Tell me something about Otto Spooky

[imomus]

Today I'd like anyone who's got a copy of my new album Otto Spooky to tell me something about it... and you.



How does this long-playing Momus record fit into your listening routine? What records do you play before and after it? Have you bought anything since, and is Herr Spooky throwing shade or overshadowed? Were you particularly struck by certain lines? Do Otto's musical textures please you? What's great and what grates? Where does Otto stand in your personal canon of Momus records (assuming you have some other ones)? What do you think of John Talaga's intermezzi? Have you fallen asleep to this music, made love to it, got lost in it, jogged with it, played it in your car while driving through a National Park? Did you cover your children's ears when the song about the fascist boyscout came on? (Assuming you have children, that is.) Did your dog chew James Goggin's digipak (if so, print the JPEG above on stiff card and spray it with some foul-smelling fixative). Do any of the songs play in your head even when the record isn't on? When you're at the supermarket, do you ever look around to see if Robin Hood is there "in a wheelchair buying food", kidney dialysis colostomy bag by his side? Are you a top-scoring, panda-topping Lute Score wizard?

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

At this point, I listen to Otto Spooky at least once a day if I listen to anything at all. When it's over, I turn on NPR; I don't usually listen to anything else anywhere near it. The only thing I've bought since is about $50 worth of import Scissor Sisters singles. Yours is the only album I've heard that's worth my money so far this year. It is second only to Stars Forever, but growing in stature; it may eventually surpass that record. Tender Pervert is my third favorite. The songs go through my head all the time. I was going to list the songs that do, but it's most of the album. Corkscrew King only appears in my head when I've just woken up.

As for lyrics I particularly enjoyed, I love the inflection on the computer in Sempreverde as it says, "I said 'Don't say okay because then it's not rape'". Also, the lines "the past is so sad / the future is worse / thank heaven we haven't a future", I've been told, summarize my entire personality. In Lady Fancy Knickers "If you love me, love me totally for fun" is something I've tried to communicate in more words to less effect before. Disaster followed.

I definitely think the texture of this album is what sets it apart. You really leapt out into new frontiers for this recording. You've alluded to it as your Lodger, if I recall correctly, and I don't think that's far off the mark, especially with the Afro-tinged element of some of the songs. The synthesized slapping noises in the chorus of Klaxon are priceless.

I was surprised to love Fashion Flesh's intermezzi because I really disliked his work on Oskar Tennis Champion. I initially wished they were separate tracks, but now when they're playing on random in my iTunes the intermezzi make for even more amusingly disorienting transitions. I especially love the one before Bantam Boys because it goes in a direction completely different from everything else on the record-- and almost anachronistic to the style of the song after it.

My boyfriend was present when I received Otto Spooky. He didn't like Sempreverde, but kissed me anyway. We both love Life of the Fields, which I think is a Momus classic. I've taken to calling it the pagan love song-- meaning that it almost reminds me of a pop song that could be sung by any of today's interchangeable female pop stars of the moment, except that instead of Puritanical, wholesome puppy love, it seems to advocate paganism, something darker, more sensual and exotic, and inexorably wrapped in sorrow. Still, I'd give a fortune to hear one of them cover it with trendy pop beats.

The way you end the album is excellent. The line "In the midst of life there is death" combined with "The more you become acquainted with me, the better you will like me" is brilliant. The distortion on the word death is especially pleasing-- it makes my more mainstream friends squirm. Your insight into homosexuality is quite remarkable, considering that you are a heterosexual man (not typically a creature that understands us). I see this song almost as a companion to Miles Franklin-- both seem to recognize the part of the homosexual experience that isn't packaged and sold to the masses. This song also deeply reminded me of the story/opera Death in Venice; was it an inspiration?

The contrast between Sempreverde and The Artist Overwhelmed is also interesting. They both seem to present what most would consider very dark elements of humanity-- drug use, rape, and death-- in completely different lights, making them into things they weren't when the song began. Quite a feat.

I have decided that, after a year of trying to moderate myself in order to achieve my goals and getting nowhere, that I will abandon most of my attempts to placate those around me that I don't agree with, particularly on the issue of my sexuality. This album is the beginning of my soundtrack for that transformation. I no longer care if I corrupt their children merely by existing. It may not seem to be immediately related, but music is strange that way.

~Kevin

[imomus.livejournal.com]

Ah, interesting! The thing about the record not being a waste of money is very important, because morale is undermined when records come out that aren't worth their price. That seems obvious, perhaps, but it could undermine the whole business of making records, and to some extent has. I'm just sad that my records, which could entertain so many people, sell so few copies.

I've never heard the intermezzi on random, what a good idea! Must try it.

And I'm so glad the homosexual resonances on Artist Overwhelmed ring true. I think it was a description of my fantasy gay relationship; we'd be terribly snobby culturephags, holidaying in Italy, lightly aroused by the "muscular statuary", listening to Gluck on the iPod. I don't think Death in Venice played a part, more my actual holidays in Italy. And perhaps the essay I wrote, Classicism and Atrocity (http://www.imomus.com/thought200502.html).

Like your last sentiment very much. I can also identify the moment when I decided to do that artistically. I think I called it "optimising my marginality", and I think it was just before I made Tender Pervert.

miles franklin

[sadlittlemonkey.livejournal.com]

my favourite momus line is:

Now when I dream of a man
I see him putting up shelves (shelves!)

it's so simple... yet evokes all these images/emotions. i remember not liking the song when i first purchased stars forever, and now it's probably my favourite.

maybe in the same way, i'll learn to like the artist overwhelmed, which brings me to the question... is that a real quote at the end of the song or is it momus disguised as a found artifact? where's it from? i thought it was brilliant even though i hated it. i wish i could say why.

i also thought of this song as a companion to miles franklin.

<3 <3 <3,

alec
a.k.a. sadlittlemonkey

Re: miles franklin

[imomus.livejournal.com]

So many of the best lines on Stars Forever come from the sitters themselves. Miles told me he dreamed of a man putting up shelves. (I added the exclamation.)

The voice at the end of Artist Overwhelmed is from an Edison phonograph demonstration record. You can hear the whole recording on this page (http://www.nipperhead.com/cylinder.htm).