TOP 100 ALBUMS EVAR: #85 Of Montreal: Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? (2007) <Polyvinyl> Genre: Glam Rock, Psychedelic Pop Nationality: USA (Athena, GA) Of Montreal’s career has been an interesting journey through several different genre changes, ranging from psychedelic magical mystery tour pop to disco.  Their peak for me, though, was when they hit their stride between 2004-2007.  This started Of Montreal’s foray into more electronic induced pop, featuring synthesizers and beat machines.  Before they knew it, Of Montreal was on its may into pure colorful hi-fidelity recordings, and Hissing Fauna was one of the most interesting collections.  Songs contained typical glam rock motifs (sex, drugs, art, fashion, etc.) and had strong David Bowie influences.  At the same time, though, each work was wholly original in the typical Of Montreal fashion, featuring the dense harmonies and off the wall chord progressions.  The album chronicled a concept centering around frontman Kevin Barnes’ struggle with depression and mood disorders around the time of recording.  The halfway point in the album, “The Past Is A Grotesque Animal,” is a nearly 12 minute odyssey, starting Barnes’ transformation into his glam rock alter ego: Georgie Fruit.  This kind of approach to crafting an album makes Hissing Fauna a schizophrenic kind of release, pushing and pulling itself into a vast array of emotions and personalities.  It’s also striking at how everything blends so well together, creating a colorful palette of sound, from the funkiest jams (“Gronlandic Edit,” “Faberge Falls For Shuggie”) to the freakiest rockers (“Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse,” “Suffer For Fashion”). Key Tracks: “Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse,” “She’s A Rejector,” “A Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsvinger,” “Gronlandic Edit” For Fans Of: Prince, David Bowie, Rocky Horror Picture Show

TOP 100 ALBUMS EVAR: #85

Of Montreal: Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? (2007) <Polyvinyl>

Genre: Glam Rock, Psychedelic Pop

Nationality: USA (Athena, GA)

Of Montreal’s career has been an interesting journey through several different genre changes, ranging from psychedelic magical mystery tour pop to disco.  Their peak for me, though, was when they hit their stride between 2004-2007.  This started Of Montreal’s foray into more electronic induced pop, featuring synthesizers and beat machines.  Before they knew it, Of Montreal was on its may into pure colorful hi-fidelity recordings, and Hissing Fauna was one of the most interesting collections.  Songs contained typical glam rock motifs (sex, drugs, art, fashion, etc.) and had strong David Bowie influences.  At the same time, though, each work was wholly original in the typical Of Montreal fashion, featuring the dense harmonies and off the wall chord progressions.  The album chronicled a concept centering around frontman Kevin Barnes’ struggle with depression and mood disorders around the time of recording.  The halfway point in the album, “The Past Is A Grotesque Animal,” is a nearly 12 minute odyssey, starting Barnes’ transformation into his glam rock alter ego: Georgie Fruit.  This kind of approach to crafting an album makes Hissing Fauna a schizophrenic kind of release, pushing and pulling itself into a vast array of emotions and personalities.  It’s also striking at how everything blends so well together, creating a colorful palette of sound, from the funkiest jams (“Gronlandic Edit,” “Faberge Falls For Shuggie”) to the freakiest rockers (“Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse,” “Suffer For Fashion”).

Key Tracks: “Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse,” “She’s A Rejector,” “A Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsvinger,” “Gronlandic Edit”

For Fans Of: Prince, David Bowie, Rocky Horror Picture Show