The Letter O

In this series I spotlight five bands and/or artists whose names begin with the same letter. I try to feature active (or recently active... it's hard to keep current with all the break-ups) performers so as to reflect who I'm listening to and enjoying at the moment.

Again, with the tracks from Insound.com, if you've saving them to your harddrive you may actually have to physically type ".mp3" at the end of the file name. Don't let typing four extra buttons prevent you from enjoying these songs.

O

of Montreal
Not actually of Montreal. Of Athens, Georgia. Like REM. But despite being from Georgah, of Montreal's music is otherwordly. I don't know specifically what world, but it's fancifal and bouncy and probably looks a lot like Pepperland. The music, then, is in that same sort of sub-psychadelic vein, though the band is not opposed to dishing out some thick trance beats or, at the other end of the musical spectrum, unplugging entirely to coo something nice and folky.
If it looks like I'm dumping a ton of tracks on you it's because they're so dang prolific. There's so much of Montreal to hear.
"She's My Best Friend" (Velvet Underground cover) .mp3 from The Elephant Six Recording Company. There's also a bunch of live tracks and a demo I haven't listened to yet.
"Heimdalsgate Like a Promethian Curse" .mp3 via Insound.com.
"So Begins Our Alabee" .mp3 via Insound.com. Good song.
"Disconnect the Dots" .mp3 via Insound.com. This song has been played everywhere.
"Doing Nothing" .mp3 via Insound.com. Also a good song.
"Spoonful of Sugar" .mp3 via Insound.com. Some of that folksy stuff I mentioned. A VERY good song.
"The Past is a Grotesque Animal" .mp3 from Under The Rotunda blog. Twelve minutes of sweet awesome goodness.
Also, for fun, check out the track list for The Early Four Track Recordings.


Okkervil River
Okkervil River is a bit hard to define, but I could get away with calling it rootsy indie rock. They utilize non-conventional rock 'n' roll instruments like accordians and mandolins and whatnot, but still lean more towards rock than folk. Their lyrical imagery is often pretty dark and usually tells some sort of coherant story. It's those big musical hooks that'll nab you, though. Just good songwriting all around.
I don't know. LISTEN.
"Westfall" .mp3 via Insound.com. Probably the best song ever. Evil don't look like anything.
"Red" .mp3 via Insound.com.
"The War Criminal Rises and Speaks" .mp3 via Insound.com.
"For Real" .mp3 from the Jagjaguwar Records site. This song is super good. For real.
"Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe" .mp3 from the Jagjaguwar Records site.
"The President's Dead" .mp3 from the Jagjaguwar Records site. Not morbid, but no less real.
"No Key, No Plan" .mp3 from the Jagjaguwar Records site.


Oneida
Oneida might be a bit of an acquired taste, but once you figure out how to appreciate them then you'll find their awesomeness knows no bounds. The band's songs are all at once hazey, hypnotizing, weird (like a nebula causing a traffic accident is weird), dense and heavy. Fundamentally, though, it comes down to the rock, and your face will eventually come off due to the rock.
Like Okkervil River, they've also released a bunch of albums through Jagjaguwar.
"Run Through My Hair" .mp3 via the Jagjaguwar Records site. Very cool.
"Up With People" .mp3 via the Jagjaguwar Records site.
"Wild Horses" .mp3 via Jagjaguwar. Not a Stones cover, but still a great song.
"Each One Teach One" .mp3 via Insound.com.
"To Seed and Flower" .mp3.
"Turn it Up Loud" .mp3. Bizarre, but in a good way.
Also, www.myspace/oneidarocks.com.


The Out_Circuit
Several bands rose up from the ashes of Frodus. One of them, founded by Frodus' last bassist Nathan Burke, is called The Out_Circuit (with or without the underscore). The Out_Circuit continues in that same bass-heavy paranoia-ishness that made And We Washed Our Weapons In The Sea so good. In fact, I highly recommend checking out that album (the fourth track, non-coincidently, is called "Out-Circuit the Ending") very soon after checking out these Out_Circuit songs.
There are currently four downloadables on the Lujo website. They are:
"Glasgow" -- Cold and atmospheric, listening to this song is like losing a fight to an arctic ghosttown.
"We Will End" -- The music is so rich, the mental imagery it provokes is outstanding.
"Across the Light" -- New song from the new album, Pierce the Empire With a Sound. I spy guest vocals.
"Come Out Shooting" -- Watch out for those unexpectedly abrasive vocals. Be lured back by the beauty of the music. Fantastic song.
A couple other listen-worthy streamies on the band's Virb.com website.
And appearing on a Lujo Christmas compilation, this is the best version of O Come Emmanuel (.mp3) you've ever heard.


Ozma
Ozma is awesome, but you already knew that. They broke up in 2004 but came back together earlier this year and released an album. Unfortunately, probably because I'm stupid, I haven't listened to that album yet. I bet it rocks. I bet you can't tell me otherwise.
Now I'm listening to some of those new songs on Myspace.
Now I'm done. They're a little world-weary, but still quite excellent. "Eponine" is great.
Other songs of excellence --
From the Kung Fu Records site: "Apple Trees", "No One Needs to Know", "Flight of the Bootymaster", "Bad Dogs", "Gameover".
And personal favorites of mine: "Natalie Portman", "Battlescars", "Korobeiniki".