Being Amber Rhea

I’ve posted it before, but it is, by far, the most appropriate song I can think of for today.

“Yeah, that has nothing to do with drugs. That’s the chemicals in your mind.”

…GriftDrift or Sara, this post could be known as “Songs In My Head” or “Mood Music.”

At first I figured I’d look for the best concert footage to post, but then this video showed up in the YouTube search. It honestly had not occurred to me to look for an actual music video, ya know, like the kind they show on Em-Tee-Vee. (Do they show those anymore? Back when I stopped watching MTV, they were down to about three hours a day of music videos.) Am I showing my age? I mean, I’m not all that old, but I haven’t watched MTV or had any interest whatsoever in music videos in over ten years.

Anyway, back to Heimdalsgate, apparently some people think the song is about drugs. That’s also something that hadn’t occurred to me, but Wikipedia says it’s a common perception. To me it was just so obvious that it’s about depression, that I never considered anything else. I guess people who haven’t experienced depression don’t identify with it. Here’s what Kevin said to some idiotic-sounding reporter from The Stranger:

I went through this chemical depression, and that’s when I was writing a lot of the songs for Hissing Fauna. They’re all songs about that experience. And I was experiencing it in the moment that I was writing the songs, and sort of asking myself: What the hell is going on? Why are you all of a sudden totally paranoid and plagued by these anxieties? And why is everything so distorted and confusing and fucked up? My lifestyle hadn’t changed that much. And then I realized, well, there’s something going on inside of me that I don’t have control over, and then you realize how vulnerable you are to these things, these elements that you can’t understand, or unless you go on medication and get it under control. It’s like you’re being betrayed by your body.

I love this song. I love the whole album (except for one annoying song).

Meanwhile, there are storms throughout the South today, and already 45 people have been killed by tornadoes. :( I’m supposed to go see my new shrink at noon; hopefully the weather won’t be too terrible.

Earlier today, an Outback Steakhouse commercial came on TV. I wasn’t really paying attention, but I did think, “Hmm, something about that jingle sounds familiar.” Then Rusty said, “Hey… doesn’t that sound an awful lot like an Of Montreal song?” So I perked up and listened more closely - and sure enough, it sounded suspiciously like “Wraith Pinned to the Mist (and Other Games)” - incidentally, one of my favorite songs. Now, for Rusty to recognize something as sounding like an Of Montreal song means the resemblance is pretty uncanny, because basically the only time he listens to Of Montreal is if I happen to be playing one of their CDs in the car.

Of course, I had to consult Google to see if anyone else had noticed this resemblance, and if Of Montreal was going to sue Outback for copyright infringement. Turns out, it’s not just an uncanny resemblance - it’s the actual song, with different words!

Via StereoGum, where you can also watch the commercial:

Kevin Barnes confirmed: “We were approached by Outback Steakhouse’s ad agency asking about making their own cover version of ‘Wraith Pinned to the Mist (And Other Games)’ for one of their commercials. We thought it would be totally amusing to hear their take on one of our songs as a jingle.”

Ha! I find this to be odd and hilarious. I have to say, I would never have expected to hear an Of Montreal song in an Outback commercial!

Jmac is always doing those “top 5 [whatever]” lists, so here’s one from me:

5 albums I could (and do!) listen to over and over and they never get old

• Chutes Too Narrow - the Shins
• The Sunlandic Twins - Of Montreal
• Satanic Panic in the Attic - Of Montreal
• Urban Hymns - the Verve
• Liz Phair - (you guessed it) Liz Phair

We got home at 3:00 a.m. Friday night/Saturday morning; I went to bed at 4:00. I’m too old to be staying up that late!

Grand Buffet was in fine form, though they didn’t mention ephedrine this time. Of Montreal rocked my socks as usual. I could’ve done without people grabbing me and moving me aside so they can walk by, though. I also could’ve done without the Fratty McFrattersons standing near us; they obviously came to see Grand Buffet, and just hung around for the PBR.

Cari managed to get a few pictures; click ‘em for larger versions.

Grand Buffet fools

Kevin marrying the audience

Of Montreal, hell yes

Kevin on guitar

• Apparently last night at trivia I left $25 instead of $10. This can be the only conclusion, because when I opened up my wallet to pay for lunch, instead of the twenty and five I was expecting, there were two fives. I like to think I’m a generous tipper, but damn. I could’ve used that twenty bucks.
• There’s an Of Montreal show in Athens tomorrow night, and Cari and I are going. That’s three OM shows in six months… I’m turning into such a groupie.
• My fingernails always look like shit. Other women’s hands and fingernails always look so nice and freshly manicured. What gives? (No, I don’t want you to give me an actual answer; this is purely rhetorical. And no, I’m not a nail biter.)
• Busy, busy, busy. I’m slumming it today with lunch from Krystal. Ugh.

So, the Of Montreal concert (Sat. night) RULED. I had SO much fun. I’m trying to prolong that feeling into today, since I’m in a funk for no good reason (or bad reason, for that matter). I’ve decided to blame 1) the fact that I overslept this morning; 2) the hectic weekend; and 3) PMS.

Anyway. As I was saying, the concert kicked ass. Of course, there were two opening acts, so that was laborious. The first band was alright; very 70s, and I just kept thinking of the Barry Gibb Show skit from SNL. The second act? Oh God. How unfortunate. They were called Grand Buffett and described themselves as “underground hip-hop” (translation: they haven’t been signed). They were two white guys from Pennsylvania who did a lot of jumping around and talking about drugs and trying to be shocking, I guess. But it was so 10th grade. One of the guys couldn’t stop talking about ephedrine. Who does ephedrine? He was like, “You can’t buy it in the northeast, but you can still buy it in Georgia, so go buy some before Uncle Sam takes away more of your civil liberties!!” Cari and I just shook our heads and mocked them (and hoped they were just being really ironic, even though they clearly were serious). Oh, and the best part was when Ephedrine Boy was like, “We usually have a DJ with us, but we just went through Texas a few days ago and he lives there, so he stayed. Besides, he’s non-white, and we didn’t want to bring him to the Bible Belt.” Yeah; because there are no black people in Atlanta.

Who knows why Of Montreal allowed those fools to tour with them, but whatever. We were getting antsy, but by the time Of Montreal came on, it was so worth it. Kevin came out in a wedding dress, talking about, “We want to make love to you tonight. We want to touch you in places no other band has touched you. But we’re kind of old-fashioned, so we have to get married first.”

Very few bands can make me actually shake my white girl ass and dance; Of Montreal is one of the elite few. (Pylon is another.) By the time they played their last song before the encore (”The Party’s Crashing Us,” wherein everybody was jumping around like crazy and had their fists in the air at Kevin’s command), I was out of breath. It was one goddamn good show. Oh and I would also just like to point out that they played “The Final Countdown.” You can never go wrong with “The Final Countdown.”

Update: Awesome; Cable and Tweed has a recording of the show. Thanks for sending me the link, Tony!

Athens World named Of Montreal as artist/entertainer of the year. I concur. Heartily.

Melissa posted some Of Montreal lyrics, because she is apparently my counterpart in DFW, or I am her counterpart in ATL. So, here are your Of Montreal lyrics of the day, from me to you, in love.

Penelope

Penelope shoot the apple off my head
I need to go to the store
to get some sleep.
Because I’ve run out of sleep.
The row boat came so David stopped arguing with a mime
and waved his arms like wheat.
But when he tried to speak
the Prince of Plum fell through the roof of his mouth
and handed David an envelope.
Inside was a letter that read, ‘Sir, you were given this envelope by mistake please disregard it.’

Nicolynn shoot the candle off my head
I need to go to the store
to get some beets.
To rub all over my feet.
Andy’s joke reminded Gerard
that his sloth balloon was owned by Turkish moths.
Gerard’s Lebanese boss had sent him out on business
giving his word that he would keep it looked in the safe.
But it was all deceit
cause once he had the sloth balloon
he traded it to the moths
for a lithograph of “Lady Lamenting On A Lawn Chair”.

What interested Balabanoba
was building complicated French machines
designed to better enjoy the duchess,
and she him.
He helps her in the stirrups then he straps himself in
they spend their days in heights of ecstasy,
but wait.
Why then does she look so sad?
Why is her countenance so glum?
Does she tire of mechanical hands
or is she pining for the fair Prince of Plum?

Lulubird shoot the doorbell off my head
I need to go to the store
to get some treats.
For Gothe, Becket and Keates.
The characters of the “Gay Parade” formed a boys choir with Static and the Red King.
But whenever they sing,
all postal workers simultaneously whisper to themselves the word ‘calendar.’

So, the Of Montreal show last night (in Athens, at the 40 Watt) totally rocked my socks. If you’ve never heard their music, you need to go take care of that right now.

I’ll say this, though… when I was a college student, it was amusing, even endearing, to know that basically all shows were on “Athens time” - so if it was advertised to start at 10, you knew it would be at least midnight before whoever you came to see went on. Now that I’m an old person living in Atlanta, it gets on my damn nerves a little. It was a kickass show, but it would’ve been just as kickass four hours earlier. But hey, what’re you gonna do? Nobody likes a curmudgeon, so I’ll shut my filthy mouth and quit my complaining.

Of Montreal rocks your ass all over the place, leaving you feeling excited but content at the same time. -Oh, what the hell do I know, I’m no Flagpole music writer. Anyway, the point is, the show fucking ROCKED.

Off-topic: Last night downtown Athens had a disturbing overabundance of cockroaches. Not fun.

[Cross-posted at Athens World]

Next Saturday (Oct. 8th) I’ll be going on a tour of the Northwest and Southwest (apparently, we’re only doing the NW) portion of the Beltline. Posting about it now because if you want to go, you have to RSVP by today. So I guess I should have posted earlier; stupid work, always getting in the way of my blogging.

More bloggin’ later. I’m going to Athens tonight to see Of Montreal at the 40 Watt. It’ll be teh hawtness.