Bandstand Busking W/ of Montreal

An idea as good as the Takeaway Shows (where bands play strolling through Paris), this one from London: "Bandstand Busking". From the site:

"There are loads of bandstands in parks across London, and most of them are looking fairly tattered from lack of use. When did you last see/hear one surrounded by hordes excited by the sounds? ...well we hadn't so we decided to do what we could to change that, to fill the parks once more (at least for a wee while every couple of weeks) with some talented people capable of carrying a tune or two."

Here is "An Eluardian Instance":

Head over to Bandstand Busking for videos of them playing "Id Engager" and perhaps the sweetest version of "Heimdalsgate" ever, in a park in London.

Paris Show Download

Big, big thanks to Dwarfbeat at the Townhall, for not only pointing us to both this Paris show and the BBC set on DimeADozen, but to converting this to mp3 and uploading for all of us to enjoy:

of Montreal, Paris, 2008-10-15
@ Megaupload

If you've got an account at torrent site DimeADozen, you can head over there and grab the lossless flac version of this show, which is a long one (an hour and a half, 24bit, 1.15 GB in flac, this mp3 version is just over 100MB)

Wonder if they'll do a repeat performance on the Takeaway Show.

Interview w/ Georgie Fruit

Hat tip to Illuminated on the e6townhall

The Quietus interviews Georgie Fruit (not Kevin Barnes)

BBC6 Session 10/13

of Montreal's first European date of the tour is tonight (the 15th) in Paris, and then tomorrow in London, but the band stopped off in London first to do a BBC Session for the George Lamb show on Monday the 13th. The two songs they performed simply make our awe for Skeletal Lamping that much stronger. All of Montreal albums are "growers" to some extent, but to see the musical weirdness of Skeletal Lamping fleshed out in these different live incarnations helps the appreciation grow all that much more:

of Montreal
BBC Session for the George Lamb Show
2008-10-13 London, BBC6 Studio

Intro
"Triphallus, to Punctuate!"
Interview
"Beware Our Nubile Miscreants" > Outro

Huge thanks to smiler40 at DimeADozen for sharing this!

NYC Roseland Ballroom Show 10/10 Available For Download

And from the looks and reviews of it, it was something else (including Kevin riding onstage on a white horse and an encore with Andrew from MGMT). It was the fourth stop of the tour for of Montreal, and last before a jaunt through Europe. Luckily, like he did last year, the dude at NYCTaper recorded the show.He has it on mp3 and flac, if for some reason his capacity maxes out again, Illuminated at the Townhall (big thanks!) was able to grab it and mirror the mp3 version for us: http://www.zshare.net/download/20541383bd6227d3, but huge thanks to NYCTaper for recording and sharing it with us!

http://www.nyctaper.com/?p=408 (scroll down)

If you didn't hear about the new cover they did during the encore, (with Andrew from MGMT), here's some video:





You Aint No Picasso has an mp3 of that cover (as well as the whole huge of Montreal covers archive) as well a great review and pics of the show, as do Fluxblog and Stereogum. And thanks again to NYCTaper for the audio! Here's a few highlights besides that cover - a surprise return of "Wraith..." (and even more surprisingly, it's more faithful to the album version than the rocked-up live version they played last year), as well as one of our favorites from Skeletal Lamping, "Wicked Wisdom" and a great version of "Mingusings" with a live jam at the end we hope to see repeated and even built upon by the time they return to the US:

of Montreal "Wraith Pinned To The Mist (And Other Games)" (2008-10-10 NYC)

of Montreal "Wicked Wisdom" (2008-10-10 NYC)

of Montreal "Misgusings" (2008-10-10 NYC)

Did we say thank you to nyctaper? THANK YOU!!!!

Id Engager Video

Courtesy Pitchfork and Prefix. Our 100th post!

Audio from 10/09/08 Wash. DC NPR Broadcast Available

If you missed the stream from last Thursday, first off: Woah. Of course we're a fanpage and it's our job to gush over of Montreal, but seriously - they never cease to amaze us. The sounds, arrangements, vocals, drums, everything was just so wonderful that our previous excitement level about seeing the new tour are now just through the roof. And if you missed the live stream, NPR now has it available, so head over there if you missed it. We'll post mp3s when they're available.

Live Tonight! Of Montreal, In Concert

Live Tonight: Of Montreal, In Concert
Listen Live Online At 9:30 p.m. ET
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95346520

NPR.org, October 9, 2008 - The Athens, Ga., band Of Montreal has been making some of the most wildly adventurous (if bizarre) music of the past decade. The group, led by frenetic frontman Kevin Barnes, has built a reputation on meticulously crafted, synth-driven psych-pop, with flamboyant production and gleeful sonic flourishes. Of Montreal brings this musical spectacle to Washington, D.C., for a full concert, webcast live at NPR.org tonight (Oct. 9). The performance will begin streaming online at approximately 9:30 p.m. ET.

Since forming in the mid-'90s, Of Montreal has been the most consistent and prolific of the bands in the Elephant 6 collective — the widely adored cadre of neo-psychedelic groups that included Neutral Milk Hotel and Olivia Tremor Control. Releasing nearly an album a year, Of Montreal has continued to produce remarkably inspired, breathlessly unpredictable songs, while other groups in the collective have disbanded, gone on lengthy hiatuses or moved on to other projects.

On the band's latest CD, Skeletal Lamping, Of Montreal plunges listeners into the freakishly surreal world of Georgie Fruit, the "transsexual alter ego" of singer Kevin Barnes. (Think David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust.) Barnes first introduced Georgie Fruit on last year's Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? On Skeletal Lamping, Barnes digs deeper into Georgie Fruit's imaginary world, with a burst of schizophrenic narratives and seductive, shape-shifting noise-pop. It's a strange but infectious sound, which Barnes says he developed by borrowing from the past.

"It's almost inevitable," Barnes tells NPR's Liane Hansen. "You have to sort of lift from other people. But as long as you do it in your own slightly original way, it's okay. So, I mean, I take from everybody, from Fela Kuti to Brian Eno, you know, from Prince to Queen. So I think it's okay, as long as you sort of blend it in an interesting way that's slightly original. I don't think that to be completely original is that important."

Skeletal Lamping is due out Oct. 21. In an attempt to reconnect listeners with something tangible and more artful, the label and Of Montreal are releasing the album in seven different formats. Instead of receiving a downloadable file only, or a flat CD, fans can get Skeletal Lamping packaged with a tote bag, T-shirt, button set, paper lantern or set of wall decals. Each of the formats will include both the unique packaging and a digital, downloadable version of the album. Band members say they hope the move helps bring listeners back to record stores.