Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy
14 years in the making, costing $13m, made without all the other original band members, and on the same label that The Stone Roses released The Second Coming on...what could possibly go wrong?
Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping
Oct 30, 2008
Confusion might be the ideal word to describe Of Montreal's Skeletal Lamping...their ninth album finds them releasing a 14-track album that comprises hundreds of other tracks weaved together and coming in a myriad of art-based formats entitled the Skeletal Lamping Collection 08 (Chinese Lantern-editions, Tote-bags, wall decorations etc).
The notion of moving against the In Rainbows-style downloading movement and towards Throbbing Gristle-style art objects is to be admired. There is a sense listening to Skeletal Lamping that there is much to admire; but is there that much to like?
It's very possible that Skeletal Lamping should be grown into, played multiple times before passing judgement. I've liked it more each time I've listened to it, though there is a sense that Of Montreal's prime mover Kevin Barnes is trying a bit too hard. Both song-writing and vocals are variable; while Barnes's Ziggy Stardust-style alter ego Georgie Fruit is another case of "too hard?"
Skeletal Lamping is an odd one, probably the album the somewhat hyped Hercules and Love Affair album should have been - there's an over-riding disco-vibe here that taps into Outkast and Prince, as well as recalling the forgotten Tahiti 80. Like recent albums by Akron/Family and The Aliens there are a bewildering number of styles here, shifting genre at will and potentially perplexing the listener. I almost ran out of post-its listing bands I was reminded of ...and it's certainly no match for Elephant 6 classics like Dusk At Cubist Castle or In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.
I'm not sure there's a complete track here I like...but there are some with great bits in - 'Wicked Wisdom' contains some of the strongest parts, notably the Flight of the Conchords - disco breakdown prior to the "...see it / hot magic" - hooks and then a wonderful psyched out section worthy of their Elephant 6 ancestors.
'Gallery Piece' is the blend of Girls Aloud and Franz Ferdinand that Alex Kapranos failed to make with Xenomania; even better is 'Women's Studies Victims', which gets down and dirty with a feminist within a killer pop-song section (prior to an irritating shift or two into other song...). The standout track thus far is the seven-minute epic 'Plastis Wafer', which sounds like it could cross over into the mainstream a la Scissor Sisters. "I want you to be my pleasure puss!" could be the pop refrain of 2008 and has a gyrating sexual quality that can only be commended.
Skeletal Lamping will probably improve with frequency...it's just a shame that Spacemen 3 nabbed the title Sound of Confusion, as it seems the perfect description.
