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Feb 6, 2012At the end of the day, Kevin Barnes is really trying to make good pop. Paralytic Stalks is just that, bombast and all.
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Feb 7, 2012Paralytic Stalks feels like a marathon at times, but it's a trek worth repeating.
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Feb 10, 2012[Barnes has created] the best experimental discordant noise pop he's worked on since 'Hissing Fauna'.
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Feb 8, 2012Musically, Stalks is a tour de force, filled with colorful new sonic tricks.
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Feb 7, 2012Paralytic Stalks is a record made by a genius or a hoity-toity psychopath depending on your perspective--call it whatever you want, but it certainly isn't boring.
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Feb 7, 2012For all its songwriterly craft, of Montreal's experiments make Paralytic Stalks one of the more compelling efforts in the band's long discography.
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Feb 6, 2012Barnes has definitely taken a step in right direction.
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Feb 14, 2012Convoluted as his words and ideas are, they're surprisingly singable, in all their mad profusion.
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Feb 13, 2012There is ... a marked orchestral fluidity throughout, which lends itself to the experimental instrumental passages that permeate the record.
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Feb 8, 2012Paralytic Stalks is a fascinating listen, for both old fans and new.
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Feb 7, 2012Of Montreal grow less accessible with Paralytic Stalks, but it's respectable how unconcerned Barnes seems with anything besides staying true to his freakily fractured vision.
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Feb 7, 2012Paralytic Stalks isn't an Of Montreal album stuffed with steakhouse jingles. But therein lies the charm.
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Feb 6, 2012For much of Paralytic Stalk's first half and even for most of the more unhinged second act, Kevin Barnes strikes a near-perfect balance between pop mastery and a delightful sort of weird.
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Feb 3, 2012Despite its heart of darkness, Paralytic Stalks is a deceptively gentle, rambling record that gains integrity but loses focus via the strong suspicion that it was recorded more for the benefit of Nina Barnes than for us.
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Feb 23, 2012There are some truly great moments here where the band crash around making glorious, daft, noisy pop music, but they stand at a stark counterpoint with the cloying experimental tendencies Barnes forces through.
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Q MagazineFeb 22, 2012The idea of crossing over is approached like somebody running onto a motorway wearing a blindfold. [Mar 2012, p.111]
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Feb 9, 2012You get the feeling Barnes is trying to bash you into the same twisted mindspace he himself inhabits, mixing up spiralling flute lines, cosmic rock and deranged show tunes.
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Feb 8, 2012An unquestionable oblique listen by mainstream standards, but compared to Of Montreal's previous offerings, Paralytic Stalks demonstrates an intimacy and immediacy which Barnes would do well to repeat.
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Feb 7, 2012It's submerged beneath the noise of a dream unraveling, schizoid instead of sexy.
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UncutFeb 3, 2012In this mood, 57 minutes with Barnes is exhausting. [Mar 2012, p.94]
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Alternative PressFeb 3, 2012This is isn't a terrible album, but considering the rest of their vibrant catalog, it just seems a bit stale. [Mar 2012, p.98]
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Feb 6, 2012The thoroughly unenjoyable Paralytic Stalks might be a sign that Barnes should take some time off and let the inspiration come to him.
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MojoFeb 27, 2012Paralytic Stalks is not an easy listen, but neither is it a good one. [Mar 2012, p.98]
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Feb 9, 2012The result is a nightmarish mess, but it's no relapse into disarray.
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Feb 6, 2012It's more likely that Paralytic Stalks won't win Kevin Barnes any new fans, and may actually drive away some of his longtime followers.
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Feb 21, 2012All too often Paralytic Stalks feels like an attempt to assume the role of indie-pop's Steve Vai by competitively crushing structural formats underfoot until there's nothing left but dusty granules.
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Feb 7, 2012Paralytic Stalks is downright exhausting.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 27 out of 38
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Mixed: 3 out of 38
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Negative: 8 out of 38
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Feb 7, 2012I waited for a peaceful moment in the busy work week to listen to the album with full concentration. Iâ
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Feb 7, 2012
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Feb 8, 2012