So have at it then. I only have one album of his: 324 E. 13th St, which I picked up used while in NY. This is pretty much all I've heard of his work, so I'd really rather not choose, but oh if you press me, I should say Classic. Some favorite moments to search off this album:
1. 'Just Melancholy' - perhaps a given, but this is an incredible beautiful song, with a rather fitting title as well..weepweepsobsob. but it is nice, yes.
2. The swirly, swallowing guitar parts on both 'Intertidal' and 'Fine, Fine, Fine.' Also note some glorious noise parts on 'In Your Wake' where it somehow feels as though Roy's 4 track is drunk (is that his vocals being played backwards near the end, or am I drunk?)
3. Roy's rendition of Wire's 'Used To' is also quite lovely - can't say I prefer one or the other, really.
So, tell me more - do you like? dislike? recommend?
― Emily, Thursday, 17 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
For his solo stuff, try Scenes from the South Island, Temple IV and the more recent Silver Wheel of Prayer. Band stuff - - the Pin Group compilation is fun enough, the Dadamah one often astonishing. Dissolve is a bit hit or miss in comparison, but the semi-spinoff True by Montgomery and Chris Heaphy is excellent.
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 17 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― stevo, Thursday, 17 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― your null fame, Thursday, 17 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― gareth, Thursday, 17 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Mark, Thursday, 17 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
I wasn't too hot on the Enraptured 7". I've just got hold of Scenes... but haven't had the chance to crack it out yet..
― electric sound of jim, Thursday, 17 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― RickyT, Thursday, 17 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
So, I take it you don't like his vocals then, and prefer the instrumental business? His voice is rather *strange* if only because it's INCREDIBLY low, and I guess I can give you dreary too, but I think that's not necessarily bad in this case. Anyways, I'm sort of wondering what makes 324 a good album for you then and not some of his others, since every track (i think) on there has vocals....
― Clarke B., Thursday, 17 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― duane, Thursday, 17 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
That Terrastock thing = Ptolemaic Terrascope spinoff. Investigate and learn.
― Kris, Friday, 18 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 18 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― your null fame, Friday, 18 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 22:17 (eighteen years ago) link
― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 22:24 (eighteen years ago) link
Awesome
― admrl, Sunday, 6 January 2008 00:40 (sixteen years ago) link
http://media.brainwashed.com/common/images/covers/krank009.jpg
― Milton Parker, Sunday, 6 January 2008 03:14 (sixteen years ago) link
yes
― admrl, Sunday, 6 January 2008 19:58 (sixteen years ago) link
I have been there, Temple IV that is.
― admrl, Sunday, 6 January 2008 20:10 (sixteen years ago) link
Nice.
Very awesome. He's doing academic work now, I gather, but damn if he didn't leave behind some great music.
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 6 January 2008 20:16 (sixteen years ago) link
what field?
when i heard temple iv on the radio once, i pulled over and called to see what it was. that's only happened twice. this guy is great.
― amateurist, Sunday, 6 January 2008 20:42 (sixteen years ago) link
He's doing academic work now, I gather, but damn if he didn't leave behind some great music.
thank you for pre-answering the question i was about to ask!
― GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ, Monday, 7 January 2008 03:26 (sixteen years ago) link
Here ya go:
His official homepage at Lincoln University in NZ
A group effort he participated in back in 2003
And, very happily, a recent interview talking about his music and his current doings.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 7 January 2008 03:36 (sixteen years ago) link
The interview indicates that there's a new compilation out which I'd not heard about at all! Inroads is the title, but damned if I can find a home page for the label, Rebis. Anyway, here's one site carrying the release.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 7 January 2008 03:40 (sixteen years ago) link
And talking about his current work in particular:
You're a senior lecturer and group leader at the Environment, Society and Design Division at Lincoln University. Care to tell us a bit about what you do? Has it ever been difficult to combine an academic career with a musical one?Basically my job is to train up future environmental policy-makers and managers. I lecture undergrads and post-grads and supervise Masters and PhD students researching environmental management topics. Not difficult at all to combine careers since I don't have a musical one. The musical work is a fitful activity and the pressures are more with family life and being a volunteer firefighter in my twilight years.
Basically my job is to train up future environmental policy-makers and managers. I lecture undergrads and post-grads and supervise Masters and PhD students researching environmental management topics. Not difficult at all to combine careers since I don't have a musical one. The musical work is a fitful activity and the pressures are more with family life and being a volunteer firefighter in my twilight years.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 7 January 2008 03:41 (sixteen years ago) link
the song Something Else Again from a mid 90s 7" was always my favorite.
― dan selzer, Monday, 7 January 2008 05:08 (sixteen years ago) link
Wow, it's nice to see not only what Roy Montgomery's up to (classic, but another vote for instrumentals above the vocal tracks here, though I happily listen to either) but also what Mats of Broken Face is up to, since I enjoyed and miss the zine and this Deep Water Acres site Ned linked to is new to me. Thanks Ned!
― a passing spacecadet, Monday, 7 January 2008 08:57 (sixteen years ago) link
The musical work is a fitful activity and the pressures are more with family life and being a volunteer firefighter in my twilight years.
!!
― Michael Dudikoff presents Action Adventure Theatre, Monday, 7 January 2008 10:42 (sixteen years ago) link
Rebis is a label out of Chicago run by the band Number None, I think. Been listening to Temple IV a lot. His side of the Harmony of the Spheres, "Fantasia on a theme by Sandy Bull," is a personal favorite, too.
― Trip Maker, Monday, 7 January 2008 14:55 (sixteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvvWccgN3Zs
― Faerie Liquide (admrl), Wednesday, 29 September 2010 05:59 (thirteen years ago) link
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\SHREDS is not even the word 4 it
Yup.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 06:03 (thirteen years ago) link
Oh yes.
― ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Wednesday, 29 September 2010 13:35 (thirteen years ago) link
does anyone here like Hash Jar Tempo?
― Dirt to Iron Man: "Suck it" (Drugs A. Money), Wednesday, 29 September 2010 14:15 (thirteen years ago) link
Love 'em.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 14:20 (thirteen years ago) link
It's been quite a while since I gave "Well-Oiled" a spin, actually.
― Trip Maker, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 14:46 (thirteen years ago) link
Yup, I pulled out Under the Glass earlier this week, actually -- great stuff.
― ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Wednesday, 29 September 2010 15:04 (thirteen years ago) link
cool i want to check them out...when looking through the Flying Nun discography a few months back, it never occured to me once that the Pin Group might be as relevant as The Clean lol...
― drown sandwich (Drugs A. Money), Wednesday, 29 September 2010 15:55 (thirteen years ago) link
There's another new Roy Montgomery track "Pressed Bloom" coming on the CD release of his Grouper split next year: http://sites.google.com/site/yellowelectric/Grouper
― plazzTT, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 15:57 (thirteen years ago) link
HJT is great! Not as great as Dadamah though, imo!
― CharlieS, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 21:17 (thirteen years ago) link
Hi,
Just stumbled on this. I appreciate the comments that have kept the thread going (thanks Ned), albeit fitfully just like my output. Yes I found the "Roy Division" quip funny myself at the time not least when I arrived at work one day (record shop) to find it sprayed in day-glo on the big glass window. Expect a modest crank or two of the handle of output over the next year or so.
― Roy Montgomery, Monday, 1 November 2010 09:49 (thirteen years ago) link
Incidentally, was listening to the collab w/ Kirk Lake, "London Is Swinging By His Neck". So, so haunting & beautiful!
― silence is a rhythm too (Turangalila), Monday, 1 November 2010 10:05 (thirteen years ago) link
xpost -- Hey, you're welcome there sir, glad you could stop by. Looking forward to whatever comes next!
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 1 November 2010 12:47 (thirteen years ago) link
weird. on digital files, song is called "Five Bears at Two Guns Arizona"
― dan selzer, Thursday, 20 October 2016 04:38 (seven years ago) link
Guessing it should be "Ten Beers with Five Bears at Two Guns, Arizona"
― erry red flag (f. hazel), Thursday, 20 October 2016 04:40 (seven years ago) link
Thanks for that. Arranged the digital tracks similarly.
― Elvis Telecom, Friday, 21 October 2016 08:18 (seven years ago) link
some of this stuff is really trippy, closer to like william tyler and dustin wong or kaki king than the blues stuff i'd imagined
― blonde redheads have more fun (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 21 October 2016 18:38 (seven years ago) link
hahahahaha fuck me i was getting this dude mixed up with roy buchanan, never mind
i was like damn roy done changed his style up in the 80s
― blonde redheads have more fun (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 21 October 2016 18:43 (seven years ago) link
"down from that hill and up from the pond" and "ill at home" remain my 2 favorite roy montgomery songs, "winding it out in the high country" and that whole album toocan someone give me a little description of what's in this box set?
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Friday, 21 October 2016 18:49 (seven years ago) link
you guys this box set is so so good
― erry red flag (f. hazel), Tuesday, 1 November 2016 03:39 (seven years ago) link
LL, you have probably investigated by now but it's four albums of new material, one with vocals three instrumental. so far I like Bender the most, but it's going to take a while. as a whole it falls more on the scenes from the south island side than the temple IV side, but darkmotif dancehall has some of the heaviness of now the rain sounds...
― erry red flag (f. hazel), Tuesday, 1 November 2016 03:46 (seven years ago) link
Love his instrumentals but can't take his voice
― Acid Hose (Capitaine Jay Vee), Tuesday, 1 November 2016 12:36 (seven years ago) link
I haven't investigated -- I have been really busy! Thank you -- that's exactly what I wanted to know :) Three instrumental is a good sign!Not a huge fan of his voice either unless he is whispering creepily. It's alright.
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Tuesday, 1 November 2016 12:43 (seven years ago) link
I love his voice because I can sing along to it, unlike 99% of the vocalists I love
― erry red flag (f. hazel), Tuesday, 1 November 2016 13:40 (seven years ago) link
Ha! I know the feeling.
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Tuesday, 1 November 2016 13:52 (seven years ago) link
Love his voice and always happy to hear it.
― dan selzer, Tuesday, 1 November 2016 15:43 (seven years ago) link
Bought the new issue of the Wire for the Roy article, probably first time buying an issue since the mid 90s!
― dan selzer, Tuesday, 1 November 2016 15:44 (seven years ago) link
No offense to the Wire, I just don't buy magazines much.
As the Sun Sets from Tropic of Anodyne is my theme song for 2017.
― erry red flag (f. hazel), Monday, 9 January 2017 01:33 (seven years ago) link
aaaaaaand new album:
https://grapefruitrecordclub.com/products/montgomery-roy-suffuse-lp-with-bonus-second-lp-option-pre-order
Called "Suffuse" and it's got tracks he wrote for a handful of guest vocalists, most of whom seem to have taken him up on the offer!
1) Apparition (with Haley Fohr)2) Rainbird (with She Keeps Bees)3) Outsider Love Ballad No 1 (with Katie Von Schleicher)4) Mirage (with Purple Pilgrims)5) Sigma Octantis (with Julianna Barwick)6) Landfall (with Liz Harris)
There's a bonus LP available with the vinyl edition which seems to have instantly sold out.
― com rad erry red flag (f. hazel), Tuesday, 10 July 2018 21:40 (five years ago) link
the bonus lp version cost like $52 fuck that shit
― adam, Tuesday, 10 July 2018 22:31 (five years ago) link
it's made from melted down copies of rarer, more expensive records
― com rad erry red flag (f. hazel), Tuesday, 10 July 2018 23:14 (five years ago) link
Haley Fohr!
― + +, Tuesday, 10 July 2018 23:16 (five years ago) link
It's a lovely record.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 10 July 2018 23:25 (five years ago) link
damn this is a great album!
― crüt, Wednesday, 31 October 2018 18:04 (five years ago) link
Scenes From the South Island is so fucking good
― JoeStork, Sunday, 7 July 2019 00:41 (four years ago) link
^^^^^
I ended up really loving Suffuse as well
― think the toledo mud hens but for twitter (Drugs A. Money), Sunday, 7 July 2019 08:57 (four years ago) link
And not only is it so fucking good, it's going to be available again soon!
https://grouper.bandcamp.com/album/scenes-from-the-south-island
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 29 October 2019 16:03 (four years ago) link
wait, that song is Nor'wester Head On? I always thought that was Winding It Out in the High Country!
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Tuesday, 29 October 2019 16:16 (four years ago) link
Liz's song on Suffuse is phenomenal
― the oxford book of chaos (Drugs A. Money), Tuesday, 29 October 2019 19:47 (four years ago) link
Also forgot to mention, After Nietzsche, the album he released this year with Emma Johnston, is amazing. Emma Johnston has a Liz Fraseresque sorta vocal style (or someone I can't quite place, along the lines of maybe Black Rose or Ordo Equitum Solis... especially on the title track) that totally lights up Roy Montgomery's guitar work, so good.
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Wednesday, 30 October 2019 20:51 (four years ago) link
So the vinyl re-release of Scenes from the South Island has a nice 3-part 16-minute suite as side 4, called Hollyford Valley. Recorded in 2018, not in 1995 with the rest of the album. It's a nice Faith-era Cure sort of sound, a kinda black and white Primary. Instrumental, pretty. So happy he keeps releasing new stuff.
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Saturday, 18 January 2020 04:36 (four years ago) link
Roy's been posting new tracks on his YouTube channel:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF5NZfRf_kt7ff9rG4la9ig
― Elvis Telecom, Saturday, 9 May 2020 19:45 (three years ago) link
!!!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5ToEdQiybc
― Elvis Telecom, Sunday, 23 August 2020 04:48 (three years ago) link
Whole lot more coming in early 2021https://badabingrecords.bandcamp.com/album/roy-montgomery-40th-anniversary-2021-lp-series
― JoeStork, Saturday, 7 November 2020 03:54 (three years ago) link
I like how he is casually dropping four-album sets these days like it’s NBD
― thousand-yard spiral stairs (f. hazel), Saturday, 7 November 2020 05:44 (three years ago) link
He posted a new cover on his YouTube channel too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpzshwncFw0
― Elvis Telecom, Saturday, 7 November 2020 08:06 (three years ago) link
new album is gorgeous
― eisimpleir (crüt), Saturday, 17 April 2021 15:36 (two years ago) link
New album "That Best Forgotten Work" is a vocal album! I love his doomy voice, has Roy sung much on his solo albums? The ones I've checked out have been exclusively instrumental.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Saturday, 12 June 2021 13:38 (two years ago) link
On and off. Love the singing. Always
― dan selzer, Saturday, 12 June 2021 14:25 (two years ago) link
"Suffuse" had female guest vocalists singing vocal parts he'd written
― eisimpleir (crüt), Saturday, 12 June 2021 15:19 (two years ago) link
buy his singles comp 324 E. 13th Street #7, it has plenty of songs with vocals!
― mark e. smith-moon (f. hazel), Saturday, 12 June 2021 15:26 (two years ago) link
Don't forget the Dadamah and Dissolve albums!
― Elvis Telecom, Saturday, 12 June 2021 18:23 (two years ago) link
The singles comp as mentioned with the swallows single and Something Else Again? One of my favorites.
― dan selzer, Saturday, 12 June 2021 18:41 (two years ago) link
I wrote this: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/nov/29/cult-guitarist-roy-montgomery-on-flying-nun-grief-and-embracing-mistakes-its-an-existential-thing. Camera Melancholia is magnificent.
― his cartoon heart expands, then he relaxes by smoking crack (stevie), Tuesday, 29 November 2022 11:18 (one year ago) link
Truly.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 29 November 2022 13:49 (one year ago) link
oh! this must be live on Spotify soon so I can listen at work... got the vinyl in the mail a few days ago
― Jaime Pressly and America (f. hazel), Tuesday, 29 November 2022 16:07 (one year ago) link
(also great article!)
Thank you!
― his cartoon heart expands, then he relaxes by smoking crack (stevie), Tuesday, 29 November 2022 17:27 (one year ago) link
Lovely article/interview - I'm a NZer and I'd never heard some of those biographical details before. Glad he's got the Dry Cleaning support slot here - hoping that + the new Matthew Goody Flying Nun book will give him a bit more local attention.
― etc, Tuesday, 29 November 2022 20:15 (one year ago) link
Nice interview, thanks for sharing. I picked up RMHQ earlier this year and greatly enjoyed it. Spun all four discs on repeat on a day trip through a national park in the Pacific Northwest.
― ilxor, Wednesday, 30 November 2022 04:27 (one year ago) link
The one song with vocals is truly the most beautiful thing I've heard in ages. Doesn't sound like it but makes me think of Nick Cave's Distant Sky, another heartbreakingly melancholic elegy featuring guest female vocals.
― dan selzer, Friday, 2 December 2022 13:43 (one year ago) link
saw him play in the Futana Chapel today
i'm from the same place he is and i was a fan of his instrumental 90s stuff years ago but haven't really been able to get into the what i've heard since he's started releasing again. the was pretty nice, particularly the opening omnichord piece. might have to check the new one out. he also mentioned that he's putting a book of verse next year and read some of it out which was pretty hard to watch/listen to but suprisingly good and pretty poignant.
revisting this album tonight for the first time in a long time. probably my favourite vocal track of his (along the Wire cover)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHjMRi7lu9s
― linee, Saturday, 3 December 2022 08:35 (one year ago) link