VIDEO SPLURGE: Of Montreal's "Last Rites at The Jane Hotel" and Matthew Squires and The Learning Disorders' - "The Giving"

Of Montreal's song Last Rites at The Jane Hotel from their current 13th album "Aureate Gloom" (on Polyvinyl Records) is a cagey, shape shifting indie pop rocker that delights in it's different moods. It goes from spartan sardonic guitar rock to big sounds to intimate orchestrations and it is all drenched with a playful and psychedelic dose of glam.

The video is a stop motion tripfest created by Mathew Cooper over several months using intricate wood cut, hand painted cut outs. You can learn more about this painstaking process at the Creators Project. Check out the video below and "Aureate Gloom" at Athens, Georgia based Of Montreal's Bandcamp page.





"The Giving"

Matthew Squires from Austin, Texas and his incarnation Matthew Squires and the Learning Disorders has been on my radar screen after reviewing his pretty brilliant album "You are Everything or the Art of Being Nothing in Particular" back in 2013. Of the album I wrote, "These songs are smart and cleverly crafted comments about us. Sometimes Matthew turns phrases into sharp edged salt to rub into society's collective wounded soul." 

I also ended the review hoping that those who read it would dive into the albums dark inkwell and Matthew's stuff is dark. He doesn't stray from the problems in the world collectively or personally. The video for The Giving which is the title track off his upcoming EP which will be available on August 28th through his Bandcamp (name your own price) is an artful dour affair as well. It is also quite moving as is the song. The EP which I will be review in full contains sound collages that will certainly pull you into Matthew's storytelling and while he still has a somber, sometimes depressive cadence and feel, on this collection of songs, I hear and feel glimmers of deep hope for the condition of the world. The Giving is a track that you will want to listen to often and the more you do I think you will feel that hope percolating up too. It floats in the thoughtful prose, vocal performance and plaintive trumpet.  Maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel, maybe the inkwell is not that dark.