Then Who Will Protect Big Oil

Then Who Will Protect Big Oil Artist: Of Montreal
Label: Track & Field Org
Category: Music


Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1
EAN: 5024545229028
ASIN: B00008RWXL


Release Date: 2003-07-01

Then Who Will Protect Big Oil


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Categories | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
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Tracks:

  1. My What A Strange Day With A Swede
  2. An Ill-Treated Hiccup
  3. Cast In The Haze (Been There Four Days)
  4. Mimi Merlot Beatnik Version
  5. Girl From NYC (Named Julia)
  6. Inside A Room Full Of Treasures A Black Pygmy Horse's Head Pops Up Like A Periscope
  7. Charlie And Freddy
  8. There Is Nothing Wrong With Hating Rock Critics
  9. Maple Licorice
  10. Barely Asian At The Beefcake Horizon
  11. Spooky Spider Chandelier
  12. Friends Of Mine
  13. Christmas Isn't Safe For Animals

Similar Items:

  1. Horse & Elephant Eatery (No Elephants Allowed): The Singles & Songles Album
  2. Cherry Peel
  3. The Gay Parade
  4. Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimsical Verse
  5. Satanic Panic in the Attic

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars If not them, who will?.......2004-12-23

Of all the George W. Bush-related titles I've seen, this one has to be the weirdest: The full title is "If He Is Protecting Our Nation, Who Will Protect Big Oil, Our Children?", and the cover is almost incomprehensible. It might be controversial, if anyone can figure out what exactly it all means.

But "Then Who Will Protect Big Oil" is also one of Of Montreal's endearingly peculiar albums. It isn't a concept album, and it has no flow. Yet it is a great collection of songs: the bubbly "My, What A Strange Day With A Swede," bouncy folkpop "An Ill-Fated Hiccup," and the truly surreal "Mimi Merlot Beatnik Version."

Without any real theme, this collection has echoes of "Cocquelicot," especially in songs like "Charlie And Freddy." It starts off with an impassioned conversation, before kicking off to some bizarre vocals and piano. And there's "Maple Licorice," a joyous mix of horns, goofy yo-yo sound effects, and marching-band music. But they also stretch their limits with the rocking, sneering "There Is Nothing Wrong With Hating Rock Critics," one of the best rock songs I have heard in eons.

Apparently "Then Who Will Protect Big Oil" is compiled of odds and ends, originally a tour CD. So it sounds totally different from one song to another, even employing the famous fuzz effect in "Barely Asian At the Beefcake Horizon." The only thing that keeps "Then Who Will Protect Big Oil" from being a top-notch album is that it is so disjointed. Virtually every song is a winner on its own, but they lack cohesion when you stick all the little songs together.

Kevin Barnes' slightly odd voice is clear and sweet in most of the songs, although he slurs it like a drunken rocker in "There Is Nothing Wrong With Hating Rock Critics" and mumbles incoherently in "Barely Asian At the Beefcake Horizon." The music is even better -- a glorious cacophony of piano, guitar, strings, party-like horns, weird sound effects, and patched-in samples.

"Then Who Will Protect Big Oil" is one of the more disjointed albums that Of Montreal has released, and only that lack of flow keeps it from being one of their best.

5 out of 5 stars More effortless, homespun genius from Of Montreal.......2003-07-23

As I understand it, this was originally recorded to be sold only at their concerts, as an offhand "thanks for being our fans" gesture. Leave it to Of Montreal to be so damn good that even a "castoff" album like this is loaded with music that is head-slappingly brilliant.

While lacking the grand concepts of their best albums ("The Gay Parade" and "Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies"), the density and diversity of these songs are little miracles of creative ingenuity. Their most recent "real" album, "Aldhil's Arboredum", while crammed with uniformly fantastic songs, sounds somewhat timid by comparison. (But only by comparison; it's still a wonderful cd!) If Salvador Dali had formed a band with the cast of Sesame Street, it would probably sound like Of Montreal.

The opening "My, What a Strange Day with a Swede" is an instant classic, chockful of strange sounds, ear-twisting chord changes, and melodic charm. The closing "Christmas Isn't Safe for Animals" is a beautiful / bizarre hybrid that only Of Montreal are capable of. We also get "There is Nothing Wrong with Hating Rock Critics", which tickles me pink every time I hear it, and a nice cover of The Zombies' "Friends of Mine". In between is a hodgepodge, mostly genius, one or two throwaway moments, but a thrilling and joyful ride all the way through.

Music Album:

  1. Songs for Tomorrow Morning ~ The Bobs
  2. Model Shop ~ Spirit
  3. Cosmic Furnace ~ Roger Powell
  4. Blue Nights ~ David Torn , Tony Levin , and Bill Bruford
  5. We're All Gunna Die ~ Danny Cohen
  6. Everybody Down ~ Matthew
  7. Gone to Earth ~ Barclay James Harvest
  8. Break of Dawn/Mirror of the World ~ Firefall
  9. Sky Motel ~ Kristin Hersh
  10. I ~ Kurt Nilsen

Music Album

Music Album

Music CD

King Kong: Jean Luc Ponty Plays The Music Of Frank Zappa ~ Jean-Luc Ponty

Traveling West ~ Gerald Beckett

Jazz in Paris: Jazz de Chambre ~ Buddy Banks & Bobby Jaspar

Feel the Groove ~ Pete Dunn

Alone ~ Hagood Hardy

Kosaku Shima Jazz Selection ~ Various Artists

Spring, River, Moon, Night: Traditional Cantonese Music ~ Lu Wei Kang

Fabuliste V.2 ~ Slimane Azem

Out of the Blue ~ The Acoustic Guitars

Golden Best ~ Sachiko Nishida