Tag: Montreal QC

Video by William Ruben Helms

New VIdeo: La Bronze Shares Sultry and Atmospheric “Viens”

Nadia Essadiqi is a Montreal-based, Moroccan-Canadian singer/songwriter, musician and actor. An as actor Essadiqi has appeared in the French language, Canadian series Trauma, season 3 of ICI Radio-Canada Télé’s Unité 9, the TOU.TV webs series Quart de vie, the short film Forêt Noire and the sci-fi project, Projet-M,

Essadiqi is best known as the acclaimed pop artist La Bronze. 2014’s self-titled, full-length debut received an Emerging Artist of the Year Award nomination at the 2015 Canadian Music Week Awards. Although she may be best known for singing lyrics in French, in 2016, he released a Maghrebi Arabic rendition of Stromae’s hit “Formidable,” which garnered quite of buzz across Canada and elsewhere. She followed that up in 2017 with the release of her sophomore album, Les corps infinis.

The Montreal-based artist’s third album Vis-moi was released by Montreal-based label Audiogram last March. The album’s latest single “Viens” is a slow-burning and atmospheric pop ballad centered around skittering beats and glistening synth stabs paired with Essadiqi’s ethereal cooing, a soaring choral-driven hook and a woozy bridge. The song thematically focuses on something many of us have experienced at some point — the attraction towards someone or something that isn’t necessarily right for us. And as a result, the song evokes an uneasy and irresistible push and pull, full of carnal longing.

Directed by Eli Jean Tahchi, the accompanying video for “Viens” was shot during a recent trip to the small town of Salé, Morocco. The video begins with the Moroccan-Canadian artist laying down near an open window, presumably attempting to stay cool on a blistering hot morning. We later see the Montreal-based artist in a white gown, running through the town and towards a cemetery. Eventually we see La Bronze at a cliff with the waves crashing below, followed by seeing her dance at the seashore with the sun setting. While surreal, the video also manages to capture the push, pull and collision within the song.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Frais Dispo (formerly Foreign Diplomats) Share Gorgeous and Melancholy “Juillet”

Featuring the members of Montreal-based indie rock outfit Foreign Diplomats — Élie Raymond (guitar, vocals), Antoine Lévesque-Roy (bass), Thomas Bruneau Faubert (trombone, synths), Charles Primeau (guitar) and Antoine Gallois (drums) — Frais Dispo is simultaneously a sort of side project for the members of Foreign Diplomats and a new direction for the band. The project’s self-titled marks the members first album with lyrics written and sung entirely in French.

Deriving, its title from the French name for the month of July, “Juillet,” the first single off the new project’s first album is a melancholy yet accessible bit of pop rooted in the sort of thoughtful and deliberate craftsmanship that gives the song a sweetly anachronistic air. Centered around a gorgeous arrangement of strummed acoustic guitar, jangling and reverb-soaked electric guitar, atmospheric synths, a supple bass line, propulsive rhythm section paired with big razor sharp hooks and Raymond’s achingly plaintive and wistful vocals, “Juillet” manages to subtly recall Fleetwood Mac and others. The band explains that the song is a reflection on the languorousness of every day life and the passing of time in a small town. Everything is the same, including the simultaneous longing for the past — and for something different.

Directed by Léonard Giovenazzo, the accompanying video for “Juillet” begins around the fall as we see two buddies stealing apples from an apple orchard with their dog. We quickly fast-forward to a very Canadian winter with our two friends hitching a ride on the back of a pickup truck. Throughout the video, we see gorgeously shot scenes of rural, Canadian life, including man riding his horse and taking it back to the stable, another man ice fishing and so on, before we see the band in Western-styled garb performing on a cold night in a barn. The seasons pass and people do what they do to get by — and it’s all pretty much the same.

Photography by William Ruben Helms

Photography: Montreal Day 3 11/17/22: Basilique Notre Dame Exterior

Photography of Basilique Notre Dame’s exterior.

News/Announcements by William Ruben Helms

Just about 13 years ago, I started what has been for me, my life’s work — this site. And honestly, when I started this site, I couldn’t have imagined three-quarters of the things I’ve done and experienced over JOVM’s history to ever happen. 

  • I’ve covered roughly 1,100-1,200 shows in NYC, with a handful of shows in Chicago, Baltimore and Philadelphia. 
  • I’ve covered about a dozen or more festivals, including traveling to Montreal for M for Montreal in 2019 and again earlier this month.
  • I’ve been a panelist at Mondo.NYC Festival and at New Colossus Festival, speaking about PR, promotion and press for indie artists, giving my perspective as a indie blogger. 
  • A few years ago, I made a cameo in a JOVM mainstay’s music video. It’s a very noticeable spot towards the end of the video. It was a fun experience, but so far no one has called me about acting or dancing gigs. Maybe I need to stick to the writing and photography? 
  • I couldn’t have imagined photographing George Clinton, Patti LaBelle, Snoop Dogg, Blondie, Nile Rodgers, Roky Erickson, Philip Bailey, Blind Boys of Alabama and so many others, as well as this site’s countless mainstays.
  • I wouldn’t have met the countless colleagues and musicians, who have become supporters and friends.  

Now you’ll remember that during the very worst of the pandemic, things seemed — understandably — bleak. And although we’ve slowly managed to claw our way back to even greater degree of normalcy, being a working and touring musician has remained extremely bleak. Financially touring has always been a financial risk but rising inflation and COVID-19 has made touring much more daunting and complicated. 

We’re all trying to figure out how to maneuver in a new, confusing and uncertain landscape that may well be with us for an indefinite period of time. But with these past 12+ years under my belt, I have no intentions of going anywhere. 

I strongly believe that I’ve managed to carve out a unique spot in the blogosphere, a place that I feel is desperately necessary because both the music and media worlds are often so incredibly homogenous. Someone out there has to do something different. And representation in every aspect matters. So JOVM and my work with it has to continue. 

As I do every month, I want to thank the following folks and organizations. Without them this past few years — and especially this year — wouldn’t have been remotely possible: 

Sash

Alice Northover

Bella Fox

Jenny MacRostie

Janene Otten 

All of those folks have been generous Patreon patrons. Of course, feel free to check out the Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/TheJoyofViolentMovement. And if you’re able to support, your support will be greatly appreciated and continuously shouted out. Any amount really helps. 

I have to thank the folks at Creatives Rebuild New York. I’m relieved, proud and humbled to be included in their Guaranteed Income for Artists program. The money I’ll receive over the next 13 months or so will be put to good use — keeping this little dream of mine going. I don’t think there’s enough words to thank them — or to show how grateful I am. (I’ll keep trying, of course!) 

There are other ways you can support. 

You can also support by checking the JOVM shop: https://www.joyofviolentmovement.com/shop 

You can also support my following me on the following platforms:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/william_ruben_helms 

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/yankee32879 and https://www.twitter.com/joyofviolent 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheJoyofViolentMovement

And you can hire me for headshots, portraits and events. Seriously, I’m available for that, too. You can click here: https://www.photobooker.com/photographer/ny/new-york/william-h?duration=1?duration=1# or you can contact me directly.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Atsuko Chiba Shares a Cinematic, Mosh Pit Friendly Ripper

With the release of two albums and a couple of EPs, Montreal-based psych outfit Atusko Chiba — Karim Lakhdar (guitar, vocals, synthesizer), Kevin McDonald (guitar, synthesizer), David Palumbo (bass guitar, vocals), Anthony Piazza (drums) and Erik Schafhauser (guitar, synthesizer) — have developed and honed a reputation for crafting a cohesive and hypnotic blend of post-rock, prog rock and krautrock paired with offbeat, subversive songwriting. 

The members of Atsuko Chiba pair their unique brand of experimental rock with video and light installations trigged in real time by the band, creating an immersive multimedia, multi-sensorial environment. Over the past few years, the band has toured across Canada, the States and Europe, sharing stages with  . . . And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead, Big Business, Duchess Says, King Buffalo, and others. 

Atsuko Chiba’s highly-anticipated third album, Water, It Feels Like It’s Growing is slated for a January 20, 2023 release through Montreal-based purveyors of all things psychedelia, Mothland. The album reportedly finds the Canadian quintet crafting a collection of drone-driven yet bombastic material that may draw comparisons to the likes of The Mars Volta, Beak>and Spirit of the Beehive among others. 

“As opposed to our last album, which was about introspection, spacetime and the personal journey, the themes explored on this new album are related to our environment and our reaction to it,” the members of Atsuko Chiba explain. “Though not meant to be strictly political, our references stem from highly politicized movements and ideas. Division and group ideology are heavily explored. A prime example is the weaponization of vocabulary used to distract, displace and alienate us, forcing us to pick sides on every front. Our lyrics also strongly denote our innate love for all living things, encompassing a hopeful, if somewhat violent, plea for change.”

Earlier this year, I wrote about the album’s expansive, slow-burning A Storm in Heaven-meets-Dark Side of the Moon-like “Seeds.” Clocking in at 7:45, the track is centered around lush, glistening synths, swirling guitar riffs, tweeter and woofer rattling boom bap-like drumming paired with heavily distorted vocal harmonies. The single also features a gorgeous contribution from Montreal-based string quartet Quatuor Esca, who perform an arrangement by Gabriel Desjardins. While possessing a sprawling, widescreen atmosphere, “Seeds” evokes a creeping sense of impending uncertainty and doom but with the tacit understanding that perhaps not all is lost — at least not yet. 

Water, It Feels Like It’s Growing‘s second and latest single “Link” is rooted in a chugging and aggressive rhythm section, scorching and blaring alarm-like synths, buzzing poly harmonic guitar lines paired with booming vocals. While sounding a bit like it could have been recorded during the Trace sessions, “Link” is an urgent, mosh pit friendly ripper — with a widescreen, cinematic quality.

“’Link’ is about judgement; how we often tend to judge and belittle others to prop up our own self worth,” the members of Atsuko Chiba explain. “It’s about the lengths we go through to destroy others, while not taking the time to look inside.“

Directed by Laurine Jousserand, the accompanying, animated video for “Link” is mind-bending and trippy visual that sees the protagonist become their own enemy. “We wanted to create an evolving picture based on implicit concepts; a metaphorical narrative through contemplative representation,” Jousserand explains. “The challenge became addressing themes such as sterile conflict or false pretense from an internal point of view while using minimal movement. Lyrics and visual elements immerse us within an accusatory monologue, the enemy taking on the form of the narrator, though their identity bears no importance. Nature becomes increasingly uncomfortable, eventually engulfing the subject, stripping them of their humanity until they are quasi-vegetal and ultimately linked to their doubles. These ghost-like twins are hostile yet passive, mimicking their every movement. The final scene takes the rhetoric out of its intimate and personal confines, giving it different identities, expressing a general state of being, a shared reality.”

Photography by William Ruben Helms

Photography: Montreal Day 3 11/17/22: The Ring and Downtown Montreal

Photography: The Ring and Downtown Montreal.

Photography by William Ruben Helms

Photography: Montreal Day 2: 11/16/22

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms’ second day in Montreal in pictures and words.

Photography by William Ruben Helms

Photography: Montreal Day 1: 11/15/22

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms first day in Montreal in words and photos.

Photography by William Ruben Helms

Photography: LGA to YUL 11/15/22

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms went off to Montreal last week — and of course, took photos.