Wednesday, December 23, 2009

PQ's Top 10 Songs of the 2000s: No. 1



There's this bloke called Kevin Barnes (above) in the US who releases a lot of music in various guises, most of which is unlistenable bog. Oh, he's done a couple of half-decent songs, but most of them are rubbish. "Oh, look at me, I can use twelve different pop styles in the same verse.... I'm a genius!". No, you're not. You're annoying.

But anyway, one day in 2006, with nothing but a synth, a loop pedal and a notebook of stream-of-consciousness lyrics, Kevin Barnes created 13 minutes of perfect music.

In my mind, this is so far the best track of the 2000s that it is twice as good as the next best.

I've explored you with the detachment of an analyst
But most nights we've raided the same kingdoms
And none of our secrets are physical


It goes for 13 minutes so it's not on YouTube, but luckily some chick put the whole song on her blog.

The winner is 'The Past Is A Grotesque Animal' by Of Montreal, and you can listen to it here, but listening to it on a blog will not do it justice. If you can, buy the original on CD and play it loud. The album is called 'Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?'

(Prediction: Obtuse-A and possibly RandomGit will be the only two who will like it (aside from Lewd Bob, who I know likes it... in fact, he got me on to it in the first place)).


Not gay at all.

14 comments:

Lewd Bob said...

I absolutely love this song. It's brilliant. 14 minutes of bliss. I shall listen to it again, with headphones, as soon as I stop writing this comment.

However I take exception to your derogatory comments about Of Montreal in general. On that same album alone exists at least another 5 very fucking good songs.

Puss In Boots said...

OMG! OMG! OMG! I love ofMontreal! And I love this song!

I also particularly like Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games.

I feel like I've won something just because I know your number one song. Yay!

Perseus said...

Lyrically, the album is wonderful.

But musically, I really like 'She's A Rejector', I like 'Gronlandic Edit' (he ruins it with the falsetto) and the rest is, well, meh.

There's moments in every song that are great, but because he switches style ever four beats, none of them are coherent enough for me to really get into.

Perseus said...

Ah Puss, that warms me heart. See that's why we're internet lovers. We may disagree on the little things, but on the big things we come together (except for the green beans).

Lewd Bob said...

none of them are coherent enough for me to really get into

Jesus. When did coherence become a criteria for your music tastes?

Incidentally, I love that Kevin Barnes isn't gay.

Perseus said...

Bob - I added a picture to the post.

*

I like coherency within a track. If it's a 4/4 punk song, I don't want the chorus to be a 7/4 improvisational jazz piece.

Ramon Insertnamehere said...

except for the green beans

And smoking.

And sport.

And vacuum cleaner cords.

Perseus said...

And drinking.

And drugs.

And weather.

And children.

But aside from all that we're perfect for each other.

Lewd Bob said...

Shit, he has great legs.

Mr E said...

Well fuck me, Perseus's number one pick is a band from my old home town.
These guys used to play at the Caledonia Club in Athens GA.

patchouligirl said...

Never heard of them but I love it. Yes, thats right I said I love it. Imagine listening to it tripping - it would blow your mind. It reminded me of David Bowie and Devo and I've got nothing against either of them.

RandomGit said...

Fucking spot on patchouligirl.

I'm going to have to listen to it several times in a row just to find all the layers. Didn't grab me at first, but then the kids were running and screaming around.

A worthy end.

Melba said...

This is wow. I'm listening to it as I write. At first I didn't like his voice but now I do. I like the layers. It would be a really big drug song, huge. This should have been around in the '80s. There's so much going on, I don't even notice the lack of film clip. It's better without a film clip.

Even though I want to go to bed now I don't want to stop listening to this song.

Thanks for sharing.

Melba said...

Just wanted to say I didn't stop listening. I went and caught up on a favourite blog. Time flew, and the song stopped.

Bed now.