of Montreal Album: “Eluardian Instance (Jon Brion Remix EP)”

I should say first that I don't always get excited by remix albums. Sometimes they are better than the original, but more often they are far worse. But here is one of those rare instances where the remixes create whole new works to be judged on their own. These are some amazing remixes.

The "Reconstructionist remix" decides to take a look at what of Montreal would sound like if they were radio-friendly. It takes the first verse and turns it into the refrain, that is, "An Eluardian Instance" becomes "First Time High." The acoustic version is also quite essential.

The Gallery Piece remixes are quite fine, and turn the songs into a funky dancefloor track. Great stuff!

An obvious precursor to False Priest, what with Jon Brion doing oM production. It's like Kevin Barnes realized Skeletal Lamping had no easy singles and wanted to make some with Jon Brion (who is no doubt a wonderful producer, I mean just listen to the songs on this). Luckily (unlike False Priest) both songs on here are very good (although maybe not good enough for 25 minutes), so the EP works. The Of Chicago Acoustic version of First Time High is a definite highlight

this CD is really a great addition to any of Montreal fan's collection. It is just a little bit different then the original versions, but the amzaingness of Kevnin's orginal work is still shining through. I am not a big dance music fan, but this CD is getting a lot of rotation in the CD player - it sounds dumb, but it is great music for cleaning...

If you like the original versions of the songs that this CD covers I would highly recommend it as a nice change of pace.