Performer Notes

Composer: Kevin Barnes.
Personnel: Heather McIntosh (cello); Alexis Daglis (saxophone); Charlie Estes (trumpet); Aaron Jollay (trombone); Dorothy Alexander (keyboards); James Huggins III (drums).
Audio Mixer: Kevin Barnes.
Recording information: Apollinaire Rave Studios, Oslo, Norway; Athens, GA; Chase Park Transduction, Athens, GA.
After a decade's worth of often deeply experimental albums as the head of an ever-shifting group of musicians collectively known as Of Montreal, singer, songwriter and provocateur Jeremy Barnes had an unexpected mainstream hit with 2007's outstanding HISSING FAUNA, ARE YOU THE DESTROYER? As if to take full advantage from the band's higher profile, Polyvinyl Records has chosen a unique format in which to release Of Montreal's follow-up album, the typically idiosyncratic and neo-psychedelic SKELETAL LAMPING. In addition to the traditional CD and LP formats, SKELETAL LAMPING is also being released as a T-shirt, a tote bag, a set of badges, a paper hanging lantern, and a set of wall decals. The five non-standard forms all include a digital download code that gives the purchasers access to MP3s of the album's 15 tracks.

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone (p.78) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "A soulful romp through psychedelic melodies and sprawling noise-scapes, SKELETAL is also a whimsical, Girl Talk-style pastiche, with 15 tracks that consist of a multitude of song fragments."

Rolling Stone (p.96) - Ranked #47 in Rolling Stone's 50 Best Albums Of 2008 -- "[A] riveting journey through Day-Glo disco and funk."

Entertainment Weekly (p.101) - "LAMPING takes things further than ever, exploring an assortment of explicit fantasies via elaborate multipart suites on which Barnes plays virtually every instrument."

Alternative Press (p.138) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Continuing the high-density electro-disco shimmy, Kevin Barnes & Co. throw even more unexpected turns and infectious melodies into their newest crop of oddball love/lust ditties."

Magnet (p.116) - "The album's sound is a more intricate remix of FAUNA's futurama, another hyperbaric disco chamber filled with tech-noodling beats backing pop operettas..."

CMJ - "One track sometimes appears to contain three individual songs, but they are all expertly sewn together to create a colorful patchwork."

Blender (Magazine) (p.74) - 4.5 stars out of 5 -- "Of Montreal turn Barnes's fragmented melodies into fizzy faux-funk, self-loathing piano balladry and shout-outs to old-school disco."

URB (Magazine) (p.84) - 4.5 stars out of 5 -- "Of Montreal's pretentious compound syllables titillate mind and body..."