Comments on: Of Montreal :: Skeletal Lamping: Point/Counterpoint

By: mac kennedy

mac kennedy — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 01:07:39 +0000

how pseudo-intellectual.

this post is full of misrepresenting adjectives, you fucking hipster.

By: blair waldorf

blair waldorf — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 01:04:54 +0000

i can’t believe 2008 is almost over. Of Montreal’s “Skeletal Lamping” was my fave album of the year. And I dug Dottie Alexander of Of Montreal’s awesome choices for best of 2008!

check out her top picks for the year as well as many others at erockster.com!

By: Paige K. Parsons

Paige K. Parsons — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:29:31 +0000

I’ve seen of Montreal a few times, and I thought last weeks performance in San Francisco was spectacular. Kevin was clearly enjoying himself, as was Dottie. I agree with Celishia, I think there’s a fair amount of irony associated with Skeletal Lamping. Check out the vibe of Friday’s show:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paigekparsons/sets/72157609750593748/

By: Celishia

Celishia — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:02:02 +0000

I found your article really interesting! I only started listening to Of Montreal in the last couple of years but I found Skeletal Lamping to be a great album. I saw the live show and was equally, if not more impressed. Your interpretation is in general opposition to my own view. I don’t find the presentation thin, but rather feel it is full of fleshy irony. The emptiness of the message and lyrics provide stark contrast to the intonation of the music. Barnes uses archetypal figures, both in live visual imagery as well as verbally to emphasis his message of a societal value of empty sex, dispassionate love, and control. It seems also that you know a lot more about Kevin Barnes then I do though. Authorial interpretation (using the author’s life to interpret) is an often used tool but personally I find it less impactful for analysis. The controversial use of “black-she male” could be very specifically be cultural commentary rather than an attempt to simply come to terms with his own sexual confusion. The points made by others about the loaded nature of this phrase seems that the reference has hit home at least once. What does that say about our culture, our archetypes, rather than about Kevin Barnes. His songs are linguistically complicated and the explication of them is truly interesting. It was interesting to read a different perspective than my own!

By: Becky Barnett

Becky Barnett — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:57:41 +0000

Thanks, that clarifies things and I appreciate both of your responses.
(Have since listened to the album and read the lyrics and very much agree with the review–as well as your further comments above, Marty.)

By: Marty

Marty — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:42:55 +0000

Hey Becky,

The reason that I used that line — and used it to begin my review — is because I feel that Kevin Barnes uses the “type” of the “black she-male” (his words, not mine) as an excuse to romp through his sexual frustration. Like you, I find this notion offensive. Why does Barnes have to be transgendered in order to feel comfortable having sexual fantasies? Why does he have to be black? Barnes has said that he created the Georgie Fruit character as a way of exploring personalities that are not his own, but, according to the tracks on Skeletal Lamping, the only issue on the minds of transgendered black people is sex and its surrounding politics. I suppose I’m fine with Barnes exploring his sexuality, but I find it offensive that he views “black she-males” so reductionistically. I began my review the way I did in order to expose Barnes’ position for what it is.

I hope that that makes sense, as my intent was certainly not to offend, but to point out something else that I find offensive and dehumanizing. I do apologize, though, if that did not come across.

Thanks,
Marty

By: Satisfied '75

Satisfied '75 — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 21:10:52 +0000

Hey Becky, Marty’s line about the “she-males” in the review relates to the characters Kevin Barnes inhabits within the lyrics within “Skeletal Lamping.” I can assure you he was in no way insinuating his personal views about them, though without hearing the album before reading this review I can see where it might come off like that. Thanks for your comment.

By: Becky Barnett

Becky Barnett — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 01:36:55 +0000

Very interesting review (was a big fan of Hissing Fauna); certainly makes me want to hear this album right away. The comment “black she-males like to fuck” didn’t sit quite right—a lot of stereotyping and marginalizing in that sentence: for example, the implication that blacks are more sexual. And some “she-males” as you call them, are so marginalized that they have had to make money in the sex industry to survive or are driven to act out stereotypes. Just couldn’t help but point that out. Thanks for a good read otherwise!

By: samantha

samantha — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 14:37:52 +0000

Wow. Riveting review, dude. Couldn’t have said it better.