Words cannot describe the performance that I witnessed this past Saturday night in midtown Manhattan — and it was all thanks to one tiny opening act with bizarre hair and a voice too big for any earthly venue to contain. To be fair, Of Montreal had an interesting set (to say the least). But while I appreciate the imagination behind gun-toting cyborg goldfish costumes and evil skeleton-men; I can’t really get down with the androgynous, super-poppy art-rock fusion thing. The set-opening performance of their new single, “Coquet Coquette,” was probably their strongest offering; and fortunately, before completely exhausting my memory card, I was able to capture the aforementioned fish-robots that accompanied it, as well as Janelle’s set-ending, crowd-infiltrating performance of “Come Alive (War of the Roses).” I could give a complete run-down of the entire set-list and detail every little …
TAG: Kevin Barnes
Tags: False Priest, Janelle Monae, Jon Brion, Kevin Barnes, live, new york, Of Montreal, R&B, soul, terminal 5, The ArchAndroid
of Montreal
False Priest
Released by Polyvinyl
Kevin Barnes is one of the finest pop craftsmen in the business and it’s precisely because he—and his band, of Montreal—doesn’t play by anyone else’s rules. From the tricked out cover art designed by Barnes’ wife and his brother to guest vocalists Solange Knowles and Janelle Monae to the hybrid of the heartfelt and the humorous, False Priest is one of the year’s most indispensable releases.
The Athens, Georgia based quintet follows up the seminal releases of Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? and Skeletal Lamping with a bristling collection of tracks mixing Barnes’ brand of psychedelia with R&B influences and a heady dose of Parliament-Funkadelic.
Who knew glamazon queen Kevin Barnes would be starring in a video with what looks like Juggalo zombies living on a deserted island walking around like Gollum and Linda Blair in The Exorcist. Well he did in of Montreal’s spanking new video for “Coquet Coquette” directed by Jason Miller. You can expect the new of Montreal album, False Priest, on September 14.
* Note: Not for those who dislike epic cannibalism










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