Indie and Lo-Fi music reviews

as prewar yardsale says, "she used to be cool... now she's really cool."
kimya is a very special songwriter. she brings just what the world needs - truth!
i enjoyed a recent performance from her in los angeles and it seems she's gotten even better than when she made the record. i think she is a particularly good influence for young people but she strikes a chord with me as well. i wish i could be so... articulate.
yeah, i love that she is so straightforward and outspoken without ever over-hyping anything.
thanks to kimya, we get a clear reminder of what it means to be open and honest.

When my roommate handed me Hidden Vagenda and told me to give it a listen, I was apprehensive. I mean, who is going to give much creedence to a cover that looks like it was Photoshopped by a 12-year-old? How insanely glad am I that I actually listened.

Every song is amazing, he lyrics are clever and often heartbreaking. Her voice is something that almost fades into the background until some lyrics pops out and tells you to listen.

I was in my car driving home one night listening to the CD when suddenly the lyrics to "Anthrax" caught my ear. She captured the emotion of the September 11, 2001 attacks better than anyone else ever could. There is no false sense of patriotism, just bare observation and raw emotion.

Give Kimya a chance, you won't be dissappointed.

Wow! I have been a kimya fan since the moldy peaches and her first solo album "I'm sorry that sometimes i'm mean" but this is even better. Kimya acheives using a naieve, down to earth method of bringing across subjects that are very deep. Unlike her other albums which were recorded in her bedroom on her 4 track, she recorded at a friends house, and altogether brings across a more group effort. I say that because she has her friends sing on some of the tracks, in fact there is a whole chorus on "I will never forget" and it is stunning. this is a great album! I luv u kimya.

Even a band that you'll never find on the radio can have plenty of "singles and songles" lying around the place. "Horse & Elephant Eatery (No Elephants Allowed): The Singles & Songles Album" collects Of Montreal's assorted songles into one album, which has no cohesion, but it's enchanting anyway.

"It's strange how when we were young/ I was so mean to you/I didn't know the connection we had till we go older," Kevin Barnes croons in the opening song, an ode of brotherly love. And after that -- except for a few offbeat songs like the robust "Problem With April" -- the collection takes off into outer space, with songs about flaming swans, ghostly faces and stalker librarians.

Of Montreal runs the full gamut here, from enchanting love songs ("Spoonful of Sugar") to spoken stories about baby spiders, pudding and reincarnation. Barnes and Co. introduce us to Nicki Lighthouse (a psychedelic Pippi Longstocking), laments lost love, and plans a funeral. And, of course, it has some feel-good assurances: "You worry 'bout the sun/What's the use of worrying 'bout the big old sun?/You worry 'bout the rain/The rain keeps falling just the same..." On the Japanese import, there is an extra track: the cute love song "Cast in the Haze (Been There Four Days)" which assures the subject, "I take all of my books and I toss them aside/I don't want to read them now/Proust pales to you somehow." Aww, smooth-talker.

Of Montreal is best known for creating enchanting theme albums -- albums all about love, about magical dreamlike stories, or about the life of a love affair. "Horse & Elephant Eatery (No Elephants Allowed)" is the exception. Since it's entirely made out of songles, there's no flow from each song to the next. But strangely, it almost feels as if it did have.

Swirly guitar-and-tambourine pop is at the core of it, along with the required odd chords and strange sound effects. There is folk, pop, a tint of rock, and "The Problem with April" sounds like a drunken marching band doing a musical number. It fits the songwriting -- big-hearted, optimistic, loving and strange.

The general mood is one of love -- between lovers, brothers, and friends. The only exceptions are songs like "Julie the Mouse," where Barnes sings over a sparkling melody: "It's such a strange need to be deprived of/To just want love and feel happy." But that's an unusual song. More often, it's the upbeat "The You I Created" (the only one where a woman sings) or the surprisingly cheerful "Scenes From My Funeral." ("And just before whoever gives the command/to send my body down/I'll jump out of the box and tap dance/from head to bald head."

Somehow it's reassuring to hear Barnes sing, "What started with the Gay Parade/Will continue till the end of our days." If their future albums are anything like their singles'n'songles collection, then that is an excellent thing.