Search - Of Montreal :: Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of

Had a real hard time with this one

Zelie Nic | Pittsburgh | 06/30/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I don't mind music challenging me, but this one just never paid off. There's some great songs here such as "Penelope" and "Day Dareaming of You" and even "The Event's Leading..."



This album is a collection of oddities that piece together. I don't know what they're supposed to form once whole. There was also a lack of "tightness" within the songs. I just had a hard time with it. I have everything else Of Montreal has done so far, and I love each albums (even the Early 4-Track Collection).



If you're debating between this and another Of Montreal album, I'd recommend you skip this one unless you're very adventurous."

Astonishingly artistic and available aardvarkery

Noel Pratt | Washington, D.C., and better places | 10/01/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm surprised this is the first I've heard of this band...and to overstate things a bit, my pessimism may never be the same. I didn't intend this, I just sat back and was suddenly listening to the sound of nihilism melting away; I felt both addressed and entertained by the most mature, progressive, and charmingly disarming Indie music I can point to in a room overstuffed with CDs. All of which makes the album's long, last, and only slightly more "serious" track (a piano suite) well deserved by the band -- you're glad to grant the creator a listen. Among Of Montreal's more obvious influences (Elephant 6 groups) there is some definite Stackridge here in the vibes and artistic articulation. A lovely irony, this gently sophisticated funfest from the city that's also given us such beautiful but heavy/haunting sounds the past decade.

Postdate: Ah, so they're NOT from Montreal at all."

My Favorite from Of Montreal

Erik Norman | Illinois | 03/12/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Like a lot of people, I didn't become aware of the wonderful Of Montreal until The Sunlandic Twins erupted on the indie scene. I fell in love with that album and it's follow-up, Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer. Then, I decided to dig a little deeper into their back catalogue. The first album I bought from the older era was The Bedside Drama. At first, I was very confused, I thought for a second, maybe the wrong CD had been put in the case. It is about as opposite musically from their newer stuff as can possibly be. At first I didn't like it, but it slowly grew on me. Now, I rank it as another of my favorites from Of Montreal.



Once I got accustomed to their older sound, I went on a bit of a spree and bought all of their album and listened to them in order. Each one had something that I found to like on it... until I got to this album.



When I first put this album on, I didn't like it at all. I even said to myself, "Wow, this is my least favorite for sure." I continued on my merry way and listened to all of their albums. Then I decided to go back to this one because I felt that there had to be something that I needed to unlock about this album. It took a few listens but then, it just clicked. I think it took listening to it with headphones to finally get all the intricate layers and odd arrangements on this albums. Now, I rank this album as my all time favorite Of Montreal album.



This albums is a studio marvel. I couldn't even fathom all of the work and endless hours that must have went into getting all of the craziness to fall into place on this album. To be honest, it has a bit of a schizo feel to it. Songs shift tempos and feels and even genres with the drop of a hat. A good example is the end of the song "Mimi Merlot" where it repeats the same line, "Mimi Merlot, you're the most convincingly non-fictitious character that I know." It says it three times, the first being a fairly straight forward rocking rendition, then it suddenly switches to western swing and does it again, then the last one is very dreamy and languid. Very odd arrangements indeed.



The highlights of this album are plentiful. The afore-mentioned "Mimi Merlot" is fun. My other favorites would be "Peacock Parasols", "Let's Do Everything For The First Time Forever", "Rose Robert" (listen for the awesome guitar part in that one), "Penelope", "Hello From Inside A Shell", "It's Just So", and my very favorite, "The Frozen Island" which has an AMAZING bass groove at the end. The rest of the album is fun too. It forms a very loose, odd story about fairies and DNA experiments. I can't figure it out, but it sure is fun trying. The lyrics of this album are so weird and grin inducing that you can't help but love them. There's even a few spoken word only parts of this album.



In summary, DO NOT START WITH THIS ALBUM!!! Start with a more conventional (that word is used loosely with regards to Of Montreal) album. This album takes a while to materialize in the ol' noodle, but when it does, you will love it. Just be patient."