Momus - Ocky Milk

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Well, needless to say, the new album by ilm's resident gadfly has leaked. And, let me be one of the first to say, Ocky Milk kicks ass. Return to form? Perhaps. More a fusion of Creation era delight with a cup of later experimentalism. Toss in Rusty Santo's helpful direction (at least on a few of the tracks, I'm assuming), and you've got a receipe for a nice evening at home with a bottle of American whiskey and a decent set of headphones. Momus, thank you for this one. You've never sounded more french kissable.

― wonderwonder (wonderwonder), Saturday, 16 September 2006 22:22 (nineteen years ago)

ysi?

― RoxyMuzak© (roxymuzak), Saturday, 16 September 2006 22:43 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvYByg9HN64

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Saturday, 16 September 2006 23:37 (nineteen years ago)

that's the first time i've heard Momus's music. i like the song ALOT.

― jed_ (jed), Saturday, 16 September 2006 23:54 (nineteen years ago)

Does it make you want to french him?

― Marmot (marmotwolof), Saturday, 16 September 2006 23:55 (nineteen years ago)

no but it made me want to french some of the other people in the video.

― jed_ (jed), Saturday, 16 September 2006 23:57 (nineteen years ago)

this one, too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLP0DuAOY0k

looking forward to album.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 17 September 2006 00:10 (nineteen years ago)

Will illegally download eventually.

― Eazy-Esteban Buttez (ESTEBAN BUTTEZ~!!!), Sunday, 17 September 2006 00:21 (nineteen years ago)

ok that second one was terrible.

― jed_ (jed), Sunday, 17 September 2006 00:42 (nineteen years ago)

I will choose to pirate this over being an industry bod any day

― like murderinging (modestmickey), Sunday, 17 September 2006 03:01 (nineteen years ago)

"pirate"

― RoxyMuzak© (roxymuzak), Sunday, 17 September 2006 06:56 (nineteen years ago)

You know, if mickey were to change his screen name to "Is it because I'm a pirate?", that would pretty much cancel out any more jokes we could make about him right there.

― Marmot (marmotwolof), Sunday, 17 September 2006 08:08 (nineteen years ago)

let me be one of the first to say, Ocky Milk kicks ass

Thank you, wonderwonder!

― Momus (Momus), Sunday, 17 September 2006 10:47 (nineteen years ago)

you know, watching that youtube, this isn't half bad. involving rusty santos was a wise choice.

― mr. brojangles (sanskrit), Sunday, 17 September 2006 11:08 (nineteen years ago)

I will choose to pirate this over being an industry bod any day

ONE. LAST. SCORE..

― mr. brojangles (sanskrit), Sunday, 17 September 2006 11:09 (nineteen years ago)

I just saw a whole bunch of Momus CDs at a car boot sale, didn't buy any, sorry Mo :(

― Oh No It's Dadaismus! (Dada), Sunday, 17 September 2006 11:29 (nineteen years ago)

My Metacritic scores this century are like a "spot the sequence pattern" test:

Folktronic 55
Oskar 59
Otto 63
Ocky ??

It's easy:

Ocky 67

― Momus (Momus), Sunday, 17 September 2006 13:01 (nineteen years ago)

(Which means I'll soon be nearly as good as the worst of the Mountain Goats.)

― Momus (Momus), Sunday, 17 September 2006 13:04 (nineteen years ago)

Only 9 albums to go before they give you more than 100!

― StanM (StanM), Sunday, 17 September 2006 13:31 (nineteen years ago)

Yay for maths! (Note to self: stay alive at least another 13.5 years)

― Momus (Momus), Sunday, 17 September 2006 14:04 (nineteen years ago)

Thanks to ILM, I'm now kinda curious as to what post-Poison Boyfriend Momus sounds like. I vaguely recall being annoyed with what I thought was the "disco Momus" I heard back around 1990 (an utterly bonkers thing to think, perhaps).

― Shoes say, yeah, no hands clap your good bra. (goodbra), Sunday, 17 September 2006 15:19 (nineteen years ago)

I liked "Devil's Haircut"

― Andy_K (Andy_K), Sunday, 17 September 2006 15:36 (nineteen years ago)

funnily enough I much preferred the second one, especially for the dissonant noise-breakdowns in between each verse. but that was my first taste of momus as well so it's hard to contextualise each piece. what is the best place to start?

― Space Gourmand (Haberdager), Sunday, 17 September 2006 15:38 (nineteen years ago)

you mean "Hairstyle of the Devil", don't you, Andy?

I couldn't really recommend a Momus starting point; I was (once) far too deeply involved.

― robin carmody (robin carmody), Sunday, 17 September 2006 16:23 (nineteen years ago)

Hello Robin!

I'd recommend "Otto Spooky" (2005) as a starting point. Just think of me as a new artist, and that as my first record. Then go on to "Ocky Milk" (2006). The rest is all under water, music from a different time.

― Momus (Momus), Sunday, 17 September 2006 16:38 (nineteen years ago)

even the 'songs for cash' one that allmusic really likes?

― Space Gourmand (Haberdager), Sunday, 17 September 2006 17:06 (nineteen years ago)

Momus, you're welcome. I love the new album, and have already preordered two copies.
In terms of where to start, I'd pick up The Ultraconformist, which to this day remains one of my favorites.

― wonderwonder (wonderwonder), Sunday, 17 September 2006 17:12 (nineteen years ago)

Novelty auto-tune puts my teeth on edge.

― Clumsy Colin in ACTION BIKER (coach_mcguirk), Sunday, 17 September 2006 19:08 (nineteen years ago)

I'd recommend 'Oskar Tennis Champion' as a starting point, but really you can't go wrong with his past three 'O' albums.

― Patrick South (Patrick South), Sunday, 17 September 2006 20:16 (nineteen years ago)

the "songs for cash" album is called Stars Forever. I can't speak objectively about it at all. nor can I speak objectively about most things I did, thought and said then (is it the same for everyone remembering when they were about 19?).

The Ultraconformist was actually the first Momus album I bought. I lived (still do) in the wilds, it was before filesharing or widespread internet retailing, and I'd read reviews which made his work sound interesting (props go out to David Hemingway here). I just happened to find a copy almost by chance, and it started there ... it's a brilliant album, but it's somewhat uncharacteristic (the atmosphere at least initially comes over as somewhat stereotypically "English", which most of his work is a reaction against at some level, and he sings in a truly bizarre accent accurately described by a relative as "Bowie at his campest", a kind of Threepenny Opera cackle).

wonderwonder, are you aware that "The Mother-in-Law", while apparently about one person, is actually about two? (father and son, both with the same name; the father did the razzmatazz and the son the administration)

― robin carmody (robin carmody), Monday, 18 September 2006 00:53 (nineteen years ago)

are you aware that "The Mother-in-Law", while apparently about one person, is actually about two?

I'm not even sure if I was aware at the time that the Bill Cotton of the Billy Cotton band show and the Bill Cotton who was the controller of BBC 1 were different people when I wrote the song, or whether I ran them together deliberately in an act of biographical cut-and-paste. Those were the days before Wikipedia. You just made stuff up to explain it to yourself.

Fun fact: that song was going to appear on "The Poison Boyfriend" at a time when that album was going to be called "BBC 1". (Some of the planned album's TV theme remains in the form of songs like "Situation Comedy Blues". There were other songs about TV that remain unreleased to this day, like "Confectioner" and "The Filippino".) There was even a sleeve made for "BBC 1" (which was due to come out on el, before I left for Creation) by a cartoonist called Ed Pinsent. As I recall, it showed the BBC 1 globe (which also looked like a bloodshot eyeball) being held up by me in the role of Atlas. When the album concept changed, Ed got paid a "kill fee" and came and picked up his drawing.

― Momus (Momus), Monday, 18 September 2006 06:33 (nineteen years ago)

i liked the 2nd song from youtube link a lot. video esp., is really cool. i guess the problem was talent.

― Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Monday, 18 September 2006 06:39 (nineteen years ago)

If Daniel Treacy lost his talent, bought a crap keyboard, pushed the "demo" button and lisped some dodgy rhymes on top, it'd probably sound a lot like this.

― Hot Hot Heat (Hot Hot Heat), Monday, 18 September 2006 10:02 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, his blog is also miles more talented than mine, innit?

― Momus (Momus), Monday, 18 September 2006 10:18 (nineteen years ago)

Let's split the difference, then. Treacy should stick to music and you carry on with your shameless self-promotion enterprises -- at which you are indeed peerless.

― Hot Hot Heat (Hot Hot Heat), Monday, 18 September 2006 10:50 (nineteen years ago)

These new songs, particularly the first, are excellent. I'd almost given up on any new momus material that I liked. Will certainly be be buying the new album. I am glad it's moved into more ambitious territory musically, I was tired of the casio sound. And the auto-tuning works well for once.

― Steve.n. (sjkirk), Monday, 18 September 2006 11:11 (nineteen years ago)

'Frilly Military' is good. Sounds like it should have been recorded by Donovan 35 years ago. The other one doesn't grab me.

― Revivalist (Revivalist), Monday, 18 September 2006 11:59 (nineteen years ago)

oh Hot Hot Heat, you are bitter.

"shameless self-promotion enterprises" = blogging, mostly about other people & artists, and responding to a thread someone else started?

― jed_ (jed), Monday, 18 September 2006 12:11 (nineteen years ago)

I have a couple of the songs and they sound fantastic! "Nervous Heartbeat" has this great echo and compression on its minimal drums that you don't really get in the video, and the verses are great, it's like that perfect vulnerable moment when you fall in love..and when the strings come in, it just kills!

Where on earth is that sample from The Birdcatcher? I watched Kill Bill today and for some silly reason it keeps reminding me of that =)

― Adam Bruneau (oliver8bit), Monday, 18 September 2006 12:16 (nineteen years ago)

I haven't really looked forward to a Momus album since "Stars Forever," but I'm looking forward to this one. I'll second the vote for "Ultraconformist," but add suggestions for "Tender Pervert" and "Ping Pong," which are his most fully realized albums.

p.s. Nice to see Robin posting again! Ah, I remember alt.fan.momus at the the turn of the century . . . .

― J (Jay), Monday, 18 September 2006 12:21 (nineteen years ago)

If Daniel Treacy lost his talent

Someone didn't come home to find "All The Young Children On Crack" on Friday night pop telly for a month running, yet.

― kit brash (kit brash), Monday, 18 September 2006 12:49 (nineteen years ago)

is that a ukelele ? crikey.
i hate to admit it, bit i quite like zanzibar.

― frenchbloke (frenchbloke), Monday, 18 September 2006 13:09 (nineteen years ago)

"The Birdcatcher" is my favorite track at this early point.

― Patrick South (Patrick South), Monday, 18 September 2006 13:47 (nineteen years ago)

i enjoyed the second song well more than the first. sounded like some of the catchier moments of _stars forever_.

if i were to choose my momus starting point it would be _circus maximus_

hey momus, when are you gonna update the prophetic "handheld" for the ipod-times?

― Dan Gr (certain), Monday, 18 September 2006 23:41 (nineteen years ago)

I think I'll skip iPods, they're almost on the way out, and I don't even have one. (Actually, I didn't even have a Palm Pilot either. But I did have a Newton, which I think I used on as many as three separate occasions.)

Oh, there is an iPod reference in "The Artist Overwhelmed":

on the iPod Christoph Willibald Gluck

But to be honest the only Gluck I have in the house is on reel-to-reel quarter inch tape. In fact, I think I'll go and spool it up right now.

― Momus (Momus), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 16:19 (nineteen years ago)

can i be weird and say i think the ideal starting point would be "philosophy of ..."? why, thank you. feel free to disagree, everybody. (especially you, momus!)

"ping pong" put me off completely (although, that said, i should probably dig it out and listen again). but what i've heard from - and about - "ocky milk" i like. fuck it, i'll probably even buy it :)

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 17:49 (nineteen years ago)

'Ocky Milk' seems quite front-loaded with the catchy tracks, intentionally I'm sure. The second half will take some getting used to.

― Patrick South (Patrick South), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 18:28 (nineteen years ago)

It always amazes me how much opinions differ. For instance, some people here loved one YouTube track, others hated it but loved the other. Someone's already cited "Zanzibar" as a favourite song, and that's as "second half" as you can get, a bloody weird song that walks along the bed of the ocean in heavy lead boots.

― Momus (Momus), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 19:31 (nineteen years ago)

i am on record as not being a momus fan, but I do like Zanzibar. You may win me over yet, you ole' east-coaster

― frenchbloke (frenchbloke), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 20:54 (nineteen years ago)

"Dialtone" sounds like it would fit snugly on 'Oskar Tennis Champion'. Nice track.

― Patrick South (Patrick South), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 22:48 (nineteen years ago)

That Daniel Treacy blog is really something else.

Favorite line:

Aaarrrghh..Did you hear that scream?
That was Bobby Gillepsie - he's in the boot of my car

(Sorry, off-topic. You had to go and link to it)

― Myke. (Myke Weiskopf), Tuesday, 19 September 2006 23:19 (nineteen years ago)

I think I'll skip iPods

I'm glad the bit in The Birdcatcher talks about Mantovani being played on a walkman instead. It makes me think of tiny black plastic headphones.

― Adam Bruneau (oliver8bit), Wednesday, 20 September 2006 02:42 (nineteen years ago)

three months pass...

I gave this a belated proper listen over the holidays.

Some of this is amazing. The song "Hang Low" in particular I found astonishingly moving. That catch in the voice on "we're only people" really got to me; also the blossom, first failing to show, and then it's there, falling. "Like aeroplanes on snow" (why do I unaccountably think of Fennesz' Venice)...magic.

*cue Nick to tell me I've got all the words wrong*

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Wednesday, 17 January 2007 09:34 (nineteen years ago)

While on the subject, and diverting from it a little, I must say I'm in emphatic agreement with this observation.

After all, it wasn't as though Ian Curtis wasn't partial to a bit of stupid dancing in his time!

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Wednesday, 17 January 2007 10:18 (nineteen years ago)

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