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?