Posts Tagged ‘Montreal’

Brothers Andrew and Brad Barr had spent most of the 90s criss-crossing North America, playing music with their spirited, improv-based rock trio, The Slip. In the spring of 2004, the band was playing a small club in Montreal, QC when a fire broke out in the venue. They grabbed a few guitars/drums and rushed out onto the rainy street with the rest of the concert goers. As the club’s mezzanine was swallowed by flames, Andrew offered his coat to one of the waitresses from the bar. One year later, Brad and Andrew Barr were living in Montreal. That waitress is now one of their managers.

In his first apartment in the new city, Brad shared an adjoining wall with Sarah Page, a classically trained harpist from Montreal, whose melodies would seep through the cracks of the wall and into the music Brad was writing. From this nebulous relationship, a friendship developed and the brothers, with Sarah, began recording and performing around Montreal. Soon, their friend and multi-instrumentalist Andres Vial was brought in to lend his wide array of expertise to the outfit, playing keyboards, bass, vibes, percussion, and singing. They called themselves The Barr Brothers.

‘Queens of the Breakers’ out October 13th

Band Members
Brad Barr, Andrew Barr, Sarah Page, Joe Grass, Morgan Moore, Parker Shper and friends

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Canadian band Security are a hauntingly atmospheric Industrial, Shoegaze, and Experimental music duo from Montreal featuring Anna (vocals, guitar) and Elie (bass, programming). They used to be the briefly named Dernier Sex which was an amazing project in itself, albeit short lived.   “Arid Land” is their debut outing on vinyl and sees them veer into harsher territory than in Dernier Sex. Thick, layered synthesizers have been replaced with sparse percussion and grinding low-end on par with early Swans or even S.P.K., though with vocals suited to a Cocteau Twins album.

Security’s debut on vinyl, “Arid Land” is out now, and the music is more abrasive that Dernier Sex, with Security’s harsh industrial soundscapes on par with early Swans or SPK , but with aural reality based upon some sort of dream logic. The video for Position—the first track off of the 12 inch EP .

Photo Credit: Bowen Stead & Daniel Barkley

Montreal’s Elephant Stone was formed in 2009 by sitarist/bassist Rishi Dhir. As one of the most highly sought out sitar players in the international psych scene, he has recorded, performed and toured with Beck, the Black Angels, Brian Jonestown Massacre, the Horrors, and many more.rishi and co. will be a highlight at this years austin psych fest..
psychedelified-hindi-rock mantra..
http://www.elephantstonemusic.com/

Elephant Stone Euro May2017

Land of Talk is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 2006 from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Land Of Talk came out of retirement at the end of 2015, and throughout the last year Liz Powell has been performing some new shows and has also recorded some new music, and today she’s announced a new album, her first full-length since 2010. It’s called Life After Youth and it’s due out on 19th May. Lead single “Inner Lover” sounds warped and contemplative, and even though it feels warm it projects a deeper chill. The rest of the album features some high-profile collaborators: She worked with Sharon Van Etten on a number of the tracks, and it was recorded producer John Agnello and former Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley and Roxy Music/Sparks bassist Sal Maida played on the album.

“Life After Youth”, the new album by Land of Talk, is available for pre-order now, out May 19th, 2017

She-Devils’ blend of glam, cabaret and French Ye Ye Pop has powers. Rumors of a full-length album release coming later this year notwithstanding, The Band had released last year’s Self Titled EP , But the above single will have to do for now. “I’ve always believed in the idea that if you visualize or summon something, it will come true,” explained vocalist Audrey Ann Boucher when prodded to describe how the sonic pastiche she presents as She-Devils came to be. This is truly unique, transfixing stuff.

She-Devils play six sets this year at SXSW,

Audrey Ann Boucher and Kyle Jukka are She Devils, a Montreal duo crafting intimate, dusty hybrid pop that searches for cosmic meaning in vintage sounds. The group has just signed to Secretly Canadian, their self-directed video for “The World Laughs.” designed by David Lynch Audrey hangs out in a clam shell, playing in the sand with her bandmate Kyle, a tortured mime in dreamy lighting.

Audrey explained how the concepts behind the track and its video. “‘The World Laughs'” is a song about synchronicity and personal commitment. I’m reaching out to someone who is synching with their inner negativity. I want to help them which is why I want to control them, I want to do it for them. In the video, Kyle plays this person, a Mere Mortal, victim of all waves coming his way — he is drowning one day, exalting the next. I play both the role of the misguided friend and the Master of the Universe, calmly detached but benevolent and patient. It’s very literal but you can also inject your own meaning into it. The truth is the world is yours and you are accountable for it.”

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tim darcy saturday night album Ought frontman Tim Darcy announces debut solo album, shares Tall Glass of Water    listen

Montreal outfit Ought gave us one of 2015’s best songs in Sun Coming Down track “Beautiful Blue Sky”. Now, frontman Tim Darcy is looking to find some success of his own on his upcoming debut solo album, Saturday Night.

Due out February 17th via Jagjaguwar Records, the 10-track effort sees Darcy swapping out some of the angular riffs of Ought’s catalog for indie rock that’s tinged with hints of Ryan Adams-esque Americana and folk. An endeavor all his own, the LP is an unsurprisingly intimate and introspective one, as a press release describes:

“A personal meditation reveals itself across these songs as you feel a poetic, thoughtful person attempting to reconcile a schism, one that grows more expansive as Saturday Night flows along. It is a journey, but it’s a really fun, gratifying one; like a poem where you’re not supposed to know exactly how to feel at that last line and you’re left just bursting with a wonderful emptiness.”

“Still Waking Up” from the upcoming album ‘Saturday Night’ out February 17th, 2017 on Jagjaguwar Records

From walking around town to putting your foot through a wall, this new track from Halifax’s Monomyth is told from a minimalist’s point of view, with each verse building on the common factor of “looking for a place to go.” It feels to me like watching food-coloured milk being hit with dish soap (don’t lie, you’ve done this before): a beautiful mess of opposites, constantly swaying, waving and tumbling between intentionally harmonious guitar riffs. Unconventional, yet completely satisfying build-ups lead from one scene to the next. Monomyth gives you something to think about with every song the band writes, and with “Re:Lease Life (Place 2 Go),” it gives you a reason to sit down, and truly enjoy four minutes and 48 seconds. Look out for Monomyth’s new album, Happy Pop Family, out via Mint Records .

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There’s something new about Canadian band Braids. Since bandleader Raphaelle Standell-Preston shared her experiences with sexual abuse informed a song called “Miniskirt,” you can’t help but approach the Montreal group’s compositions with ears freshly sensitive to that courage.  More than ever, musicians like Braids and statements like their new EP Companion are what the country needs to keep hope.

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Listening to the project though, the futility of binding Braids to one event, niche, trauma, or sound becomes clear. The four songs were started during sessions for the band’s 2015 album Deep In The Iris. “At the time they felt separate to the songs that made up “Deep In The Iris,” the band wrote in an email, “strong in their own right, but left as unknowns to a larger compositional work.” Companion is not a collection of orphan tracks: all four songs lean into the same progressions in songcraft and unbridled energy the band discovered on Deep In The Iris.

Braids “Companion” EP
Out 05/20 on Arbutus Records / Flemish Eye

Here’s one case in which it is: the beautiful minimalist synth backdrop of Companion, over which Raphaelle Standell’s remarkable voice flutters between Elizabeth Fraser on Massive Attack’s Teardrop and Björk when she’s feeling an emotion really hard. Which is about the highest praise it’s possible to give a vocalist. If you don’t get chills, you must have killed before, and you probably will again.

Recorded at the same time as last year’s phenomenal Deep in the Iris, Braids’ Companion is its perfect, erm, companion piece. Here we have four songs that showcase the band’s perfect interplay between twitchy drums, deeply layered arrangements and Raphaelle Standell-Preston’s soaring whispy vocals.

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Hey! Do you like psych pop? Do you like Tom Petty? Well, you are in luck, because one of the best psychedelic bands around, Elephant Stone, has covered the alluring single from Tom Petty‘s 1991 classic.

You can get the single in the following linkElephant Stone‘s Three Poisons is also available and if you fancy the sounds of Strawberry Alarm Clock meeting with Quicksilver Messenger Service, Three Poisons is a good one.

Photo Credit: Bowen Stead & Daniel Barkley