I don’t exactly know what bedroom pop means. But this song should be called bedroom pop. Cuz it’s total bedroom music, if you catch my drift, wink wink, nudge nudge. I mean, the original version of this killer Active Child tune was already enough to drive a couple of kids (over 18 of course) straight into the bedroom. But then Classixx straight up mid 90s TLC R&B’ed it up and made it even more ripe for all kinds of innapropriate, but in a very nostalgic and appropriate way. This remix just oozes sexy time, and isn’t that what we all need on a Thursday afternoon such as this?
I’d been planning on the incredible double bill of School of Seven Bells and Active Child at the Blind Pig in a few weeks, but alas I will be out of town that weekend (a weekend in which I will also miss my chance to catch Of Montreal again and the incomporable Janelle Monae for the very first time just a few miles from my humble abode). But in the meantime, I will enjoy the music and be thankful that I will still see Ratatat in sunny San Diego with some rad playas that weekend.
despite their name, of montreal is not just another excellent canadian band and they really hail from athens, georgia. they are pretty much one of the most unique bands around these days both musically and visually in their live shows. i saw them probably 2 years ago now, and i really dont know how they come up with this stuff. for one song, lead singer kevin barnes wore a giant foam lobster claw for the whole song (see above). didnt really do anything with it, just wore it. for another song, he climbed up a ladder that had a giant dress draped over it so that it gave the appearance of him being a giant wearing a dress. i dont think i would describe their shows as “weird”, but i would describe them as “completely random in a great way”. and from what i hear they have only gotten more completely random over time. and even if youve never heard of the group, youve definitely seen the “lets go outback tonight” commercial back in the day, whose music was based off their song “wraith pinned to the mist and other gates”. oh yeah, i forgot to mention that they also have some of the craziest song titles that would even make sufjan stevens blush.
has any heard about this yo gabba gabba soundtrack thats coming out? its pretty much the strangest kids show ever to exist, so it only makes sense that of montreal would sing a song on the soundtrack. the song, entitled “brush brush brush” can be heard here courtesy of brooklyn vegan. its actually a pretty decent song, aside from the fact that its all about brushing teeth. but even as inappropriate as some of montreal antics may be for youngsters, its still WAY more appropriate than this gem courtesy of barney.
really? lucky for us, todays track is a bit less, uh, suggestive. in fact, its pretty much completely straight forward. the song “gallery piece” from the album “skeletal lamping” became one of my favorite songs of theirs just because of the excellent contradiction in the lyrics. barnes sings of love and betrayal interspersed throughout the song. for example: i wanna hurt your pride/i wanna slap your face/i wanna paint your nails/i wanna make you scream/i wanna braid your hair/i wanna kiss your friends. the group is definitely not for everyone, but they are definitely one of a kind.
im completely confused right now. i chose a song for today and wanted to do a little research on the band, but didnt really have much luck. the song is “open up” by the attorneys, but as it turns out, theyre also called flying machines. and theres no consistency about when theyre called one over the other. in fact, a lot of websites who sold their album “stereocracy” didnt even agree. about half of them had the album listed as flying machines – stereocracy and the other half had them as the attorneys – stereocracy. my itunes files are listed as the attorneys, but i could only find a myspace page for flying machines. im pretty sure i first heard this band on xmu (like so many others) but i think i originally knew them as flying machines.
so, all i can tell you about them really is that they sound like a british band but originate in brooklyn. and i think theres four members, and i think they only have one album, but im pretty sure they have 2 names. when i did finally find the flying machines myspace page, it had a flying machines website address. alas! i had located the ever elusive linkage i had been seeking. but then i went to the site and realized it was basically one youtube video telling people to go to their myspace page for all the latest updates. reading the blog posts on their myspace page, you probably wouldnt guess that theyve already released an album. ok, this just got even weirder. i found a link telling me their official website is theattorneysband.com (aka none of the above) and that site is completely in what i think is japanese. i guess its pretty refreshing actually that theyve achieved a certain level of commercial success but still seem to have that fresh faced attitude towards their music careers. but doesnt seem like the best case scenario in terms of anyone looking for info.
i cant quite put my finger on what this song reminds me of. theres definitely something familiar about it, but its definitely true that youd probably think this was a british band. especially if you also heard “on a whim”. as you probably know by now, im a sucker for interesting harmonies and creative rhythms so my affinity for (towards?) this tune should come as no surprise. in reading the lyrics, they ended up being way harsher than i originally though. but still kind of a contradiction between the go back homes of the verses and the open ups of the chorus. i happen to love contradictory songs. i think an upcoming post will probably feature my favorite contradictory track from the most recent of montreal album. in the meantime, hit play below to hear the song.
EDIT! per the comment below, flying machines have informed dailybeatz that as of september 2007, their name officially changed to flying machines. rest easy!
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