Of Montreal announces big summer/fall 2015 tour

Georgia indie pop band of Montreal just released a new album earlier this year titled Aureate Gloom and they have just announced a massive summer and fall tour in support of the album that will bring them to the Triangle.

The band will play the Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh on Tuesday, August 25. Mothers will open. Tickets are on sale now via Etix for $15.

Check out the music video for the song "Bassem Sabry" from Aureate Gloom below.

Of Montreal announces new album, big US tour

Georgia indie rockers of Montreal will release a new album on March 3 titled Aureate Gloom and they'll hit the road starting next week on a big U.S. tour that runs into the spring.

The band will return to the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro on Friday, March 6. Yonatan Gat will open. Tickets are on sale now via Ticketfly for $17.

Check out the newly released track "Empyrean Abattoir" from the new album Aureate Gloom below.

Of Montreal announces spring tour, returning to Carrboro

Georgia indie rockers of Montreal, led by the charismatic and occasionally unpredictable singer-songwriter Kevin Barnes, is hitting the road this spring on a big U.S. tour that will bring the band back to their usual Triangle venue.

They'll close out the tour at the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro on Sunday, May 18. Dream Tiger will open. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, January 31, via Ticketfly for $15.

For our friends in the Triad or those who may want to see the band sooner, they'll also play The Blind Tiger in Greensboro on Monday, March 31. Tickets are available via Etix for $15.

Of Montreal announces new album, fall tour

Kevin Barnes and his art pop group of Montreal are gearing up for the release of their twelfth album Lousy with Sylvianbriar on October 8 and will follow the release with a big cross country tour.

The band will return to the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro on Tuesday, October 22. Surface To Air Missive will open. Tickets are on sale now via Ticketfly for $17.

Check out the opening track from Lousy with Sylvianbriar, "Fugitive Air," below.

Of Montreal announces new album & tour, coming back to Carrboro

Indie pop band of Montreal will be releasing their eleventh full-length album Paralytic Stalks on February 7. As is the tradition, the band will hit the road to support the album shortly after it's release which will bring them back to the Triangle.

They'll play the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro on Wednesday, April 4. Lonely Dear and Kishi Bashi will open the show. Tickets are on sale now via Etix for $17.

Download or stream the epic seven and a half minute song "Wintered Debts" from Paralytic Stalks below.

Of Montreal announces new dates, returning to Triangle

The antics and theatrics of Athens, GA's of Montreal will be returning to the Triangle on their latest round of tour dates this spring. As of now, the tour is set to wrap up on Wednesday, June 2 at the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro. Noot D'Noot and of Montreal member James Husband will open the show. Tickets will be are on sale soon now via etix for $22.

Of Montreal are currently working a new album that is said to feature Janelle Monáe and Solange Knowles, but no release date is available yet. The band's most recent album is 2008's Skeletal Lamping. Check out the full tour schedule below.

of Montreal announce tour, Cradle tickets on sale

The Cat's Cradle's website finally confirmed today that of Montreal will return to the venue on April 13. We first found out about this show on Wednesday. Tickets are on sale now for $18 via etix.com.

It turns out that once again, the band will kick off their tour in the Triangle. Check out of Montreal's other dates on their US tour below.

of Montreal - "Id Engager" (mp3)

of Montreal US dates:
04.13.09 - Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
04.14.09 - Baltimore, MD - Sonar
04.15.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
04.16.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
04.17.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
04.19.09 - New Haven, CT - Toad's Place
04.20.09 - Boston, MA - Paradise
04.21.09 - Boston, MA - Paradise
04.22.09 - Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero
04.23.09 - Covington, KY - Madison Theater
04.24.09 - Columbia, MO - The Blue Note
04.25.09 - Norman, OK - Norman Music Festival

Of Montreal returning to the Cradle

It looks like of Montreal is returning to the Cat's Cradle in April. There has been no official announcement via of Montreal or the Cat's Cradle website, but etix.com currently has the band listed to play Carrboro on Monday, April 13. The show is currently listed on the site as "Off sale online," but we'll let you know when the details are announced.

The band last played the Triangle last October, prior to the release of their latest album Skeletal Lamping. The show was at the Carolina Theatre in Durham, so the band will have to scale back their stage show to accomodate the smaller Cradle stage they used to play. Check out a video from the Durham show below to see of Montreal in all their decadence (thanks to YouTube user TainTasTic).

of Montreal push back release of Skeletal Lamping

Well, crud. Of Montreal have delayed the release of their forthcoming album, Skeletal Lamping, by two weeks, meaning the group's Oct. 7 show at Durham's Carolina Theatre will no longer be on release day. The album will instead come out on Oct. 21.

I'm sure that won't deter anyone from actually going to the show but it's still a little disappointing.

So why the delay? Apparently the "complexity of the design/packaging efforts" (you'll be able to buy the album with a t-shirt, tote bag, lantern, stickers and buttons accompanied by a digital download) was a little too much to handle before the originally planned Oct. 7 release. Oops.

New of Montreal - "Id Engager"

Of Montreal are gearing up to release their new album Skeletal Lamping on October 7, the same day they'll kick off their tour at the Carolina Theatre in Durham.

Now, we have a new song from the album for you to download below. It's the last track from Skeletal Lamping titled "Id Engager." The song is a fun, danceable and cheeky and not a big departure from the band's last two albums. The song does have a bit of a tribal feel at times which is a bit different.

Tickets for the Carolina Theatre show are available here. For the complete list of tour dates, the Skeletal Lamping track list and other info, check out this post from July.

of Montreal - "Id Engager" (mp3)

of Montreal to release Skeletal Lamping, celebrate release in Durham

Kevin Barnes and his gang, better know as of Montreal, are set to release the follow-up to 2007's Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? in October. The album has been dubbed Skeletal Lamping and Barnes told Billboard that it "incorporates more tension and dissonance, while still remaining a super poppy sound." That's the album cover on the right.

Tracks from the album will include the songs "Beware Our Nubile Miscreants" and "Nonpareil Favor" among others. Here's the complete track list:

1. Nonpareil of Favor
2. Wicked Wisdom
3. For Our Elegant Caste
4. Touched Something's Hollow
5. An Eluardian Instance
6. Gallery Piece
7. Women's Studies Victims
8. St.Exquisite's Confessions
9. Triphallus, to Punctuate!
10. And I've Seen a Bloody Shadow
11. Plastis Wafers
12. Death Is Not a Parallel Move
13. Beware Our Nubile Miscreants
14. Mingusings
15. Id Engager

The best part of this news for Triangle fans is that the album will be released on October 7, the same day of Montreal are scheduled to play the Carolina Theatre in Durham. Durham is also one of three shows on that initial US run that includes Asheville and New York.

The band sold out their last two shows at the Cat's Cradle (see reviews here and here) and will be taking a step up to the Carolina Theatre. The theatre's larger stage will better accommodate the band's theatrics and use of props.

Tickets for the Carolina Theatre show are on sale now here for $20.

Here's the current list of tour dates:
08-08 Myslowice, Poland - OFF Festival
08-09 London, England - Field Day Festival
08-10 Leicester, England - Summer Sundae Weekender
10-07 Durham, NC - Carolina Theatre
10-08 Asheville, NC - Orange Peel
10-10 New York, NY - Roseland Ballroom
10-15 Paris, France - Elysee Montmarte
10-16 London, England - Koko
10-17 Barcelona, Spain - Razzmatazz
10-18 Rome, Italy - Circolo Degli Artisi
10-19 Berlin, Germany - Lido
10-20 Stockholm Sweden - Debaser Medis
10-21 Copenhagen, Denmark - Amager Bio
10-24 St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
10-25 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
10-26 Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theatre
10-27 Chicago, IL - The Riviera
10-28 Toronto, Ontario - Queen Elizabeth Theatre
10-30 Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre
10-31 Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
11-01 Richmond, VA - The National
11-08 Atlanta, GA - The Tabernacle
11-11 New Orleans, LA - Howlin Wolf
11-12 Houston, TX - Warehouse Liv
11-13 Austin, TX - 507 E. 6th Street
11-14 Dallas, TX - House of Blues Dallas
11-15 Lawrence, KS - Liberty Hall
11-16 Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre
11-17 Murray, UT - Murray Super Theatre
11-19 Seattle, WA - Showbox So Do
11-20 Portland, OR - Roseland
11-21 San Francisco, CA - Regency Center Grand Ballroom
11-22 Los Angeles, CA - TBA

of Montreal at Cat's Cradle

If you’ve been reading this blog for any considerable amount of time, you know that I’m not shy regarding my personal affections. Like most people, there is a small contingent of bands I will be, for the most part, incredibly loyal to.

Well, go ahead and add of Montreal to that list.

The group played Cat’s Cradle last Friday to a sold out crowd.

The group mostly played songs off their two most recent albums, “Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?” and “The Sunlandic Twins,” but they also treated fans to a few songs off their forthcoming album, which frontman Kevin Barnes said will be titled “Skeletal Lamping.” (See the bottom of this post for videos of two new songs they played Friday.)

Friday’s performance was the first show for the group’s new bassist, who name I sadly did not catch. Anyone out there care to fill in the blank?

Otherwise, the show was everything I’d expect from of Montreal, a tight and energetic performance, wild costumes, a wonderfully cult-like audience with, of course, a dash of gender ambiguity.

Anyone who has not seen this group yet, I urge you to check them out the next time they swing through town. It’s an experience I haven’t seen duplicated by any other band out there.

Nada Surf and Of Montreal returning to Carrboro

Of Montreal and Nada Surf are set to return to the Cat's Cradle.

Of Montreal will play on Friday, September 28. It will be the band's second show at the Cradle since the release of Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?. Of Montreal sold out the Cradle in March and will most likely do it again. Tickets are currently on sale via etix.com for $15.

Nada Surf will return to the Cradle on Halloween, Wednesday, October 31. The show will be the band's second show at the Cradle in support of 2005's The Weight is a Gift. Nada Surf played to a near sold out at the Cradle in January 2005. Pre-sale tickets are available today, July 24, via nadasurf.musictoday.com and will be available via etix.com on Friday, July 27 for $15.

Keep posted for more Cat's Cradle updates.

Review: Of Montreal at Cat's Cradle

Every once in a while a show will leave me speechless. Other times, I'll have a few dozen sputtering, incomplete thoughts that have no real point. Such is the case with Of Montreal, who played to a sold out crowd last night at Cat's Cradle.

Despite the fact that I don't own one of their albums, I love these guys (and gal). And I've learned well that going into an Of Montreal show, you never quite know what you're going to get. Last night's show was no exception, but I should note that everyone did keep their clothes on. Mostly.

One thought that wouldn't escape my mind during the show is that I'd absolutely love to be there when the band is picking out their concert attire. I imagine the dialogue to go something like this, "What a great ivory suit jacket. I'll pair it with a fuchsia ascot and this stainless steel Marvin the Martian helmet I've got lying around." Seriously. But you've got to give them credit for the elaborate lengths — and heights — they reach. Like when front man Kevin Barnes climbed atop a ladder to become the world's tallest Chiquita banana lady in gold lamé. I sincerely apologize for the lack of photos on that one.

I'll admit that there are certain things I "don't get" about these guys. (Maybe it was the subtle guy-on-guy action involving a man in a white full body suit.) But you don't have to be one of the cool kids to know that dance music with great lyrics, a good beat and a captivating performance will win the crowds every time.


Download Of Montreal on iTunes

Photos: Of Montreal play Duke

[All photos by Kevin Norris]

Afternoon delight: Of Montreal to play Duke

Quirky Athens, Ga. indie rockers Of Montreal will bring their unique electro pop to Duke University Friday afternoon. Details are sketchy, but we do know that the band is set to play at 3:30 on the West Quad and the show is free.

This show is the band's last scheduled date on their current tour. The only future dates include a stop at the LA Weekly Detour Festival in Los Angeles and a show at Mexico City's Corona Fest. The band will hit the road again in early 2007 after the release of a new album, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? on January 23.

Download "Suffer For Fashion", a new song from Hissing Fauna by clicking the title.

So get off work early or just get off the couch and come out to Duke's west campus and enjoy a damn good show for the low, low price of nothing.

Go to myspace.com/ofmontreal to hear tunes from band's current release, The Sunlandic Twins as well as some older tunes.