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Aldhils Arboretum
 
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Aldhils Arboretum

of Montreal
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews) | More about this product

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Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or view the MP3 Album.

Samples
Song Title Time Price
listen  1. doing nothing 3:23$0.99 Buy Track
listen  2. old people in the cememtery 3:20$0.99 Buy Track
listen  3. isnt it nice? 2:55$0.99 Buy Track
listen  4. jennifer louise 2:00$0.99 Buy Track
listen  5. the blank husband epidemic 2:39$0.99 Buy Track
listen  6. pancakes for one 2:41$0.99 Buy Track
listen  7. we are destroying the song 2:47$0.99 Buy Track
listen  8. an ode to the nocturnal muse 3:43$0.99 Buy Track
listen  9. predictably sulking sara 2:27$0.99 Buy Track
listen10. natalie and effie in the park 2:12$0.99 Buy Track
listen11. a question for emily foreman 2:42$0.99 Buy Track
listen12. kissing in the grass 3:39$0.99 Buy Track
listen13. kid without claws 3:56$0.99 Buy Track
listen14. death dance of omipapas and sons for you 2:23$0.99 Buy Track

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of Montreal
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Product Details

  • Audio CD (September 24, 2002)
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Label: Kindercore Records
  • ASIN: B00006IJ2Y
  • In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #258,080 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Of Montreal return to their very beginnings on their oddly named fifth album, Aldhils Arboretum, abandoning all pretensions of constructing another Byzantine concept album as they did on their past three outings. As a result the quintet have made a stronger, more appealing record by simplifying their aesthetic--sounding much like they did on their 1997 debut, Cherry Peel--and creating 14 discrete, unrelated tableaus about some of the idiosyncratic characters from their native Athens, Georgia. Borrowing freely from the band's own autobiography, spiritual leader and main songwriter Kevin Barnes constructs a skewed pastoral scene in "Isn't It Nice" (about an actual exodus the band made to Clarke Country, Georgia, where four of the five members set up housekeeping in a community peopled with crotchety old women, inebriated neighbors, and suicidal deer), proving he can conjure rural characters just as compelling as the urban warriors Lou Reed described in "Walk on the Wild Side." Barnes blithely pens a story of a woman's love for her dog on "Natalie and Effie in the Park," only to turn around and write a paean to sleep, "An Ode to the Nocturnal Muse," in which he professes love for his bed, his pillow, and the dream state. However, snuggled underneath those cozy covers is a darker reality that slithers into your consciousness on the dark wings of an anxious organ fill, letting you know that the song--and the entire album, for that matter--is more Southern gothic than Southern comfort. --Jaan Uhelszki

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Customer Reviews

12 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
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 (5)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
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Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars 4.5 Stars - A return to simpler Of Montreal, October 13, 2002
By Sheldon Rowan (Brookline, MA United States) - See all my reviews
If Of Montreal's The Gay Parade was their Pet Sounds, Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies their Smile, and Then Who will Protect our Children their Smiley Smile, where does that leave Aldhils Arboretum? Why it's Wild Honey, of course. This isn't meant to slight either album, as both have their distinct qualities, but for Of Montreal and The Beach Boys it represents a change in musical direction to looking backwards and not forwards. Aldhils Arboretum doesn't have the same high concept as Coquelicot or the coherence of The Gay Parade, but this probably makes it a more likable album for the newly initiated. If you're listening to the group for the first time, this should be your album. It's really the Of Montreal sampler. You can hear bits of Cherry Peel (Jennifer Louise), The Bedside Drama (Predictably Sulking Sara), The Gay Parade (Natalie and Effie in the Park), Coquelicot (the most challenging song on the CD, Kid Without Claws), and even Then Who Will Protect Our Children? (the beautiful An Ode to the Nocturnal Muse which is sung in Japanese (Neru No Daisuki) on the aforementioned CD).

There aren't too many clunker songs on this CD, which makes it very listenable from beginning to end. Even the lower quality songs like Isn't it Nice? and A Question for Emily Foreman have charm. What holds me back from giving this album the 5 star rating and my highest recommendation is the lack of some truly brilliant songs. Doing Nothing could be a pop hit if Of Montreal ever wanted that kind of thing, and Kid Without Claws brings me back for repeated listens. They just don't set off bells in my head like some of their better songs from earlier CDs.

That said, Aldhils Arboretum is worth buying for existing fans and those drawn by their curiosity. The cheery relentless poppy hooks are all there, as are some of the finest musical arrangements this side of Circulatory System. Of Montreal is a band that loves to make music, loves to play music (if you can ever get to their live performances, they are routinely among the best performers I've heard), and loves to make you smile.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars For me, a good introduction to a great band, October 13, 2002
First of all, download track one (Doing Nothing). If you like that song, buy this album as the rest will certainly appeal to you. Full of storytelling gems, this album reminds me of so many moments in my life. "Old People in the Cemetery" just offers such beautiful imagery. The catchiness of "Jennifer Louise" will remind you of a forgotten cousin. "Pancakes For One" is the perfect song for a breakup, while "Kissing in the Grass", with its haunting clarinet, makes you wish you had a lover again.
An album that reminds me of The Apples In Stereo and of the "Magical Mystery Tour" couldn't be bad, and it isn't.
Although a friend of mine disparaged this as a Beatles ripoff, 60s pop influences don't make it that. Instead it is an intelligent album that is definitely one of the top 10 of the year.
Give "Aldhils Arboretum" and Of Montreal a chance.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Of Montreal's "Revoler"-equivalent, October 12, 2002
By David Eniz (lombard, il United States) - See all my reviews
Upon its release last year, Of Montreal's previous album, "Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies", took its place among my over-1,400 cd's as the Absolute Favorite in my collection. I wondered how they could ever follow something so huge, so colorful and ambitious. Like the Beatles moving backward from "Sgt. Pepper" to "Revolver", they followed it up by tightening the structures, trimming some whimsy, and turning the guitars way, way up. Horns, strings, and pianos are still part of the sonic arsenal, but are used more sparingly, moving their sound away from the psychedelic vaudeville of past records and into a more electrified, "live" feel.

The songs here, in perfect Kevin Barnes style, are still as sweet, colorful, and twisty as licorice whips. But where their last few albums utilized crates of Crayola color, making each song fan out like fractal "oil puddles in taffeta patterns" (to steal a line from Joni Mitchell), the songs on this record are leaner, colored with fewer crayons, pressing harder. This is an aggressively guitar-and-buzzing-organ oriented record, and easily their most "rock". The conceptual ideas of the last few records have also been shed, giving the record a somewhat haphazard, random feel, lacking the strong collective identities of "The Gay Parade" or "Coquelicot." That said, the absence of an overarching story brings the individual songs more into focus, and these are some of the greatest songs they've come up with yet.

I was a bit taken aback by some of the lyrics on this record, particularly "Old People in the Cemetary." It's a good song, but an unusually mean-spirited and condescending missive from a normally good-natured and open-hearted songwriter. The lyrics of "Isn't it Nice?" are also uncharacteristically glib and prosaic, and sound awkwardly mashed into place. However, I also chuckled aloud at them, so they're not entirely ineffective. :)

Of Montreal are simultaneously more confident and less ambitious on "Aldhil's Arboredum", and by scaling back their sound have given themselves another path forward. Another great record from one of the greatest bands around.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Twee Twaddle from Crass Catamites
You'll be doing the world a favor by saving the money you'd otherwise spend on this drivel and donating it to a children's hospital. Read more
Published 1 day ago by Tony Arnold

5.0 out of 5 stars Aldhils Arboretum is of Montreal's masterpiece. Absolutely.
Aldhils Arboretum is of Montreal's perfect album. There isn't a single song on this album that you will skip when listening to it. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Charles Tyler Dennis

4.0 out of 5 stars a underated album which is actually very good
Ofcourse the albums that everyone knows Of Montreal for are, Satanic panic, the long concept album which i cant remember the name of, Sunlandic Twins. Read more
Published on March 15, 2006

5.0 out of 5 stars this is an awesome album
If you like good music then buy this album. It is definatley one of my favorites. In my opinion this album is right up there with dark side of the moon. Read more
Published on February 16, 2006 by David Hill

3.0 out of 5 stars Growing "Arboretum"
Elephant 6 band Of Montreal is at its best when they make goofy, quirky concept albums, or at the very least weird songs that make you wish you had whatever they're smoking. Read more
Published on January 26, 2005 by E. A Solinas

4.0 out of 5 stars Happy E6 Pop
Kevin and David Barnes, the musician and the artist, respectively, have put together many fun, artsy, pop albums. Aldhils Arboretum is more of the same. Read more
Published on July 1, 2003 by A. Bubul

3.0 out of 5 stars not as good as the old of mont
this had no cute little songs that i could fall in love with, sadly. like montreal on cherry peel or dustin hoffmans wife... on the 4 track sessions. Read more
Published on February 11, 2003 by Jamey

2.0 out of 5 stars simply, sadly
This almost shouldn't be done. Of Montreal made two incredible, full, beautiful albums: "The Gay Parade" and "Asleep in a Coliquet [sic] of Poppies" Those albums seemed very... Read more
Published on October 8, 2002 by Vlad

5.0 out of 5 stars this is the trip. the best part of the trip. the best part
If you're reading this, you've probably heard one of their other albums. If so, buy this at once. This is one of the most cohesive, focused and entertaining pop albums to spring... Read more
Published on October 8, 2002 by Sir Emerson Wensleydale

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