Salmon of Rock has posted part 2 of their three-part interview with of Montreal’s James Huggins. This section focuses on how the band has learned to accept Kevin Barnes’ singular vision of the recording process; he also talks about his ongoing, semi-underground recording project James Husband:
I’m desperately trying to get into a situation where I feel like I can release something with a label that’s going to do it the way that I want to. I’ve been really reticent to put out like a small release of a single album because I’ve seen it happen so many times where you put all your eggs in one basket and then it doesn’t get any kind of attention. Then the songs are dead and you gotta start over again. … I want to make a multiple disc release that is not just like 10 songs, 12 songs. At this point, I’ve amassed so much material that I’m trying to find someone whose willing to put out like a four-disc thing, almost like a posthumous-type thing, like a collection of an entire decade. I think that I will eventually be able to do it and I’m talking with Polyvinyl about trying to convince them to do it.
Yesterday I finally got ahold of the Apples in Stereo and of Montreal 7″/DVD packages released by Heartfast Records (a label located somewhere between New York and Japan, and run by Contact Records’ esteemed Yoko Sawai, a longtime E6 supporter). While I haven’t listened to the singles yet (”Stephen, Stephen” b/w “Same Old Drag,” and “Jimmy” b/w “Middle Class Ghetto,” respectively), I have watched the brief DVDs which come in a paper envelope with each package. The of Montreal DVD has generated a lot of advance excitement, mainly at the prospect of getting some kind of official DVD from the band featuring concert footage; however, this is merely a 14-minute (or so) home video edited together by of Montreal, mostly behind-the-scenes stuff and goofing around, with minimal live footage. It’s amusing, though nothing to compare with what supposedly is in the works for future release. (The picture disc artwork, by Nina Barnes and David Barnes, is gorgeous however.) The Apples in Stereo DVD is slightly more satisfying, preserving Robert Schneider’s performance of “Stephen, Stephen” from The Colbert Report (only that clip is on the DVD – not the remainder of the episode), and featuring the music video for “Same Old Drag” (which you can watch below). Watching this video reminded me how much I’d appreciate a complete video collection on DVD from the Apples. There’s some strange interlacing effects on these DVDs, nothing too distracting, and the menu screens are humorously basic. The DVDs are clearly just neat little bonuses, and not the main attraction. Overall, however, these discs are irresistible for diehard collectors, and as such will look very nice on the shelf. By now you should know whether or not you really need them.
