Things to look forward to in 2011

Hasn't December been incredibly low on excitement this year? No announcements, no touring, no new videos, not even one lousy interview or year-end list*** to post, it's like everybody has gone mute. Everybody but Davey and Nick (Dobbratz, not Gould), that is. Yesterday they announced that Yip Deceiver will release their first EP on February 8th through Aerobics International. Check their page regularly for pre-order or order info, because right now there's absolutely nothing about the Yip Deceiver EP.

Yip Deceiver will also embark on a pretty big US tour next year, supporting one of the most exciting bands that has ever opened for of Montreal, Sugar & Gold (though it looks like their line-up has been significantly cut down) :

01/22 - Athens, GA - Caledonia Lounge
01/25 - Birmingham, AL - The Bottletree
01/26 - Memphis, TN - The Hi Tone
01/27 - Hot Springs, AR - Maxines
01/28 - Norman, OK - Opolis
01/29 - Dallas, TX - Jack Daniels Saloon
01/30 - Austin, TX - The Mohawk
02/01 - Tucson, AZ - Club Congress
02/03 - Los Angeles, CA - The Bootleg Theatre
02/04 - Monterey, CA - Carbone's
02/05 - San Francisco, CA - 3 Kinds Of Stupid @ The Rickshaw Stop
02/07 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios
02/08 - Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret
02/09 - Seattle, WA - The Vera Project
02/12 - Sacramento, CA - Blue Lamp
02/13 - San Diego, CA - Soda Bar
03/01 - Asheville, NC - Broadway's
03/02 - Charlottesville, VA - Tea Bazarre
03/03 - Brooklyn, NY - Knitting Factory
03/04 - Buffalo, NY - Mohawk Place
03/05 - Cincinnati, OH - MOTR Pub
03/06 - Chicago, IL - Schubas
03/07 - Rock Island, IL - Daytrotter (session)
03/08 - Madison, WI - TBA
03/09 - Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club
03/10 - Omaha, NE - TBA
03/11 - Kansas City, MO - Crosstown Station
03/12 - Denton, TX - NX35 Conferette Festival
03/15 - Houston, TX - Fitzgerald Downstairs
03/16-19 - Austin, TX - SXSW
03/21 - Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder
03/22 - Orlando, FL - Backbooth
03/23 - Tampa, FL - Orpheum
03/24 - Miami, FL - TBA
03/25 - Jacksonville, FL - Lomax Lodge
03/26 - Atlanta, GA - TBA

While Davey takes his side project on the road, Mr. Poole will be busy with the Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise tour (dates below). Who knows how this will turn out, but so far it's fair to say that it sounds like a lot of fun, with fourteen e6 vets playing e6 standards, plus games, plus films, plus surprises. Some of these shows are already sold out apparently, so grab your tickets while you can. I hear they'd make a great last-minute Christmas gift.

02-24 Roswell, GA - WhirlyBall Atlanta
02-25 Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder (Florida State University)
02-26 New Orleans, LA - One Eyed Jacks
02-28 Austin, TX - Emo's Inside
03-01 Dallas, TX - The LOFT at the Palladium
03-03 Phoenix, AZ - The Duce
03-04 Los Angeles, CA - The Satellite
03-05 San Francisco, CA - The Independent
03-08 Portland, OR - Backspace at the Someday Lounge
03-09 Seattle, WA - The Vera Project
03-11 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court
03-12 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
03-14 Minneapolis, MN - Varsity Theater
03-15 Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall
03-16 Kalamazoo, MI - The Strutt
03-17 Cleveland Heights, OH - Grog Shop
03-18 Toronto, Ontario - Horseshoe Tavern
03-19 Buffalo, NY - Big Orbit's Soundlab
03-20 Easthampton, MA - Flywheel
03-22 Brooklyn, NY - Knitting Factory
03-23 New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge
03-24 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
03-25 Charlottesville, VA - The Southern Cafe and Music Hall
03-26 Raleigh, NC - Kings Royal Barcade

*** Well I'll be damned, 30 minutes later, Kevin posted his top 10 list. I guess he figured that since no-one would ask him, he'd go ahead and facebook his choices himself. That's the spirit!

Janelle Monae "The ArchAndroid"
Ariel Pink "Before Today"
Big Boi "Sir Lucious Left Foot:the son of Chico Dusty"
...Sufjan Stevens "the age of adz"
Twin Shadow "Forget"
Flying Lotus "Cosmogramma"
MGMT "Congratulations"
Tame Impala "Innerspeaker"
Caribou "Swim"
How To Dress Well "Love Remains"

of Montreal in upcoming documentary

There is no word to express how bad I feel for posting this 6 months after I was contacted by the PR lady (yeah, that was back in June and it got buried under the ton of fan mail you guys send me - or something), but there's actually a cool little documentary called 40 nights of rock'n'roll that features of Montreal. It was shot in April when the band played the Granada Theater in Dallas, Tx.
You can watch the whole trailer on their website, or get a sneak preview of the oM part below.

The whole idea, from what I gather, came from Paste Magazine editor Steve LaBate (you know, this guy is responsible for the best of Montreal interview(s) ever*) and some guy I'm not familiar with (Scott Sloan) who decided to hit the road and see 40 shows in 40 days in 40 different cities. Hopefully it'll come out as entertaining to watch as it was to shoot.


* in case you forgot :

• Kevin interviewed (originally posted on November 13th, 2008 :
• part 1 / part 2 / part 3 / part 4 / part 5 / part 6 / part 7
• David interviewed (originally posted on November 21st, 2008)
• Nina interviewed (originally posted on November 24th, 2008)

And also, the first interview that got us excited about Skeletal Lamping :

Video Interviews

Thanks to Stephen G. for directing me to this pretty cool interview and footage from the Mexican experience... Nothing that's being said is really new, but there's a real effort to make the editing less drab than it usually is, so it's still definitely worth 5 minutes of your time.

Of Montreal from Julio Pineda on Vimeo.

Plastic Umbrella also shared this interview of BP that was apparently shot on the same day (or the day before? or the day after?), so you may want to take a look at it too (because you're on a roll now, aren't you?)



I also wanted to share a blog post from some dude from Portugal who travelled all the way to Oslo to see the band play there in October. Isn't it time for of Montreal to stop shunning southern Europe? There are good people down there who are getting desperate down there!

And remember, there are only 4 days left to vote for your favorite Famine Affair remix! The good people of the Townhall really really need your help, especially Lucy who is now 1000 votes behind the guy who couldn't be bothered to master it properly!

Here's the Booty Patrol shortlist :

• Jackson Albracht (The Cartographers)
  
• Diana aka Wappytea
  
• David & Zakk
  
• Elias & the Errors
  
• Lucy & Ivar
  
Karl's Stand By Me / Famine Affair mash-up

So go vote! What are you waiting for? You don't even have to get out of the house!


EDIT (dec 9th) : The band has (somehow) noticed that something was going wrong with the "democratic process" so they decided to pick the winner themselves. Thank you of Montreal for taking this thing seriously and preventing it from turning into of Montreal remixes : the Haiti of the music world. The winner will be announced on December 13th. Good luck to everyone (but not to those who cheated).

Another acoustic version of Enemy Gene

I'm pretty sure you all remember when Kevin posted this piano version of what was going to become track 5 on False Priest...



Now here comes this great acoustic guitar version from Manchester Scenewipe :

Of Montreal from MCR Scenewipe on Vimeo.

Thanks Plastic Umbrella for the link

And since we're open to discussion and debate here (well, only if you agree with me, that is, democracy is overrated), what do you think of Athens Music Express's article on this one song? Was it marred by over-production? Or did it just become something so different you can't compare? And more importantly, how can one version of the song sound more "sincere" than the other? Does this even mean something? Aren't songs just good or not, incapable of being either sincere or deceitful? So many questions, so few answers...

Famine Affair Remix contest

The vote is now open, and oh my oh my, there are about one hundred contestants fighting for your attention. I have to admit I got tired after listening to about 10 of them (good thing some of you had already submitted your entries at the Townhall or shared them with me already!)
Anyway, it looks like "our own" Lucy Is A Banana got a little bit of a headstart with her classic dance-floor remix, so good luck to her!
Since a lot of good people I happen to know are entering, I'm going to shamelessly promote them and help you weed out the others (what? I don't know you? that's because you suck!) :

Here's the Booty Patrol shortlist :

• Jackson Albracht (The Cartographers)
  
• Diana aka Wappytea
  
• David & Zakk
  
• Elias & the Errors
  
• Lucy & Ivar
  

Contact me with the link to your remix if you want a bit of free publicity!

New addition : Karl's Stand By Me / Famine Affair mash-up,

The vote will be closed on December 13th, so there's plenty of time to decide. Choose wisely, my friends, because I am not sure if you can vote several times.
Explore, listen and cast your ballot here!

of Montreal in Os Mutantes Land

After being announced at Planeta Terra Festival last year (but that fell through, or never was on the cards to begin with), the band finally made it to Brazil. Now here's a country on the way up : Dilma Rousseff taking over Lula (wow, two socialist presidents in a row!), the World Cup in 4 years, and a festival that would make some well-established European ones blush.

If pictures are anything to go by, it looks like soundcheck went well yesterday. Click on the picture below to check out all the others (beware, they got band members' names wrong!)

(picture from the festival's website - (c) Ricardo Matsukawa)

As you can see - because you have an eye for details, I know you all do! - Dottie seems to have what used to be Thayer's Nord on her stand now, so does this mean the fantastic False Priest line-up is already dead? We will soon have the answer*, as the band's performance will be webcast live on the festival's site. And in HD! Thanks Vardamir for the heads-up! Right now all I can tell you is to head over there, and wait, because I don't see a link to a webcast or anything like that. But then I don't speak Portuguese (well, apart from a couple of insults), so that could be the problem. Well at least I can curse at the screen.

EDIT : The show will be webcast on this page.
(thanks Don for clearing this up, even though it doesn't seem to work right now)

EDIT Nov 21th : alright, so the streaming didn't work so well, but the whole show is now online! Now I can't watch it because apparently there is no Franco-Brazilian agreement on copyrights, but it may work in other countries. See what you can do with this link! And if some of you are little ripping geniuses, now would be the right time to step up and share for those of us living under cultural embargo.

-----
In case you've missed it earlier this week, you may want to take a look at Dottie's musings on food and restaurants. Dottie seems pretty food-adventurous, so now I have to wonder if she ever tried pigeons, horses, whole ortolans (bones and all), snails and frogs in France, hopefully not at the same time. (yes, I know, "ewwww, gross"...)


-----

* Thomas R. (who as fas as I know was the only one able to watch the webcast) reports that Thayer was there, and so was everyone else.

Dallas, Tx bootleg available!

You have to admit that success is a weird thing. It is fair to say that of Montreal has never been that popular and succesful, and yet our taper friends have suddenly turned their backs on them. Case in point, the Ninjas Prove It tour provided us with no less than 8 recordings, but this time we've only had the NPR stream and not-quite-up-to-scratch Urbana one. So let us be thankful for Dave aka Time Was A Joke for his recording of the Dallas show. The setlist that night was quite stellar (You Do Mutilate? Plastis Wafer, Oslo In The Summertime, The Past Is A Grotesque Animal, but also every "hit" off Hissing Fauna), even though I'm sure quite a few fans must have been puzzled by the lack of covers.
Go grab the mp3s there!

Famine Affair video

We were waiting for a Sex Karma video featuring Nina and a snake, but we're actually getting a Famine Affair video featuring Nina... and a lot of slow motion. A rather claustrophobic in camera scenario, the very beautifully shot and cinematographic video seems to be heavily influenced by the French new wave (but maybe that's just me, because I see French influences where they are not?) and it features an (as yet) unknown male actor* surrounded by dozens of females in what seems to be a total dystopia.

Watch it there and see what Kevin and Spin have to say about it.


* It only took the Booty Patrol a few hours to figure out that this is Josh McKay from the 2010 Flagpole Music Award Winning band Abandon The Earth Mission. I knew I could count on you people!


EDIT : Our Riotous Defects is NPR's Song of the Day!

EQ Magazine + LA Times

As the full-blown False Priest tour winds to its end, of Montreal is still getting a fair amount of press. Most notable interviews/articles this week :

• The LA Times : A pretty insightful interview with Kevin. Topics include previous live shows, Matt Chamberlain vs. drum machine, soul music, and talking to your daughter when she's not within ear-range (apparently).
  
• EQ Magazine : if you are the kind of person who gets turned on by twiddling little knobs, this is the one article you want to read. I know a lot of you have asked about all the technical details, and how Kevin records and what he's been using, and this is where you will find the answers. I, for one, had trouble making it past the second paragraph but I still tried to browse the article just to see if it would put an end to the Townhall's autotune debate, but apparently not. What is the effect we're hearing on Like A Tourist? We're none the wiser.
  
• Tammies : In this one, Davey gets to share his view of the band. As previously hinted at in the NME video from a while ago, not only is he a kick-ass bass player, a fascinating showman and a blossoming songwriter, he also is responsible for most of the props on this tour. High Five!
  

Famine Affair Remix contest

It's all in the title : the band is giving away the stems for you to use and remix! Not only do you get the chance to hear the individual tracks that made up the song (I guess, I haven't downloaded them yet), but you could win oM's entire discography (and that's a lot of vinyl*) and make 500 bucks in the process. And for all these years you'd been wondering what to do with garage band! *wink-wink*

Head over to Polyvinyl Records to see what this is all about, download the goods and get creative.

The good (or bad) news is that the winner will be determined by popular vote, so it is both your chance to show the world what you can do, and to prove that you have the largest family/network. Why are you still reading this? You only have four weeks left.

---

* so I have been informed that it wasn't going to be a lot of vinyl, or even a lot of plastic, because it's the whole digital discography, so that makes a lot of... nothing. Don't let that put you off, DJs!

More press, videos, interviews

Thanks to Byron Sweet for this new NPR link : Robert Christgau (*gasp* and if you don't, check out his resume) wrote what I believe is his first piece on of Montreal. Now of course he kind of is full of shit, but then (a) the guy is getting old and (b) it doesn't matter when you're Robert Christgau, right? You can say whatever you want and call it the Truth, who's going to confront you? Well, I sure bow to the guy, even though he must have been quite deaf if he'd never heard a bassline in oM songs before.

Check out the video interview on French website musicactu - they didn't overdub it, so it is safe for you English-speaking people. Funny how they translated "one of the bigger markets in Europe" as "the best audience in Europe" - but hey, we're French, what do we care about twisting people's words to gratify our egos?
And here's the cue to announce that great news is on the way for French fans, as The Booty Patrol (TM) is about to team up with the "French of Montreal fan club" pour votre plaisir. Not sure how it's going to work just yet, but we assure you it's going to be way cooler than a lazy-assed google translation.

The band hit the road again this week (well, it's not like they had really stopped) and soundspike was there to document their first show back in the US. Don't torture yourself with their review, but take a look at the slideshow, really nice pictures (don't they make anything embeddable anymore?) Before the show, the Riverfront Times had posted a short Q&A with Kevin, and prior to the band's upcoming Seattle show, Seattle Weekly published another Q&A, in which Kevin claims that his favorite False Priest song to play live is You Do Mutilate? - and no-one would have suspected that, right?

If you live in Portland, OR (lucky you!), and you don't have tickets for the Oct. 28th show yet, you can try and win a couple of them (and they'll be sending False Priest your way too). All you need to do is come up with a good comment to post on their site.

Signing off with The Past Is A Grotesque Animal as performed live in Brussels last week - in 4 installments because my camera exploded 3 times from sheer excitement.

Paris show at la Cigale

It's been one week since of Montreal mesmerised the city of lights. The Booty Patrol was in attendance, armed with a photo pass (thanks B.P.!) and a super stable super HD camera, but everything in France has to turn into a shouting match and a power struggle (and I am always on the losing end), so I got kicked from the balcony, and the camera was taken away, but what they didn't know is that I had another one hidden away. Ha! Sometimes I'm so proud of myself... Still, the quality isn't as good as it would have been if I had used my camera from the balcony as planned, but it still is the full show - filmed by yours truly. Enjoy!
EDIT : the first video is super blurry but it gets a lot better)




Pixbear posted a great review of the show, and they took a few great pics, too. Mr. Robert Gil was there too, and his eye is as keen as ever - though he apparently didn't think much of the show. Check out the pictures from his website.

Videos from the London show, more interviews

Time for a new update!

Interviews published in the last few days :

1) NPR's All Songs Considered. (thanks Jill for the link)
2) The Line Of Best Fit.
3) The Quietus.
4) The Fly has a piece written by Kevin about illegal immigration and the utter stupidity of some of the recent laws passed in the US recently. We have Plastic Umbrella to thank for the link.

Apple Picker production filmed the show in London last week (it doesn't look like the whole show, though), and even if I haven't been able to watch it yet (what with uploading my own videos from the Paris show - 9 songs into it, we're getting there - and traveling to Amsterdam (where the band kicked serious Duutch aass) and, er, working), I'm still sharing it with the world. Somehow these videos have a ridiculously low number of views, it's almost as if people liked 30-second snippets filmed with a crappy phone while whoever was holding it was dancing better than full songs, captured in HD, by professional people using a tripod. Check these videos out, or else.






Finally, check out the new tour dates :

11/12 Mexico City, Mexico @ Salon Los Angeles
11/13 Guadalajara, Mexico @ Lydo’s Show Center
11/20 Sao Paolo, Brazil @ Planeta Terra Festival
01/11 Mobile, AL @ Soul Kitchen
01/12 Tallahassee, FL @ The Moon
01/13 Orlando, FL @ Firestone
01/14 Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution
01/15 Tampa, FL @ The Ritz
04/02 Halifax, Nova Scotia @ Halifax Multi Purpose Centre

2010-09-22 - Urbana, Il show available for download!

This bootleg recording has been available on various platforms for a little while (the kind of place where you need an invite or something like that), but we are a sneaky bunch. Dwarfbeat used all her internet skills to download the show and re-upload it to the Booty Patrol's mediafire page for all of us to enjoy! Grab it from our download's page! And browse our other recordings! We have quite a few more (about 60) that we haven't uploaded yet, and we are looking for able bodies and internet connections to complete our catalog. If you see any broken links, or if you'd like to help, send us a mail!
The quality of the recording isn't top-notch, and the performance let quite a few people down (and that includes Kevin, as documented in this interview, and Booty Patroller Elias), but it still has its moments (and The Past Is A Grotesque Animal). If anyone could tell me what is the song they covered at the end of Oslo In The Summertime I'd be grateful, because I've never heard (of) it before.

More interviews

The band hasn't touched down in Europe yet (it's only a matter of hours I believe), but British interviews are starting to flood in (well, that's more like a trickle, but I'm hopeful)

Below is the NME video interview which somehow ended up on AOL's site and not on NME's, but hey, technicality... A lot of interesting footage from the rehearsals prior to the tour, and watch out for Kevin's mom around the 2-minute mark! And doesn't it feel nice to see Kevin so genuinely happy to answer these questions? Kuddos to Spenser for that video! Now of course, it might be the closest Europe will ever get to these props, but don't let that bum you out, and get your tickets if you haven't already done so, it's going to be grand all the same. (I hope for your sake nothing has sold out yet!)



Of Montreal - NME Video Interview


Drowned In Sound did quite a good job with their interview once again. I'm not sure if I'm imagining things or what, but it definitely feels like Kevin is sharing and opening up more with foreign publications.


Back in the US, False Priest was in Time Magazine's shortlist of things to do (I bet they meant "buy", or "listen to", but who would want to "do" a false priest???) last week (and it's a really short list - 5 items, only one music-related), and here's the evidence!!! You have to wonder whether or not this will have an impact on sales... Are the kind of people who read Times Magazine likely to enjoy False Priest?
Many thanks to Mr. Barnes (senior) for bringing this to our attention, and Lisa W. who found the online link.

LimeWire (which seems to be a totally legit site now)1 posted an interview with Kevin last week too. We have Bella aka G&G to thank for this link.

Also, on October 4th, KZSC Santa Cruz will be broadcasting their "exclusive" interview from 2 to 4pm. The main problem I have with exclusive interviews is that they are no use when every journalist asks exactly the same questions. But you never know, you may learn a few things if you tune in and have a little faith in Californians.

-
1 (can't you tell I'd be lost without parentheses?)

Family Nouveau NYC premiere tomorrow (oct. 1st)

New Yorkers always get the best deal. Case in point, not only do they get to see Family Nouveau, Spenser Simrill's film documenting of Montreal's January 2009 European tour (and what a tour that was), but they also get the chance to win... signed perfect push-ups!! (sounds randoM? Check out the trailer below!)

of Montreal European Tour 2009: Family Nouveau Trailer from Spenser Simrill, Jr. on Vimeo.

New Yorkers, let me tell you one thing : you don't want to miss that screening, your only chance to fight the severe oM withdrawal syndroms you've been experiencing after the two shows at Terminal 5. So get your weekly dose, buy your tickets, and RSVP to the event on facebook. You will also get the chance to see behind-the-scenes footage of the Sex Karma video, featuring Nina Twin, a river and... a snake.

of Montreal on the Current

Before their 1st Ave. show in Minneapolis last night, Kevin and Janelle stopped by MPR's studios to record "Flunkt Sass vs. the Rute Plume," "Tonight" and "Enemy Gene." Kevin also got interviewed.

Listen to the stream below or check it out on MPR.org (whichever one works!)

Thanks Dwarfbeat for the link!

Check out Gaelen Harlacher's 56 pictures of of Montreal's performance at Terminal 5 in NYC on Prefix Mag.


Spinner/AOL also got to talk with Kevin, but their angle seems to be pretty weird, as they only asked about the Grateful Dead (and embedded a barely audible video of oM's cover of Shakedown Street at Langerado two years ago), and "fragmented" songwriting (which barely applies to False Priest after all). I'm guessing this is just a tasty appetizer for a longer interview, or, even better, an acoustic set like they did in 2007 and 2008. Of course I could be wrong, and AOL has just lost it.

The Booty Patrol is still waiting for real, physical magazines (you know the type, the ones which destroy entire forests) to come up with interviews. If you happen to have any, please share with us so we can include them to the archives.

7 days in the life of Kevin Barnes

Just found out about this through Polyvinyl (shows how much I care about what's going on in my own country) : Kevin has been blogging for Le Grand Bazart (what is it with French magazines and their lame plays-on-words for title?) since the beginning of the tour (apparently it's a 7-day stint), and even better, they've made the original versions available for the whole world to understand.

1. September 13th : of Parliament
   
2. September 14th : of Death & Literature Nobel Prize winners.
   
3. September 15th : of chess & mosquito repellent.
   
4. September 16th : of sharks & merlions.
   
5. September 17th : of David & Art.
6. September 18 : of Hermes & MJ.
7. September 19th : of volley ball & goulds.
   

More love from France came in the guise of an in-depth five-page-long interview published in Les Inrockuptibles last week, but this time you have to reactivate your French, or try the google translation, if you are brave enough.

The new Blurt magazine has a pretty long article featuring both Janelle and Kevin, but it's nearly impossible to read on janelle's official website, so we'd all be thankful for good quality scans!



Check out the really cool slideshow of the Buffalo show :


Pictures by Ben Jay! Thanks.

Tour kick-off, new interviews

of Montreal kicked off their national tour on Monday night at the 9:30 Club in Washington DC, and Spin was already there to review it. Unfortunately, they seem to have caught the band on an off night, while Janelle Monae shone like the sun (and the stars, and the violet moon), and are already predicting that the "tour that will surely end with her as a headliner." Well, I'll be damned. Admittedly, quite a few fans seemed to have been let down by the performance, too, so you can't just write it off as music critics hating on the band again. of Montreal's performances are always going to be pretty polarizing events, so be sure to listen to the NPR stream below (recorded the night after - and even though there are a few dead moments - compared to the Ninjas Prove It tour, which was basically 100 minutes non-stop - nothing there could make you think the night before deserved such a write off), experience the show for yourself, and share your comments with us.







Now for another round of interviews : Cincinnasty's City Beat just posted one that isn't particularly interesting (but I'm sharing anyway), and Detroit's Metro Times have a somewhat better one up, with Kevin reminiscing about his growing up in Michigan, and offering a pretty optimistic view of our "post-race society."

NPR live webcast, Express Night Out Interview, Cemetary Gates Session

NPR webcast : We were all wondering if this would happen again this year, and the answer is "fuck yes!"
Thank you NPR!

The of Montreal show at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC tomorrow will be streaming from NPR's site. Don't forget to all tune in tomorrow!


Express Night Out :
Head over there for a fantastic song-by-song interview. It always help to have a good view of what the brain and heart that created the songs were going for, and what/who actually influenced the music and lyrics you spend your days listening to. Definitely the best interview (even though it isn't one, strictly speaking) I've read in quite some time. Way to go, Express Night Out!


P4K.tv

I was going to say "watch it here!" but P4K can't be bothered to provide embed codes that work, apparently (or maybe it's the blog - it's been acting weird all day - please bear with us). So go watch Sex Karma, Coquet Coquette and Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse on their website and get a sweet, sweet preview of what the 8-member band sounds like.

Sex Karma video

Here's a little teaser of what to expect... You know it's going to be fanstastic, because Spenser Simrill manned the camera and the editing.
Apparently the video is nearing completion. Let's just hope it's not only a background video for the live show, but that it'll get an official release too.

False Priest Tour Setlist

Well, maybe they won't actually play this every single night, but this is how they chose to kick off the tour last night. As announced, Athenians got Black Lion Massacre (waiting for audio or video of that one with sweaty hands and racing heart), the 13 False Priest songs, but not one from Skeletal Lamping (ouch). MJ is a Michael Jackson medley/tribute (Thriller/Wanna Be Startin' Something/PYT), Tonight has got to be the Sibylle Baier cover, and they also added Heimdalsgate and Ghetto World.




Thanks Michael (and Liz) for the setlist!

Interviews and previews

As planned, this week has been full of interesting news and interviews and just about everything you've come to expect in the week leading to the official release date of an of Montreal album in 2010.

First and foremost, take a look at this great video from Rolling Stone - you'll learn quite a few things about the upcoming tour. I wonder how much of this Europe will get to see (my guess, around 10%)




Rolling Stone also published a small accompanying piece, and I've been told they gave False Priest a great review. The mainstream suddenly looks a little bit more vibrant and friendly.

Spin Magazine forgot their cameras back home, but they still posted a really good piece on Sex Karma, and allowed you to download the song too. The comment section is disturbingly empty as of now, so go ahead and praise the song because right now it's kind of depressing to see that no-one had anything to say about it. Damn.

Pitchfork came up with a new idea for interviews this fall, and it's actually a really good one. The rule of the game is to let the artist present the music they were into at ages 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 (that's where we'll stop right now in Kevin's case, but I can't wait for the Lou Reed edition). Head over to P4K right now, and see how much his tastes have changed, and whether or not you went through the same phases.

Beer Melodies posted a pretty lengthy interview with Kevin - including good, relevant questions (thought I'd mention that, because it's actually pretty rare), but I've been told that the introductory paragraphs were dreadfully challenging, so you may want to scroll down the page if you find yourself in a hurry, or if your brain has low tolerance for verbosity. (in which case, I'm not sure how you can actually stand to listen to an oM album from start to finish).

The Agit Reader has another interview with Kevin, and it's got a few revealing facts about the Controller Sphere EP that will be released next year. It looks like we're in for a few suprises and changes of pace. Exciting.

Boston-based paper The Phoenix also came up with two articles to promote both the album and the upcoming Boston show. They seem to be both centered around the same interview, and while hardcore fans may not learn anything new, they're still worth the 10 minutes it'll take you to read them. I mean, there's talk of a kaleidoscopic trenchcoat, what could possibly beat that?

And last but not least (if you live in DC), Brightest Young Things (and Gibson Guitars, and VitaminWater, and other sponsors that are too numerous for me to remember) are planning a lunch with all eight members of the band. Is this a genius move or a corny one? Try your luck, find out and report back! Apparently all you have to do is be one of the first hundred people to buy False Priest on September 14th. Details here.

Also, in almost-related news, Jamey will be touring this fall too, as the opening act for the Azure Ray long-awaited reunion tour!
Check out the dates here.

Listen to False Priest on NPR, rehearsals under way

For those who haven't pre-ordered it and got it in the mail yet, False Priest is now streaming from NPR's First Listen page!

With the first leg of the False Priest tour starting in less than a week (excitement!), Dottie and Davey have been hard at work trying to get us fans up to date. Dottie shared a few pictures on the of Montreal facebook page this morning/last night (and promised more!), and I think you may be able to see them even if you don't have an account... Davey created a twitter account to keep us posted during the tour.
How lucky are we?

Total Darkness vs. Blinding Light

Head over to Total Darkness vs. Blinding Light to read their Q&A with Kevin. It's definitely worth it.

The Controller Sphere to be released next year

Yes, you read that right! Always one move ahead of us all, Kevin explained in an Express Night Out interview that he and Jon Brion chose to cut quite a few songs from False Priest, but that some of them will eventually be released as an EP called The Controller Sphere.

False Priest to be released on... cassette.

In a typical back to the future move, Joyful Noise announced earlier today that they would release False Priest on tape. For $10, not only will you get the tape, but also a digital download code (in mp3 AND flac, for your discriminating ears), and a 12-panel booklet featuring artwork from the Barneses (David and Nina of course, but apparently Kevin, too, which is scary to those who remember that NSFW Q magazine drawing session from October 2008).
This new format will probably please every single one of you stuck with a Toyota Corolla or a VW Jetta from the 80s. Joyful Noise thinks there's about 500 of you out there, as they won't be making more. Now let's hope they don't drop the live DVD for a betamax tape.
You can pre-order the tape right now on Joyful Noise's website.

Here's a little sample of the cassette artwork :

Coquet Coquette Music Video

It's been a week since of Montreal posted their e-flyer advertising the release of the Coquet Coquette music video, and here it is, on time!
While it definitely is distracting the viewer from the music, you have to admit this is a huge improvement on just about every video they've made since Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse. Join the fight!



In other news, two False Priest reviews dropped today, one from Stereogum (who don't think too highly of the album apparently, but then they weren't too keen on Skeletal Lamping either if I remember rightly), and a dithyrambic one from Obscure Sound.
Yesterday French blog My Head Is A Jukebox posted a short interview with Kevin, in which nothing new is revealed, apart from plans of writing an "album around the nylon string guitar," but only if "someone very close to [him] dies." Oh my.

Kevin solo show at Respectable Street (#2)

The Booty Patrol doesn't post about every single show (otherwise I'd call this my full time job, and I would be desperately looking for interns), but there are times when you can see a little magic cloud forming over a particular date, and that's exactly what happened after Kevin's solo set was rescheduled and moved to Respectable Street. Not that a solo show as the headlining act of some local outdoor festival sounded bad, but the move to a much more intimate setting definitely helped raise our expectations. Fortunately, the Booty Patrol has full-time correspondents in Florida (though they're more like ultra mobile correspondents), and they came back with beautiful pictures (thanks Gaelen!) and videos (thanks Michael!) to share, and lots of memories to cherish (they could share them with you too, if they were not so busy with things like life and a real job).


Click on the picture to see more of these :

Here's a review of the show and videos (including the shiver-inducing 10 minutes 42 seconds of The Past Is A Grotesque Animal) :

It is rumored that the whole show was filmed by a some bald dude who goes by the name of Gingerman, and that it will be posted somewhere at some point... I'll keep you posted, of course... I mean, look at this setlist!

Also, The Booty Patrol would like to send very warm get-well wishes to one of our Florida friends and correspondent who got in a car crash last week and had to miss out on the show. Hope you make the quickest recovery in the world, Julie.

Kevin solo show at Respectable Street.

So the Lake Worth It festival appearance was cancelled? Who cares anymore??
Kevin will be playing a "rare intimate show" at the famed Respectable Street club in West Palm Beach on August 8th. RSVP and all you need to know on facebook.



Also, in case you've missed the twits, Spenser Simrill Jr's documentary, Family Nouveau, will be screened in Seattle over the weekend, as part of the Northwest Film Forum, along with Major Organ. Tickets and information here. The Stranger (which is the best source of information available online, whatever the subject, hands down) has a review of it up on their blog.
Special thanks to Jeffrey for the link.

of Montreal on Fallon

In case you missed it last night (or never had the chance to watch it in the first place), here's "Sex Karma" live on Jimmy Fallon (many thanks to MrSquig for the rip).

(thanks to Tom who informed me the link was down - though not from where I live...
Here's the re-up, but the groovy outro is missing and I've no idea why, in the meantime, you can download the whole video and mp3s of the two songs they performed.)

The band (now an 8-piece apparently, not counting Solange), also recorded Coquet Coquette on the set.

Still want more? Head over to the Burlington Free Press website for an interview with Kevin. For those of us who are a little bit worried about False Priest getting hijacked by Jon Brion, the good news is that apparently not that much was done in LA, apart from adding real drums and "improving" the sound, though I'm not quite sure how anything could sound better than Skeletal Lamping to human ears.

Two new interviews

1) Kevin on Land of Nod Experiment :


Not a lot to go on in this interview, but it's got to be the first one in about a month, so it's worth its own post. Or maybe not... but still, people of Michigan, rejoice, because the band will be debuting four new songs (not sure if that's four totally new songs or if it includes those that have been around for about a year and a half now) this weekend, and you'll also be introduced to new band members (still not quite the 10-piece band that was announced, but we're getting there).
Kevin also confirms that False Priest will be less fragmented and a return to a more traditional pop/rock song format, which will probably please a lot of people but kind of bums me out.

Check out the whole interview at mlive.com.


2) Davey @ Evolved Weirdness.
A nice little chat with Davey that must have occured right after their last show in New Orleans (was that early June?) - mainly about of Montreal's live performances.
Find out where Davey gets his cool stage outfits there.


3) And don't forget of Montreal will be on Fallon with Solange playing a track from False Priest on July 29th. Set your VCRs.

Grab your avatars here!!!!

Here is the first batch of avatars for you kids to promote False Priest on your blog or on forums (or in whatever fantasy world you live in...)
A simple right click-save image should do the trick, but let us know if something goes wrong.

new ones :

A huge huge thank you, well done, clap-clap, pat-on-the-back, wink-wink to Don for making this happen.

False Priest Trailer

(it's late and I'm tired, so I'm not going to say how amazing this all sounds - oh fuck I just did, and I'm not going to elaborate on the title of this piece either... but one day... )

48 hours later...

Thanks to newcomer Bossanova for his lightning-quick video-sharing skills, and letting us know that the trailer features samples of "Our Riotous Defects", "Hydra Fancies," "Godly Intersex", "Like a Tourist" and "Enemy Gene." (he must have heard it through the grapevine or something). September 3rd cannot come soon enough.

"Depraved Valet" and Stereogum interview

Stereogum just posted an interview with Kevin and a new track from Chuck Lightning's compilation album, "We Bumped Our Heads Against The Clouds" - available with this month's issue of The Believer.
"Depraved Valet" was written by Roman GianArthur and features Kevin on vocals. It is a pretty slow and soulful number, quite in the same vein as "Hydra Fancies." It probably wouldn't feel out of place on False Priest.
Head over there to download the track and check out what Kevin has to say about the Wondaland Arts Society and working with Jon Brion.

2nd Fanfare for Elephant 6

The beautifully creative people of the Townhall have released their 2nd cover compilation last month, entitled Second Fanfare for Elephant 6. It features quite a few of Montreal covers, including "You've Got A Gift" by everyone's favorite, Akyllic Love, a spot-on cover of "The Past Is A Grotesque Animal" by Freemdom (whoever that is), a string-laden "Psychotic Feeling" by Lenn9on9 (possibly my favorite of the lot - it really adds something to the original version), "Requiem For OMM2" by Zakk Zielke, and finally a lo-fi rendering of "Lysergic Bliss" by AceAzzameen and Office Party.
Many thanks to Abel for keeping the elephant 6 spirit alive online, and to everyone who participated.

You can download the 40 tracks free there, or stream it there.

Tour Dates Announced, new track available

As promised, the band posted the official dates for their upcoming tour today.

Here's the recap :

of Montreal with Janelle Monáe:

• 09-13 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club

• 09-14 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club

• 09-15 Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory

• 09-16 Boston, MA - House of Blues

• 09-17 New York, NY - Terminal 5

• 09-18 New York, NY - Terminal 5

• 09-19 Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom

• 09-21 Covington, KY - Madison Theatre

• 09-22 Urbana, IL - Canopy Club

• 09-23 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue

• 09-24 Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theatre

• 09-26 Nashville, TN - Cannery Ballroom

• 10-21 St. Louis, MO - Pageant

• 10-22 Omaha, NE - Sokol Auditorium

• 10-23 Lawrence, KS - Liberty Hall

• 10-24 Denver, CO - The Ogden Theater

• 10-25 Salt Lake City, UT - The Complex

• 10-27 Seattle, WA - The Paramount

• 10-28 Portland, OR - Roseland

• 10-30 Los Angeles, CA - Palladium

• 11-01 Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theatre

• 11-02 Dallas, TX - The Granada Theatre

• 11-03 Austin, TX - East Side Drive In

• 11-04 Houston, TX - Numbers

• 11-05 Oxford, MS - The Lyric

of Montreal in Europe, support unknown :

• 10-03 Dublin, Ireland - Tripod

• 10-04 Glasgow, England - QMU

• 10-05 Manchester, England - Academy 2

• 10-06 London, England - Koko

• 10-07 Paris, France - Cigale

• 10-08 Tourcoing, France - Grand Mix

• 10-09 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg Max

• 10-10 Berlin, Germany - Admiralspalast (Studio)

• 10-12 Stockholm, Sweden - Debaser

• 10-13 Oslo, Norway - Rockefeller

• 10-14 Copenhagen, Denmark - Amager Bio

• 10-15 Brussels, Belgium - Botanique / Orangerie

of Montreal, support unknown :

• 10-31 Tucson, AZ - The Rialto

• 11-06 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse

• 11-07 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse

The Believer magazine also has a CD available with this month's issue, and it features a version of "Hydra Fancies" (probably a raw mix) and another track on which Kevin collaborated (on what level, no clue). The CD was curated by Janelle Monae's side-kick Chuck Lightning. Time to check out your favorite newsstand.
I've been hearing great things about this track - and contrary to Coquet Coquette everybody seems to love it, but I personally have only listened to it once (because I'm weak), but I'm trying (hard, very hard) not to listen to any bits and save the surprise for when I get my CD and put it on from start to finish. I'd be happy to skip the heat wave and fast forward to September 3rd. It just can't come soon enough.

The band also took part in an official photo shoot yesterday, and this is how the whole oM family wants to look like going into the False Priest media madness. They want to look, well, white. Pure and innocent in a totally creepy way. Or maybe they want to look dead. What do you think?



picture by Patrick Heagney.



You can also get two different remixes of Coquet Coquette in digital format, on emusic if you're smart enough to have an account, otherwise I'm sure it's on iTunes, if you like to get ripped off, and use a site that also rips off the artists. But hey, I hear Steve Jobs needs the money to invent phones you can't phone with. Not that I'm complaining, when I die I want to be cremated with my iPhone so I keep on updating this blog from the other side. But, back to the topic at hand, the artwork is amazing. What a shame they don't plan on releasing this as a 7 or 12"

EDIT (July 13th): Yip Deceiver, one of the mysterious artists who got to remix Coquet Coquette turns out to be Davey's new musical endeavor. Check him/them out!

False Priest

A couple of days after the first artwork leak in the history of recorded music, Pitchfork was the first media outlet to announce the details we'd all been waiting for.


They do not offer much in terms of things we didn't already know (because that's who we are, people who figure things out before they even happen), but they have the official track list (I'm quite disappointed to notice that the longest title only has 5 words, none of which are in a foreign language, or refer to some obscure mythological creature, or just plain made up) and the release date : September 14th in the US, and 13th in Europe (what they don't know is that stores are closed in France on Mondays, so it's still going to be the 14th for some of us, but whatever...)



01 I Feel Ya' Strutter
02 Our Riotous Defects [ft. Janelle Monáe]
03 Coquet Coquette
04 Godly Intersex
05 Enemy Gene [ft. Janelle Monáe]
06 Hydra Fancies
07 Like a Tourist
08 Sex Karma [ft. Solange Knowles]
09 Girl Named Hello
10 Famine Affair
11 Casualty of You
12 Around the Way
13 You Do Mutilate?




The real treat, though, is that you can download the first single, Coquet Coquette, right now. If you have been following this blog and the band over the past year, this song will sound very familiar to you as it has been road-tested and performed several times acoustically since April 2009. If you haven't already done so, you can download various live version of this very song here. One thing is for sure, the production style is everything Kevin and Jon Brion had wished for ("That was the goal: To make something that had that low end but also was my thing, an of Montreal record." - P4K interview), but whether or not the fans will like it remains to be seen. As a matter of fact, some are already complaining. (because that's who we are, the kind of people who argue about production within 5 minutes of a song being released)

But enough of this, I see you standing there with your wallet wondering, can I get a False Priest bathrobe? Can I get a False Priest doormat? Can I get a set of 4 False Priest hubcaps? Well, not quite, but even if the collection is less elaborate than the Skeletal Lamping one (which is 20% off on PV right now, just so you know), we are still getting a decent amount of merchandising to choose from (each include mp3 downloads): obviously, CD and vinyl (black or red), amazing-looking shirt, and for a mere $40 a CD package deal that includes

• 1 CD
• 1 20-page-long booklet full of David's & Nina's drawings
• 1 t-Shirt
• 8 buttons
• 4 stickers
• 2 magnets
• 1 2 posters
• 1 Skeletal Lamping CD
• 1 Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? CD
• 1 Icons, Abstract Thee CDEP.

I kid you not. If you're not getting this, you're either out of your mind or a victim of the recession (quite possibly both - in which case, find some old guitar, learn 3 chords, and go busking and don't stop until you get 40 bucks). The LP package deal is just $10 more expensive.
Of course you're going to tell me that you already have Hissing Fauna & Skeletal Lamping, and I'm going to answer that your little brother, your distant cousin, your neighbor who keeps on blasting Nickleback just to piss you off, or the cute girl that always smiles at you at the bus stop probably don't. Think about it.

Check out the full collection and all the options available to you here.

old songs, new songs

With only 13 days left to start their False Priest pre-order campaign, Polyvinyl still managed to catch us off guard with a special The Past Is A Grotesque Animal release. The song has been remastered, and the b-side features the version you could hear in Spike Jonze's movie I'm Here. The good thing is that the artwork looks amazing, and the bad news is that it's already sold out. How did that happen, I've no idea, but apparently I was the only one who wasn't excited about the unexpected release of a three-year-old song, no matter how fantastically epic the song is. Congratulations to all 500 of you who got it straight away, when the rest of us will have to wait for it to show up on ebay.
Talking about three-year-old songs, oM fan and director Daniel Arthur contacted me with his pretty cool video for "We Were Born The Mutants Again With Leafling." Watch it here, and make sure you watch the whole thing because there's an amazing twist towards the end.

of Montreal - We Were Born The Mutants Again With Leafling from Daniel Arthur on Vimeo.

In recent news, and in case you're still not used to The Booty Patrol's amazing facebook and twitter features, you may have missed out on a few pictures, articles and interviews... First, there was You Ain't No Picasso's photo coverage of the False Priest recording sessions in Los Angeles. It actually looks like Jon and Kevin weren't doing much apart from sitting around drinking coffee and playing bass, but I'm sure that's what you do when you're just waiting for the magic to happen. Keep up the hard work, guys.
Secondly, Spin posted a great interview with Kevin last week. It is actually much better than the one Pitchfork posted today, but both give you a rather clear indication of what False Priest will sound like, and what the touring plans are, and a lot of other information that I found exciting when I first read them but can't quite remember what they were now. Uh-oh.
Thirdly, a few dates have been added for the summer. The whole band is playing two festivals and a venue, and Kevin is headlining the Lake Worth It Festival on August 7th. And when I say Kevin is headlining, I mean him, on his own, as a solo act. This hasn't happened in quite some time (SXSW '08?), so it should pretty interesting to see how he pulls it off, and whether his twitvid covers are not-so-secret rehearsals.

That's all for now, folks. Here's to wishing The Booty Patrol's next post is some legit False Priest information and a little less rambling.



~~~~ EDIT (later that day) ~~~~

According to Pitchfork, Major Organ and the Adding Machine, a movie featuring just about everyone who has had anything to do with the Elephant 6 collective, will be released on Orange Twins on September 14th. Almost ten years after it was shot. Here's a little teaser.

And the winner was...

Remember a few weeks ago when Matt Picasso announced this crazy contest of sorts? Well, it turns out that the winner of the two free tickets was our very own Riding Joe from NYC, but there was also the record-shopping experience with Bryan, and even though Matt couldn't make it due to illness (I hope you get better soon and that you've seen the last of this awful disease, Matt), he still posted a very interesting follow-up on his blog yesterday. Read all about Bryan's (surprising?) choices here, and find out new records to love (and if you claim you've already heard them all, I simply won't believe one word of it).


The very very last leg of the Skeletal Lamping tour is coming to an end this very night in Carrboro, NC, but fear not, Polyvinyl has already announced that False Priest will be available for pre-order sometime this month, which means that there will be lots and lots to report over the summer : artwork, track list, first single and its crazy video... Oh! Anticipation!

Take a look at hughshows' fantastic slideshow from the Pittsburgh show last week.

Nina's Website is now up & running

She has a blog, a tweeter account, a facebook account, a myspace account, an Etsy store, a good ol' mailbox (I assume), but there obviously was something missing : a real website!
You can now visit geminitactics.com and learn a lot more about Nina's projects.
And as if that wasn't cool enough, you'll also learn that when of Montreal starts touring in support of False Priest, you won't be going to a show, you won't be going to two shows (Janelle + oM), but you'll be going to two shows + "The False Priest touring exhibition." Lucky you, America!
There are also a few works of art that I'd never seen before, and I can't help but wonder if some of them are False Priest-related. I wish they would at least leak the artwork. Or the tracklist. Just a little something... The Booty Patrol is getting fidgety.

New song performed last night.

Once again the sound quality doesn't really do the band justice (or at least I hope so, if they sound like this they have a huge problem), but you can tell this new song - tentatively titled "Famine Affair" - has quite a classic late 70s rock feel to it, with some really nice guitar work from BP.
Thanks to André at the Townhall for his youtubing skills, and whoever taped it in the first place.




I'm reposting the two interviews I twittered about yesterday : a really short one with Kevin via Tulsa World, and one in which Bryan discusses False Priest and band politics (for lack of a better phrase) at Kentucky.com. Please ignore the journalist's comments - he obviously hadn't done his homework prior to writing the article.
On Read The Hook, Kevin gives us a few clues as to what False Priest is going to sound like : a less fragmented record you'll want to listen to on a high-end hi-fi system as opposed to your crappy laptop speakers.
Also, Spin was in New Orleans to review the band's first show : less theatrical elements, more good old rock'n'roll. Good call on likening the new oM sound to Suede, it all wasn't just happening in my head, then.

BETTER SOUNDING VERSION OF FAMINE AFFAIR :