, his chameleon
transformations will always be unpredictable in one way or another. Will he
explore the realms of Euro-centric couture? Experiment with sounds much
courses and callous than we’ve become accustomed to? Barnes has always been a
man whose genius comes across as accidental in the way in which it blossoms.
Much like his spiritual fathers Prince and Bowie, he’s unpredictable in both
the best and worst ways possible. If there is anything thecontrollersphere
succeeds in, it’s that it makes the future for of Montreal seem much brighter.
“Rebirth suicide, rebirth suicide” he mutters on “Slave Translator”. And as
history shows, indulging in what seems to be artistic suicide produces the
most interesting results."
- Track List -
01. Black Lion Massacre ( 5:07)
02. Flunkt Sass vs the Root Plume ( 2:37)
03. Holiday Call ( 8:17)
04. L'age D'or ( 3:32)
05. Slave Translator ( 4:13)
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