Songs of the Year 2008 - continuing thoughts

Of course, compiling one's songs of the year before the year-end of means that later-in-the-year releases or things belatedly discovered get scant consideration and/or an overly quick evaluation. It seems right and orderly that the late releases get carried over into 2009's prize-draw, but those other awkward cases can sometimes get forgotten, dropping into a sort of "appreciation void". Well I'll try to address those here. First up is Of Montreal's "Skeletal Lamping". The diligent amongst you might recall my fondness for this band and their inclusion on last year's SOTY. Thus enthused I was really looking forward to their new album. BUT....first impressions were not that great. For those not in the know, Of Montreal (really the project of Athens Georgia's Kevin Barnes) have evolved from pretty good but basically conventional indie band into a kind of hydra-headed kaleidoscope of musical and lyrical influences. The kitchen sink is in here, and so is the garden shed, the attic and all it's contents, which seems to include Prince, Morrissey and George Clinton. This schizophrenia began to emerge in mild form on the albums just before last year's wonderful "Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?" where the "vision" (or maybe hallucination) seemed to coalesce in the form of an almost perfect experimental pop opus. What grated about SL was the initial impression that the spontaneity and gay abandon which appeared to be at the heart of "Hissing Fauna" had been abandoned for a more calculated and self-conscious eclecticism. SL is certainly a difficult record to take in - it flits all over the place and even the individual songs typically feature multiple sections and mad style shifts. Just when you've started to identify a satisfying melodic sequence to cosy up to, some bizarre juxtaposition occurs. BUT... after numerous listens, a semblance of unity about the album is emerging to me. Hooks are echoing in my mind through and during those odd changes and somehow a whole is emerging from the fragments. In other words, while the jury still may be out on this record, I am beginning to get a sense of its hidden pleasures. The bottom line though is that the music world, is blessed by rare mavericks like Kevin Barnes and OM are one of those bands that are likely to tickle your senses (maybe infuriate them too) in ways few other bands can get near. There's nothing run of the mill here.