Montreal Archives - Backseat Mafia

Album Review: Bellbird – ‘The Call’: From free jazz to post rock, a quartet that find their own trajectory.

Constellation Records have long provided a portal for the extraordinary experimental music which orbits around their Montreal home base, but here we have them opening the apertures and focusing in…

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Album Review: Jessica Moss – ‘Unfolding’: The Montreal violinist/composer’s most incisive, inspirational statement to date.

Violinist and composer Jessica Moss has always made instrumental music that speaks out. Her essential work does more than reflect times, events and tragedies, it engages with them and voices…

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Album Review: Whitney K –’Bubble’ : Hard-won songs ringing with indie pop sharpness and country rock twang.

Canadian singer-songwriter Konner Whitney aka Whitney K is keeping that hardcore troubadour tradition alive and still kicking up the rubble. After releasing three mighty slices of his raw, country rock…

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Track/Video: Montreal minstrel poet Whitney K previews anticipated new album ‘Bubble’ with the warm, waltzing ‘Jolene’.

Modern day troubadour, Canadian singer-songwriter Konner Whitney aka Whitney K is on the move. After releasing three mighty slices of his raw, country rock poeticism for Bologna’s Maple Death Records,…

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Music

News: Empty Nesters tackles an existential crisis on hardcore punk scorcher ‘Shangri-Nah’

Look, we get it—just being alive can be exhausting sometimes. Eric Liao gets it too, in a way you probably weren’t expecting if you’ve heard his previous work as Empty…

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Album Review: Kee Avil -‘Spine’: experimental pop with a thrilling, raw urgency from the Montreal artist.

Two years ago Montreal producer Kee Avil’s debut for Constellation ‘Crease’ turned heads with its leftfield pop mosaicism, an intricate patterning of vocal, sound and instrumental shapes set with experimental…

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Album Review: Big|Brave – ‘A Chaos Of Flowers’ : The Montreal rock trio craft a post-metal touchstone.

Ever since Big|Brave‘s core members Robin Wattie (vocals/guitar) and Mathieu Ball (guitars) experienced a ‘loud can be quiet’ epiphany over a decade ago, ditching the acoustics and plugging in, their…

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Album Review: ‘FYEAR’ – a phenomenal, poetic statement from the Montreal post-jazz ensemble (aka. FYEAR)

Music and poetry, poetry and music, the Montreal convened collective FYEAR show how potent this combination can be on this self-titled debut, out now via Constellation. Led by poet/novelist Kaie…

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Track/Video : Post-metal ground-breakers BIG|BRAVE preview the poetic ‘canon: in canon’ from new album ‘A Chaos Of Flowers’

So the release of the Montreal post metal unit BIG|BRAVE’s eighth album ‘A Chaos Of Flowers’ is arcing steadily towards a conclusion (out 19th April via Thrill Jockey Records). This…

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Track/ Video : Avant pop experimentalist Kee Avil previews gripping new album ‘Spine’ with the tense and tactile ‘Felt’.

Two years ago Montreal producer Kee Avil’s debut for Constellation ‘Crease’ caused quite a rumpus with its avant-pop mosaicism, all intricate vocal, sound and instrument patterns set within an experimental…

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