New Music: of Montreal, Deerhoof, TG Mauss

Of Montreal - Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? (Polyvinyl 2007)

of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? / Polyvinyl

My introduction to of Montreal was 2004's Satanic Panic in the Attic. Frankly, I went apeshit. I have since ventured in to the backlogs of the Athens, GA band for the early releases and stuck with them on their continuing sugar rush adventures up to today. The level of apeshittery that Satanic Panic infused upon my ears was not equaled by any of their prior albums or 2005's Sunlandic Twins, the latter of which left me slightly disappointed. Twins was not necessarily bad, but I just got lost among the unrelenting multi-colored sounds of their post-disco electro-pop circus-opera; as the number of hyphens might apply, it was just too much. Kevin Barnes and company triumphantly return to compact disc after what seems like two years of nonstop touring with a new ridiculous album name, more glorious packaging and twelve new songs that find a happy middle ground between Sunlandic and Satanic. Remarkably their tenth full-length, Hissing Fauna doesn't completely disown the entire rambunctious mutant disco of the last album, but tones it down and separates the two established styles. Barnes, as always, is front-and-center with his unparalleled pop songwriting, Barry Gibb-ripped vocal chops and roundabout melodies, but depending on which of the prior two albums you were into will affect which side of this record you'll dig the most. The first half reflects more of the Satanic keyboard-centric indie-pop (with 'Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse', 'Gronlandic Edit' and 'A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger' being the strongest continuous string of songs since the opening three of Satanic) while the second half sticks to the new disco-ball sporting style ('Labyrinthian Pomp' somewhat brilliantly melts the line between Justin Timberlake and Dark Side of the Moon). Splitting the not-so-distant polar sides is the 12-minute 'The Past is a Grotesque Animal', a revealing slow-burner (relative to of Montreal) that features a somewhat tormented Barnes. So really, what's not to like about Hissing Faunas? You get a little Satanic, a little Sunlandic and even a completely new state of Barnes panic; I guess the only people left out of the party are stubborn diehards of The Gay Parade.






Deerhoof - Choco Fight - Friend Opportunity (Kill Rock Stars 2007)

Deerhoof – Friend Opportunity / Kill Rock Stars

So before getting started, I guess it's important to know that I have not spent much time with Deerhoof during their decade-plus career. It's not that I dislike their music or were unaware of their existence, I just never got around to significantly exploring their colorful discography; it falls under the "can't listen to everything" clause of music nerdery. So given the opportunity to review the ninth full-length record of their impressive and strikingly improbable discography, I obviously did my research but the past-album references are going to be lacking. Think of it as fresh ears with no prior connotations to the music. Now with that out of the way, Deerhoof's new album, Friend Opportunity, is a little piece of avant-pop dynamite. With the departure of Chris Cohen (who is concentrating on his Curtains offshoot), the band returns to the three person core responsible for the much-heralded Reveille album from 2002. Their music sounds very realized, obviously the result of a long discography, as it hop scotches between guitar-, noise-, indie-, art- and j-pop with explorations in no wave, avant-garde and groove-based genres. The very latter is what surprises me the most; the stellar first half of the album finds many irresistible grooves through guitar and percussion interplay that I would venture to say could make killer samples. Greg Saunier sounds like he's having a lot of fun behind the kit getting very inventive with his percussive noises on many occasions. Satomi Matsuzaki coos her own language somewhere between Japanese, English and onomatopoeia while Rob Fisk comes up with one simple, catchy guitar riff after another. The second half of the album is much more mellow though no less melodious and everything concludes with an awkward ten-minute ballad of avant-garde guitar explorations before finding a shimmering melody to close out the last 30 seconds of the song. As a whole, Friend Opportunity lives up to the excellence and eclectic variety that I assume (see opening lines) long-time Deerhoof fans expect. From my research, it seems to encompass all of the many shades of eccentric pop they have explored in past albums, but refined and compacted into one recording. And honestly, I think it is about time I immersed myself into the vibrant world of Deerhoof.






TG Mauss - Heavyweighted - Gravity Will Keep Us Together (Quartermass 2006)

TG Mauss – Gravity Will Keep Us Together / Quartermass

I’m not sure if there is an actual name for it yet, but there is no doubt a gaggle of people out there that spend the majority of their time scanning audioblogs and aggregators in search of that unfamiliar dancefloor nugget that’ll turn heads at their next DJ’d party. TG Mauss’s ‘Heavyweighted', the seventh song off his sophomore solo effort Gravity Will Keep Us All Together, is the kind of gem that digital diggers crave. It’s unassuming with a steady snare beat, simple funk-lite guitar strum and pinging synths, but it is absolutely perfect for the closing minutes of a dark dancefloor, when the only people left dancing are more interested in their significantly found others than pumping up the jam. The rest of Gravity follows along the same line: simple, steady and effective. The Dusseldorf via New York musician crafts a brand of synth-pop that relies heavily on endearing Britpop melodies and just enough cleverness to dismiss the mundane tag. The production here is crystal clear and the arrangements well thought-out, typically involving a drum machine, electric guitar, Mauss’s Damon Albarn copping vocals and synths while influences range from 80s new wave to industrial to techno to the aforementioned Britpop. Gravity is not a classic or groundbreaking album by any means, but it is certainly enjoyable and can be a coveted find for the new generation of diggers.