Tag: Montreal QC

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Catch Charlotte Cardin Hang Out with Friends in Her Hometown in Her Latest Tell Off of a New Single

Big Boy’s latest single “Dirty Dirty” will further cement Cardin’s burgeoning reputation for pairing her old-school jazz and pop-like vocals with sparse, electro pop and hip-hop-leaning production. In this case, tweeter and woofer rantingly beats, shuffling drum programming and twinkling keys in a swaggering and sultry song that’s simultaneously a tell off and a come on to a lover, who has ignored and rejected the song’s narrator for another in which the song’s narrator tells her love object “she should be me but because you’re a fool, I’ll move on without you.” Ouch!

Directed by Sebastien Duguay, who also directed the video for Cardin’s “Faufile,” the recently released music video for “Dirty Dirty” was filmed in Montreal’s Mile-End section and reveals Cardin at her most unguarded, candid and real as we follow Cardin hanging out with a collection of dear friends and family, eating, goofing off and singing the song. Not only does it capture Cardin in her most nature environment; but it also suggests something that’s profoundly true — that having dear friends and family, who sustain you and lighten your heart and soul can be rare.

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

Admittedly, after the election results last night, it’s been difficult to concentrate — but as I mentioned to a Twitter follower, who felt profoundly discouraged, artists of all sorts are now desperately needed more than ever to lead the charge against an evil unlike anything anyone has seen in this country. And I hope that artists of all stripes are moved to create with a furious passion, and to create art that challenges the status quo, that inspires and emboldens people to fight — and to fight for the defenseless.

In the meantime, there’s work to do. Comprised of Susil Sharma (vocals, guitar and synths) Matthew Fiorentino (guitar, synth), and Raphael Bussières (bass), the Montreal, QC-based indie rock/post-punk trio Heat have received praise from Brooklyn Vegan and NME for a swaggering and moody song that’s “equal parts hooks, melody and attitude.” The band’s latest single “Lush” off their new album, Overnight is moody and seductive track in which the band pairs shimmering synths, angular guitar chords played though reverb, thumping, four-on-the-floor drumming, and a sinuous bass line with a razor sharp hook, in a song that sounds as though it draws from The Psychedelic Furs –but with a slick, modern, dance-floor friendly feel.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Last month, I wrote about the mysterious  Montreal-based DJ and production duo The Beat Escape. And with “Seeing Is Forgetting,” an atmospheric and moody track which features a production consisting of shimmering synths, swirling electronics, shimmering guitar chords and ethereal vocals and harmonies paired with a tight motorik groove. And while evoking waking from a particularly vivid dream — the sort in which you can’t quite tell what was a dream or what was real; the song sonically owes a debt to 80s synth pop and contemporary dream pop. Following up on the attention that “Seeing Is Forgetting” received across the blogosphere, the Canadian DJ and production duo have returned with their latest single “Half-Empty Happiness” the duo further cements their burgeoning reputation for crafting melancholic and shimmering electro pop — that in this particular case sounds as though it were indebted to early Depeche Mode.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site, you may recall that I’ve written about Montreal-based psych rock/indie rock quintet Chocolat — and with the release of their 2008 full-length debut effort, Piano Elegant, the Canadian act received critical praise for material comprised of sophisticated arrangements with a gritty garage rock sound that also simultaneously drew from yeye and indie rock. And as a result of the attention from the press and blogosphere, the band played several dates with the renowned Jay Reatard — that is before quickly and completely disappearing from the public eye. Interestingly, as it turned out, the band had gone on an extensive and somewhat unannounced hiatus in which several members pursued other creative pursuits — in particular, Ysaël Pépin played bass and toured with Demon’s Claws while Jimmy Hunt focused on a solo career as a singer/songwriter, collaborating with producer Emmanuel Ether and Organ Mood‘s Christophe Larmarche-Ledoux on his 2013 effort, Maladie d’amour. 

According to press notes, the members of the Montreal-based indie rock band were brought back together by a strange force of nature for their 2014 release Tss Tss, an album that was released to international acclaim for a sound that drew from psych rock and krautrock, and was supported by several tours both nationally and internationally. And building upon the buzz that they received after the release of Tss Tss, the Canadian band will be releasing their third full-length album, Rencontrer Looloo on November 11, 2016 through Beyond Beyond Is Beyond Records. And as you would have heard “Ah Ouin,” the album’s first single, the single suggests that the band has been heavily experimenting with their songwriting approach — the material is heavily modal-leaning while with that single possesses elements of skronking and screeching experimental, avant-garde jazz, surfer rock, surfer metal and psych rock. The album’s second and latest single “Le Falcon el Chacal et le Vaisseau Spatial” begins with a twinkling analog synth introduction reminiscent of 80s cartoons followed by lengthier section consisting angular guitar stabs, swirling electronics, bop jazz-like syncopation, followed by a much more anthemic section  consisting of angular power chords and a steady rhythm, twinkling synths and a fiery guitar solo to craft a song that not only sonically and structurally sounds indebted to prog rock but nods at psych rock and classic, arena rock.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Arguably best known as a member of Sons of an Illustrious Father, with whom she’s toured with since she was 17, Lilah Larson is embarking on a solo career with the release of her full-length solo debut Pentimento slated for release in early 2017. Recorded at Montreal‘s Hotel2Tango Studios with Howard Bilerman, who has worked with Arcade Fire, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Vic Chesnutt, the album is reportedly comprised of intimate meditations on deeply conflicted and confusing love, relationships long since failed and their lingering ghosts of ache and regret, in which Larson accompanies her vocals with drums, guitar, and a 19th century pump organ. Pentimento‘s first single “tbh” is a bittersweet yet ambivalent lament in which the song’s conflicted narrator misses and longs for a lover, who simultaneously makes her feel miserable and uncertain, and it evokes a dysfunctional relationship in which there’s an equally ambivalent and maddening push and pull — the sort of push and pull that’s better and maybe more exciting than a relationship that just peters out to its inevitable and crushing conclusion.

While featuring a sparse arrangement of Larson her vocals with strummed acoustic guitar, the focus is squarely on the singer/songwriter’s aching yet proud vocals singing heartbreakingly honest lyrics that expresses the wounded and confused psyche of someone desperately in love and yet kind of hates every single moment of it.

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Dark Psychedelic Sounds and Visuals of Chocolat’s “Ah Ouin”

The band’s third and forthcoming effort, Rencontrer Looloo is slated for a November 11, 2016 release through Beyond Beyond Is Beyond Records and while being the band’s second post-hiatus album, it also has the band experimenting with their songwriting approach and sound as the band’s material is heavily modal-leaning while possessing elements of skronking experimental jazz, surf metal and psych rock as you’ll hear on the menacing and trippy yet strangely radio-friendly new single “Ah Ouin.”

Directed by Jonathan Robert, who also designed the album’s artwork, the recently released animated video for “Ah Ouin,” according to the band was inspired by 60s psychedelic cartoons and sci-fi cartoons of the 70s and 80s. As the members of the band mention “It’s like a meeting between Yellow Submarine and sci-fi comic book Heavy Metal — and in fact, it employs the same bright yet darkly surreal imagery.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

The Beat Escape is a rather mysterious Montreal-based DJ and production duo and their latest single “Seeing Is Forgetting” is an atmospheric and moody track in which cascading layers of shimmering synths, swirling electronics, shimmering guitar chords and hauntingly ethereal vocals and harmonies are paired with a motorik groove consisting of propulsive bass lines and persistent drum programming. And while evoking waking from a particularly vivid dream — the sort in which you can’t quite tell what was a dream or what was real; the song sonically owes a debt to 80s synth pop and contemporary dream pop.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Initially formed as Viet Cong, the members of the band now known as Preoccupations — Matt Flegel (bass, vocals), Mike Wallace (drums), Scott Munro (guitar) and Daniel Christiansen (guitar) — unknowingly and unwittingly found themselves in the middle of a furious and tumultuous controversy around cultural appropriation and the association with historical groups that immediately evoke the horrors of despotism, war, genocide, etc. And if you’ve been frequenting this blog or the rest of the blogosphere, you’d know that the members of the band made the difficult decision of changing their name last year.

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past year, you’d know that when the members of the band reconvened to write the material the would eventually comprise their forthcoming self-titled effort as Preoccupations, each member of the band had found themselves in an unsteady an uncertain state. Some members of the band had years-long relationship end around the time, they were all to reconvene for the album’s recording sessions, and the members of the band had all relocated to different cities across North America, which made their long-established process of writing material while on the road extremely difficult, if not altogether impossible. Adding to the growing sense of uncertainty within the writing and recording process, the members of the band went into them without having a central idea of theme to consider or guide them; and in fact the sessions would be the equivalent of a collective, blind leap of faith.

As the band’s frontman Matt Flegel has explained in press notes, the album’s material draws from very specific things — the sort of things that has most people up at night, fraught with anxiety and despair. And while the album’s first single “Anxiety,” was about the process of both natural and forced change upon the band and people generally, while on another level the song captures the uncertain and uncomfortable push and pull of human relationships, including the bitterness, regret, ambivalence, frustration and self-doubt they almost always gender within us all. The self-titled album’s second single “Degraded” while being a tense and angular song also may arguably be the most straightforward and hook-laden song they’ve written to date. However, lyrically speaking, the song reveals that its full of bilious accusation and recrimination while evoking a dysfunctional relationship splintering apart.

The album’s third and latest single “Memory” is an expansive song that clocks in at just a little under 11:30 and is comprised of three distinct and very different movements held together by the song’s central narrative, which focuses on how much the past and its distortions, influences and invades every relationship and aspect of our lives and relationships. The song’s lengthy and atmospheric introduction consists of shimmering guitar chords paired with an angular, slashing bass line, and propulsive drumming and seems to look back on a relationship with a bit of regret. The song’s second section sounds as though it drew from Joy Division/New Order as shimmering guitar chords, soaring synths and Wolf Parade‘s Don Boecker contributing lilting falsetto vocals and an anthemic hook — and while being a bit bittersweet, the section also conveys a profound sense of joy and wonder before fading out into a coda consisting of gently undulating feedback that lingers with a spectral quality.

As the band’s Scott “Monty” Munro explains in press notes “‘Memory’ was the second song that we started working on for Preoccupations after ‘Anxiety.’ It was unique to the sessions of the record in that we worked on it in every studio that we were in. The idea we had for its arc made it necessary to put more work into it than any of the other tracks. The finished result was worked on in six different studios over almost two years. Getting Dan [Boeckner of Wolf Parade] to record the vocals was the final piece of the puzzle and was Matt [Fiegel]’s idea. We were tracking in Montreal and cold-called him to see if he wanted to sing a duet of songs, but his vocal was so perfect that we didn’t use Matt’s for most of it.” And the end result may be the most cinematic song they’ve released to date.

The band is in the middle of a lengthy world tour, which includes a second New York area stop at Warsaw in October. Check out the tour dates below.

World Tour Dates

09.28.16 – The Rickshaw Theater – Vancouver, BC

10.01.16 – Mac Hall Ballroom – Calgary, AB ^

10.03.16 – WECC – Winnipeg, MB ^

10.04.16 – Fine Line Music Cafe – Minneapolis, Mn ^

10.05.16 – Thalia Hall – Chicago, Il ^

10.07.16 – Crofoot Ballroom – Pontiac, Mi ^

10.08.16 – Danforth Music Hall – Toronto, ON ^

10.11.16   Virgin Mobile Corona Theater   Montreal, QC ^

10.12.16 – The Sinclair – Cambridge, Ma ^

10.14.16 – Warsaw – Brooklyn NY ^

10.15.16 – First Unitarian Church – Philadelphia, Pa ^

10.16.16 – Rock & Roll Hotel – Washington DC ^

10.18.16 – Masquerade – Atlanta, Ga ^

10.19.16 – Gasa Gasa – New Orleans, La ^

10.21.16 – The Mohawk – Austin, Tx ^

10.25.16 – Valley Bar – Phoenix, Az ^

10.26.16 – The Irenic – San Diego, Ca ^

10.28.16 – The Roxy – Los Angeles, Ca ^

10.29.16 – The Independent – San Francisco, Ca

11.02.16 – Neumos – Seattle, Wa ^

11.05.15 – Brudenell Social Club – Leeds, UK

11.06.16 – Gorilla – Manchester, UK

11.07.16 – Oval Space – London, UK

11.08.16 – Exchange – Bristol, UK

11.09.16 – The Haunt – Brighton, UK

11.10.16 – Le Guess Who Festival – Utrecht, NL

11.12.16 – Botanique – Brussels, BE

11.14.16 – Pumpehuset – Copenhagen, DK

11.15.16 – Molotow – Hamburg, DE

11.18.16 – Musiques Volantes Festival – Metz, FR

11.21.16 – La Laiterie – Strasbourg, FR

11.22.16 – Klaus – Zurich, CH

11.23.16 – Magnolia – Milan, IT

11.24.16 – Quirinetta – Rome, IT

11.25.16 – Locomotiv –  Bologna, IT

11.26.16 – Suprette Festival – Neuchatel, CH

11.28.16 – Luxor – Cologne, DE

^ w/ Methyl Ethel

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Swooning and Heartbreaking Visuals and Sounds of Charlotte Cardin’s Latest “Like It Doesn’t Hurt”

Big Boy’s latest single “Like It Doesn’t Hurt” will further cement Cardin’s burgeoning reputation for aching jazz/soul and pop vocals — and in this case paired with a sparse yet extremely contemporary production featuring twinkling and moody keys, undulating synths and electronics and stuttering boom bap-like drum programming and a guest spot from Montreal-based emcee Husser; while lyrically, the song describes a turbulent and dysfunctional relationship full of ecstatic highs, crushing lows, bitter and aching separations. And as a result of both Cardin’s vocals and the production, the song possesses a swooning almost drunken urgency — and it should remind the listener of young, foolish, passionate, heartbreaking love.

Directed by Kristof Brandl, the recently released video for “Like It Doesn’t Hurt” features the song’s collaborators Charlotte Cardin and Husser as the video’s central couple and with a series of frenetic cuts and flashbacks, the video emphasizes the turbulent and tumultuous relationship at the core of the song as you’ll see a couple who fight and love passionately and are separated after a violent incident, which has Husser arrested and sent to jail.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Wistful and Gorgeous Visuals for Charlotte Cardin’s “Faufile”

Cardin’s latest single “Faufile,” which translates into English as “to slip or sneak away” features Cardin’s gorgeous and aching vocals paired with the singer/songwriter accompanied by a sparse yet eerie piano accompaniment, and the single will further cement the French Canadian singer/songwriter’s growing reputation for crafting hauntingly eerie pop that owes a debt to jazz. And hot on the heels of the release of “Faufile,” comes the wistful music video, which features a brooding and seemingly heartbroken on the rooftops and streets of what appears to be Montreal after a devastating breakup.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Up-and-coming Quebec-born vocalist Charlotte Cardin initially received attention as a model, who once worked for renowned Elite Model Management before deciding to commit to music full-time when she signed with Montreal indie label Cult Nation. Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past year, you may recall that I wrote about “Big Boy,” the first single off Cardin’s recently released debut EP, Big Boy. Interestingly, that single revealed that Cardin specialized in meshing contemporary electronic production with jazz, pop and soul vocal stylings reminiscent of Amy Winehouse and Melanie De BIasio; in fact, that single also revealed that Cardin’s effortlessly soulful vocals possesses a profound ache.

The EP’s latest single “Faufile,” which translates into English as “to slip or sneak away” features Cardin’s gorgeous and aching vocals paired with the singer/songwriter accompanied by a sparse yet eerie piano accompaniment, and the single will further cement the French Canadian singer/songwriter’s growing reputation for crafting hauntingly eerie pop that owes a debt to jazz.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Featuring primary and founding members Courtney Ewan (singer/songwriter) and frequent collaborator Andy Bishop,  Twin River wrote the material of their soon-to-be released sophomore effort Passing Shade, an effort whose name draws from a lengthy dream sequence in Patti Smith‘s memoir M Train while they were over 3,00 miles apart — Ewan had relocated to Montreal while Bishop remained in his hometown of Vancouver. Initially, the material took the form of stripped-down, heartbroken ballads about lost love and as Ewan explains in press notes “I always write on an acoustic guitar, which I think is the vestigial influence of being 15 and playing acoustic guitar in the basement because my mom wouldn’t let me have an amp. Nine times out of ten, when we get the band together, we end up increasing the tempo.” In fact, when Ewan and Bishop got together to flesh out the original demos, the material turned into a barn-burning rock numbers with infectious pop hooks with a subtle hint of atmospherics — and done in way that manages to channel both 60s psych pop and garage rock and the contemporary fascination with that sound.

“Knife,” Passing Shade‘s latest single is a jangling and muscular garage rock song featuring gorgeous shimmering guitar chords and a classic psych rock guitar solo and a propulsive rhythm section paired with Ewan’s vocals which evoke vulnerability and heartbreak simultaneously. From this single, I think the act will throw themselves into a growing list of contemporary garage rock and psych rock acts including High Waisted, Raccoon Fighter, The Coathangers and several others — and the band does so with a cool, swaggering self-assuredness that belies the heartache, yearning and badassery at the core of the song.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Surreal Dali-esque Visuals for BRAIDS’ “Companion”

Over the course of three full-length albums and their latest EP Companion, Montreal-based electronic act BRAIDS have developed a reputation for restless experimentation, which has resulted in each of their recorded efforts sounding different from each […]

synth rock by William Ruben Helms

Montreal, QC-based psych rock trio Elephant Stone — comprised of Rishi Dihr (lead vocals, sitar, bass), Jean-Gabriel Lambert (drums, backing vocals), and Miles Dupire (drums, backing vocals) — have developed a national profile across their native Canada and Stateside for a vintage psych rock sound reminiscent of The Beatles, The Kinks and severals as the Canadian trio’s earliest material paired elements of Eastern instrumentation — mainly, the sitar — with Western songwriting, arrangements and instrumentation. And rather unsurprisingly, over the past few years the Montreal-based trio have also become a JOVM mainstay artist.

With the 2014 release of Elephant Stone’s third full-length effort, The Three Poisons, the Canadian trio went through a major and rather decided change of songwriting approach and sonic direction in which sitar was pushed back to the background — and when it was employed, it was seemingly used to add additional texture and color. Since then, the Canadian trio have released a batch of singles including “The Devil’s Shelter,” which was released at the end of last year. That single, which featured a guest spot from The Black Angels‘ Alex Maas was yet another example of the trio experimenting with their sound as tense, undulating synths, shimmering sitar and guitar chords and a driving motorik-like rhythm were paired with Dihr’s and Mass’ alternating vocals to create an ominous and murky sound that channeled The Black Angels “Don’t Play With Guns.”

Early last month, the trio released “Where I’m Going” a single that continued the band’s most recent sonic experimentations while suggesting that the band may have been listening to Evil Heat-era Primal Scream — in particular, I think of “Autobahn 66” and “Detroit”  as Dihr’s ethereal cooing is paired with shimmering guitar chords, a tight and propulsive, motorik groove, four-on-the-floor drumming and layers of shimmering and undulating synths in what may arguably be the most dance-floor ready songs that they’ve released to date. “Andromeda,” the band’s latest single sounds like a return to the vintage psych rock sound that first caught the blogosphere’s attention as shimmering guitar chords and a propulsive and driving rhythm are paired with Dihr’s plaintive cooing about the nature of the universe; however, swirling synths and a brief burst of tribal drumming manage to reveal a band that’s relentlessly experimenting and attempting new ways to expand upon their sound while retaining familiar elements.

The band will be on tour throughout March, and it includes an NYC date. Check out the tour dates below.

 

ELEPHANT STONE TOUR DATES
03/10 Toronto ON – Sneaky Dee’s (Tickets)
03/11  Indianapolis IN – Joyful Noise (Tickets)
03/12  Little Rock AR – Vino’s (Tickets)
03/14  Austin TX – SXSW
03/18  Memphis TN – Hi-Tone (Tickets)
03/19  Cincinnati OH – MOTR (Info)
03/20  Brooklyn NY – Baby’s All Right (Tickets)
04/14  Montreal QC – La Sala Rossa (Tickets)
Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Rishi Dihr (lead vocals, sitar, bass), Jean-Gabriel Lambert (drums, backing vocals), and Miles Dupire (drums, backing vocals), Montreal, QC-based psych rock trio Elephant Stone have developed a national profile across their native Canada, as well as a profile Stateside for a vintage psych rock sound reminiscent of  The Beatles, The Kinks and others, as it the Canadian trio’s material employed elements of traditional Eastern instrumentation — i.e., the sitar — with Western songwriting. And as a result, over the past few years, Elephant Stone has become a JOVM mainstay artist.

The 2014 release of the Canadian trio’s third full-length effort, The Three Poisons, revealed a band that was in the process of a major change in sonic direction. Unlike the band’s first two albums, the material on Three Poisons pushed sitar to the background — and when it was employed, it was mainly to add texture and color. Now, if you were frequenting this site towards the end of last year, you may recall that I wrote about “The Devil’s Shelter,” a song that featured a guest spot from The Black Angels‘ Alex Maas. The members of Elephant Stone pair tense, undulating synths, shimmering sitar and guitar chords, and propulsive rhythm with Dihr’s vocals for the song’s verses and Maas’ vocals to craft a song that feels (and sounds) ominous and murky, while channelling The Black Angels “Don’t Play With Guns.”

The Montreal-based trio’s latest single “Where I’m Going” continues where the trio’s experimentation left off — while suggesting that the band’s newest sonic direction has been inspired by the likes of Primal Scream (in particular, I think of “Autobahn 66” and
“Detroit”  as Dihr’s ethereal cooing with shimmering guitar chords, a tight and propulsive, motorik groove, four-on-the-floor drumming and layers of shimmering and undulating synths in what may arguably be the most dance-floor ready songs that they’ve released to date — all while remaining as psychedelic as ever. Interestingly, the band have been working on their fourth full-length effort, and if the last two singles they’ve released are indicative of its sound, the members of Elephant Stone are set to push their sound — and in turn, psych rock — in new directions.

The band will be on tour throughout March, and it includes an NYC date. Check out the tour dates below.

 

ELEPHANT STONE TOUR DATES
03/10 Toronto ON – Sneaky Dee’s (Tickets)
03/11  Indianapolis IN – Joyful Noise (Tickets)
03/12  Little Rock AR – Vino’s (Tickets)
03/14  Austin TX – SXSW
03/18  Memphis TN – Hi-Tone (Tickets)
03/19  Cincinnati OH – MOTR (Info)
03/20  Brooklyn NY – Baby’s All Right (Tickets)
04/14  Montreal QC – La Sala Rossa (Tickets)