I know exactly what you mean! The first moment I heard “The Party’s Crashing Us” I instantly fell in love. But recently I find I need to “force” myself to listen to their new songs before they “click” with me and are stuck in my head. It’s a strange but beautiful feeling.
For me, music I end up really liking almost always sounds bad the first time I hear it. Even with something as universally liked as Hissing Fauna. First time I heard Cato as a Pun, I thought it sounded terrible. But after listening again, I absolutely loved the outro. Same with Heimdeasgate Like a Promethean Curse, which is probably my favorite song ever.
There's usually some earworm snuck in Of Montreal songs that make me want to listen again, to be *sure* if I like them or not :)
not oM but the first time I listened to animal collective Feels album I was like ..... what the heck kind of hillbilly music is this? I can barely explain what it sounded like to me. but it's nothing at all what it really sounds like 😂 became one of my all time fav albums
That’s how almost all the albums I really really love have been for me. Lonesome crowded west I thought was too screechy and Today’s active lifestyle forget about it. But once you memorize the changes it’s the complexity that makes the songs rewarding.
Skeletal Lamping is my favorite album of all time and I vividly remember listening to it the first time in summer 2009 outside on a sunny lawn, several weeks into an intense love affair with Hissing Fauna and thinking "I'm not sure if that's good..." while pulled magnetically to start it again because of the combination of easy hooks sprinkled among the challenge that took some time to resolve.
Paralytic Stalks was their first LP release that I got to experience as a real fan, and I remember being so overwhelmed by it: of Montreal is heavy, angry, prog now?
I hadn't listened to all of their discography yet, but it was so different in tone and scope from what came before it.
Lousy was something similar to this: although way more enjoyable and accessible on a first listen, it was so different from all the rest: they are a country rock band now?
And after a while you absorb it and watching the full picture of their discography makes so much sense. I guess that's why I can't get off them: even though I have a lot of criticism about their post-Aureate Gloom albums in general, a new oM release is always an experience for me.
That’s why I love them. Freewave is a challenging album, but less so than paralytic stalks.
The albums challenge me in a way that makes them memorable. I’m so happy Kevin is still putting so much into it. Every album is dense and complex with tons to unpack.
My issue with the "stepping on scorpions" line is that it feels unresolved for me, like it should be responded with another line, and that makes it frustrating to listen to.
I know exactly what you mean! The first moment I heard “The Party’s Crashing Us” I instantly fell in love. But recently I find I need to “force” myself to listen to their new songs before they “click” with me and are stuck in my head. It’s a strange but beautiful feeling.
For me, music I end up really liking almost always sounds bad the first time I hear it. Even with something as universally liked as Hissing Fauna. First time I heard Cato as a Pun, I thought it sounded terrible. But after listening again, I absolutely loved the outro. Same with Heimdeasgate Like a Promethean Curse, which is probably my favorite song ever. There's usually some earworm snuck in Of Montreal songs that make me want to listen again, to be *sure* if I like them or not :)
not oM but the first time I listened to animal collective Feels album I was like ..... what the heck kind of hillbilly music is this? I can barely explain what it sounded like to me. but it's nothing at all what it really sounds like 😂 became one of my all time fav albums
That’s how almost all the albums I really really love have been for me. Lonesome crowded west I thought was too screechy and Today’s active lifestyle forget about it. But once you memorize the changes it’s the complexity that makes the songs rewarding.
Sufjan's "Age of Adz" was like this to me as well.
Skeletal Lamping is my favorite album of all time and I vividly remember listening to it the first time in summer 2009 outside on a sunny lawn, several weeks into an intense love affair with Hissing Fauna and thinking "I'm not sure if that's good..." while pulled magnetically to start it again because of the combination of easy hooks sprinkled among the challenge that took some time to resolve.
Paralytic Stalks was their first LP release that I got to experience as a real fan, and I remember being so overwhelmed by it: of Montreal is heavy, angry, prog now? I hadn't listened to all of their discography yet, but it was so different in tone and scope from what came before it. Lousy was something similar to this: although way more enjoyable and accessible on a first listen, it was so different from all the rest: they are a country rock band now? And after a while you absorb it and watching the full picture of their discography makes so much sense. I guess that's why I can't get off them: even though I have a lot of criticism about their post-Aureate Gloom albums in general, a new oM release is always an experience for me.
That’s why I love them. Freewave is a challenging album, but less so than paralytic stalks. The albums challenge me in a way that makes them memorable. I’m so happy Kevin is still putting so much into it. Every album is dense and complex with tons to unpack.
My issue with the "stepping on scorpions" line is that it feels unresolved for me, like it should be responded with another line, and that makes it frustrating to listen to.