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PopMatters is 20 this year -- until October when we are 21 -- and a 2009 special section celebrates the popular music that defined the year of our birth. Today we kick things off with albums from January through March, highlighted by Eminem's debut and stellar pop from XTC and Blur.

Kevin Barnes is back to experimenting. But this time around he drapes the weirdness in a layer of danceable grooves.

Kevin Barnes has found his center again. He's figured out how to combine his melodic skills with his musical idiosyncrasies.

Of Montreal's Kevin Barnes explains why it's OK to make music that's ugly, why he loves Os Mutantes, and why he can't recreate his most hated song ever.

Aureate Gloom is a soliloquy to anyone willing to listen, an intense affirmation of the confusion that comes with change, and of the uncertainty that comes with difficult choices.

From breathtaking reformulations of shoegaze to British soul revival, this batch of stellar recordings from the 2000s is an eclectic one.

The Past Is a Grotesque Animal takes a compelling, 20-year long story, and zips far too quickly through it.

Of Montreal's Kevin Barnes abandons the funk and electronic cut-and-paste pop of the band's last several records for a sound inspired by '60s and '70s guitar rock, creating his most organic and compelling music in years.

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Singer/violinist/multi-instrumentalist K Ishibashi takes some cues from both Andrew Bird and Animal Collective and creates a lovely debut album that's equal parts romantic yearning and playful non-sequiturs.

Just what the (witch) doctor ordered: a real chance to let loose. Tune in, turn on, drop doubt that good music will prevail.

Kevin Barnes takes Of Montreal out of its sexy funk phase and into its...20th century atonal minimalism phase? Yikes.

Listen and read about the songs with details from the songwriter

Ever have to turn in a term paper at the last second? While your band is on tour? The day before your back gives out? Well, Of Montreal-endorsed dance-rock group Casiokids know such pain, but share a great deal of wisdom and emotional depth in this fascinating 20 Questions feature . . .

New releases plus a trip to a music festival gives plenty of options for a playlist

PopMatters' latest free mix tape presents some aspects of the lasting effects of disco and associated funk, with ace selections from Squarepusher, of Montreal, Matthew Dear, Goldfrapp to keep that boogie in your shoes.

B.O.M.B. festival was a great event with a cozy atmosphere in an excellent space. Room enough for some family entertainment, live music and, more importantly, to grow in future years.

It’s explosive, hip...it’s where you want to be May 30th. It’s the BOMB!

On his debut solo effort, Of Montreal multi-instrumentalist James Husband demonstrates his real knack for penning melodies, not albums.

Kevin Barnes' individual narratives may be filled with confusion, miscommunication, and rejection, but his music's eminently inclusive.

This EP teases at what could've been: a full-fledged meeting of eccentric minds that not only works, but sounds almost exactly like what you'd expect it to.

Following Hissing Fauna, it shouldn't be too surprising that Skeletal Lamping is a bit of a let-down, but it's still a nonsensical dancefloor freakfest that only Kevin Barnes could pull off.

The world is better for every new pair of ears that gets turned on to Of Montreal and Ted Leo. The only real question is this: do you really need this album to begin with?

This EP offers some tasty leftovers from Of Montreal's excellent 2007 full-length, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?.

Care-free stuff or kiddy fluff? Longtime Of Montreal fan Kevin Peterson takes the band to task on some of the points that our first reviewer, Lyra Pappin, raised with reverie.

A friend of mine complains that his students draw dark, depressing images. I suggested they start listening to Of Montreal...

Depression, isolation, infidelity, violence; Of Montreal once more in top form.

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With only two new tracks padded with a couple old favorites, this peculiar tour EP may be best examined as if it were a 7" single.

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