Third Fanfare for the Elephant Six

The Third Fanfare for the Elephant Six was released last month. It really looks like of Montreal is gaining weight within the Townhall (funny how that works), as this time the two-disc compilation features 8 of Montreal covers out of 39 songs. Highlights include The Past is a Grotesque Animal by Zakk Zielke & (my personal favorite) Lenn9o9n. Interestingly enough, this song isn't in Paste's list (see post below), when the fact that it's been covered in the Second and Third Fanfare seems to prove that it is the fans' favorite track. Don't hesitate to send us your covers of of Montreal songs if you have any you feel like sharing with the world - I'd be happy to host a compilation to celebrate the band's 15th birthday next year. Something to ponder...

As for now, you can download the compilation for free here.

Fell In Love With Europe

So the AV Club finally posted the video of of Montreal covering the White Stripes' Fell In Love With A Girl, a choice that seems about as weird as 2008's Smells Like Teen Spirit, but then we all remembered how that one went down, right? The bad news is, the video isn't playing here (not sure whether I should blame my sluggish computer or the French government and its stupid censorship of the internet), so I can't make any of my usual oh-so charming comments.* I'm still giving you the link so you can assess the quality of the recording. It was recorded, unless I am mistaken, on the day of Montreal was in Chicago and Kevin gave this interview (which doesn't have anything to do with The White Stripes, or falling in love with a girl).

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* I have been informed that the AV Club managed to mistake Clayton for Jamey. Shame on them.

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Big news #2 (but, hey! that's not news!!!) is oM's return to Europe, for two dates only : on Thursday in Barcelona, Spain and on Monday in Bergen, Norway. So be cool and welcome the band back to Europe... Now all we need is a little help from Iceland's Grimsvotn (So happy it isn't "Eyjafjallajökull" this year!) to make their stay longer... then they'd have to start busking to survive, and judging by this 2008 recording, no-one would want to miss that!

Florida tour wrap-up

After a snowy start that forced the band to reschedule their Mobile, Al show, the traditional Florida leg of the winter tour seemed to have gone great. (That's what you guys told me, anyway.) We could have thought they would introduce a lot of new material, what with thecontrollersphere EP coming out in a few months, and rumors that the next album is already under way, but only one new song was performed. It is tentatively titled Slave Translator. Watch the video below to hear what it sounds like... I'm not sure this is the whole song**, as people seem to remember it as a longer song, or rather a piecing together of two or three different songs, Coquelicot-style. Or Skeletal Lamping-style. It actually kind of ends like And I've Seen A Bloody Shadow, only more extreme.

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** sk8rrjon842, who apparently was the only person in Florida with enough sense to record the new song, tells us that it is the full song minus the opening 4 seconds or so. Thanks for sharing!
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They also added a new Prince cover to the collection - Sex Shooter. Be sure to visit Matt's collection of of Montreal covers over at You Ain't No Picasso, though it hasn't been updated in a year. You'll still find 88 covers the band has performed over the years, so if you haven't done so already, you might want to download all of this.

Two interviews surfaced during this tour too : The Broward Palm Beach New Times had the good idea to ask David about his involvement with the band and the meaning of False Priest. Creative Loafing interviewed Kevin. All the usual questions were asked, but there were also a few that were not the obvious ones, so it is still a pretty interesting read. There's also a tiny bit about what the future holds, and figuring out what's next is definitely what has us scratching our heads right now, right? Don't expect any clear answer there, Kevin is rather cryptic.

of Montreal covers Prince, gets covered.

For their tribute album to Prince's Purple Rain, Spin got 9 current artists to cover each one of the original songs. of Montreal got (or chose) Computer Blue (live version downloadable from the Sasquatch! set).
The great thing about "Purplish Rain" is that it is free for Spin readers and subscribers (and people with no qualms about cheating) on the magazine's website right now.
If you want to compare it to virtually every cover the band has ever played, point your compasses to You Ain't No Picasso, where Matt has been building a comprehensive archive of oM covers. Hats off!

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The Vitamin String Quartet recorded an orchestral version of Everyday Feels Like Sunday on their new compilation. The 15-track album comprises The New Pornographers' Bleeding Heart Show, Animal Collective's Banshee Beat, among other indie favorites. The result is an ear-pleasing album that could be just the job when you're inviting the in-laws over for lunch. Buy it from Vitamin Records.

of Montreal To Appear On New Charity Album

Oh, Pitchfork, how could we ever quit you? They're reporting on a new compilation to be found at Urban Outfitters on October 15 whose proceeds will go to charity. of Montreal will be contributing their cover of Parvati Khan/M.I.A.'s "Jimmy". Details at Pitchfork

Do You Have Any Rare of Montreal Covers?

If you haven't seen the thread at the Townhall, Matt from You Ain't No Picasso is undertaking an ambitious project to assemble all of the covers of Montreal have performed. If you have any old recordings of any covers, even so-so quality, now's the time to dig them out! Check the Townhall thread for more info.

More Video: Kinks Cover

Forgive me for almost not accepting the comment on the post below. It was from an anonymous sender, and was only a link, to a site called lesinrocks.com. I went to check it out, expecting possible girl on girl musical action, and lo and behold it's a brand new acoustic performance from Kevin and B.P.! It appears to be from France, and B.P. has the new do, so it must have been on that last quick European jaunt, which would have put this on about the 12th, eleven days ago. They do a cover of the Kinks' "Days" as well as "Heimdalsgate...". Here's an mp3 rip of "Days", too:

Kevin and B.P. live acoustic session on video at lesinrocks.com



of Montreal "Days" (Kinks)



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Two New Prince Covers

We added two new Prince covers to the Downloads section (on the lower left) and here below. They were the opening tracks for the St. Louis show Nov.19 (that the pics in the post below are also from). Thanks to the taper for sharing!

of Montreal "I Would Die 4 U" (Prince) (w/"Pussy Freak" intro)


of Montreal "Baby I'm A Star" (Prince)

The Tribute

We are proud to present Aluminum Plums, a 10th anniversary tribute to of Montreal. First, huge thanks to everyone who contributed a song. This is all about the love for Kevin's songs, and while it's nearly impossible to top of Montreal's definitive versions, we applaud all the people who tried to inject some of their own passion into these songs. You may have heard a few of these covers before, but we're proud to include them and all of the contributors' efforts in this package of love - we're just wrapping it up and putting a bow (or, er, some foil) on it for them.

Aluminum Plums

1. Jeff Maksym "Dustin Hoffman Offers Lame Explanation For Missing Bathtub"
2. A Candlelight Vigil "She's A Rejector"
3. Aisle Six "Vegan In Furs"
4. Elekibass "Springtime is The Season"
5. Becky Lovell and Dena Zilber "Keep Sending Me Black Fireworks"
6. Ben Hogan "Look At The Bell"
7. DMQ "Family Nouveau"
8. Sorry Stories "Autobiographical Grandpa"
9. Lesbian Afternoon "Disconnect the Dots"
10. Alex Madore "Jennifer Louise"
11. Emily Pike "City Bird"
12. Gay Harlequin "Kissing In The Grass"
13. Terrified Terrifics "Du Og Meg"
14. Dustin Hoffman Has Formed An of Montreal Cover Band "Kevin, I Wish You Were Born In Brazil"
15. Indie Blockedappella "Will You Come And Fetch Me?"
16. J&H "Requiem For O.M.M.2"
17. Vince Nicotra "Montreal"
18. Dena Zilber "Good Morning Me"
19. Manticore Am I "Charlie And Freddie"
20. Ketchup Fart "Landscape Mixdown"
21. Electronicollege "Cato As Pun"
22. Brandon Creath "Oslo In The Summertime"
23. Low Digital "Suffer For Fashion"
24. Prash "Chrissy Kiss The Corpse"
25. Casper And The Cookies "Penelope"

FLAC


MP3

Thank You and Happy 10th Anniversary, of Montreal!

(in E6 time. Thanks everybody for your patience.)
We have FLAC and MP3 versions available. If you have a high-speed connection and plan on possibly burning this onto a CD, we strongly urge you to download the FLAC version, just convert it to Wav(PC) or Aiff(Mac) and burn, then convert into mp3s if you want. If you have Mac, you can convert with MacFlac, and on PC with Trader's Little Helper (just drag folder or flacs into the window and select "decode"). Since it's a whole album, we're sharing it that way. If you're struggling with a dial-up connection, let us know and maybe we'll offer individual mp3s in the future. Thanks again to all the contributors , and to of Montreal for being such a worthy inspiration.

Feel free to head over to Polyvinyl after downloading and go ahead and pick up that new of Montreal tour 7" or Big Oil reissue (or whatever else you don't have yet - they probably have it), and don't forget about the acoustic EP available from Sony Connect.

BTW, the band who did "Cato As A Pun" recently changed their name from Transcendence To Sigma to Electronicollege... and sorry we didn't catch the original message, "Suffer For Fashion" is by Low Digital, not Chadney, so tag both those tracks accordingly if you already downloaded.

New Myspace song

Head over to of Montreal's Myspace page for their cover of Royal Trux's "Back To School"

For an mp3, head over to the fine, fine, folks at You Ain't No Picasso.

Beck Does Wraith

The uber-excellent You Ain't No Picasso has put up an mp3 of Beck doing a live cover of "Wraith Pinned To The Mist"! Check it out HERE.

An excellent warmup to the covers tribute album, which is coming soon.