Montreal
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 elemental sound has set the aerobatic thrill of Wattie’s singular voice within a swirling storm of riffs, distortion and pummelling rhythms. In some ways their …
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 Kellough and composer/saxophonist Jason Sharp, FYEAR the ensemble has been evolving through a project-based approach for several years now culminating with the ambitious, multi-movement composition …
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 is a band whose momentum is grounded in consideration and integrity, no quick wins, no sell-outs, who’ve evolved their own unique approach to slow core, …
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 glue and deceptive song structure. Bandcamp made ‘Crease’ album of the day and year-end lister, Mojo pinned on four-star acclaim and The Quietus were rightly …
Track/Video: A statement of scale and integrity – Montreal ensemble FYEAR preview the dramatic ‘Pt.1 Trajectory’ from upcoming debut album.
So the presser says “FYEAR interrogates our present and future post-capitalist polycrisis“. Any creative project aiming to probe into that vortex would require scale, focus, finesse and integrity, which are exactly the qualities that this Montreal convened collective possess. Led by composer/ saxophonist Jason Sharp and poet/novelist Kaie Kellough, FYEAR have been sculpting their resonant …
Track/Video : Singer/composer Erika Angell previews the intense ‘One’ from her bold new album ‘The Obsession With Her Voice’.
Wow this could be cathartic and courageous. As the catalyst to fire her debut solo album Swedish born now Montreal based vocalist, composer and producer Erika Angell reaches deep into her childhood memories and the first time she sang, aged four. ‘The Obsession With Her Voice’ will be released through Constellation on 8th March and …
Premiere: Montreal’s Population II ready new album with the intense ‘Pourquoi qu’on dort pas’
There’s no language barrier with Montreal trio Population II, so don’t worry if you can’t speak French – the Francophones serve up enough intensity to get the meaning across. They’ve been building up toward the release of their new album Électrons libres du québec for a few months at this point, but its release is …
Album Review: Être Ensemble – CLOSE / SPACE: more montage music and cinematic vision from the inspired Joni Void network.
Experimental musician and sound artist Joni Void’s astounding tapestry of musical connectivity continues. The three albums released via Constellation, ‘Selfless’, ‘Mise En Abyme’ and this year’s ‘Everyday is the Song’, may be the most visible markers of the emergence of Jean Néant (he/them) as sonic collagist Joni Void but there’s an eco-system of other projects …
Album Reviews: Joni Void – Everyday Is The Song: Extraordinary sound collages from ordinary circumstances.
Lille born, now Montreal resident, music collagist and producer Jean Cousin (aka Joni Void) is an illusive, transitory artist who over the years has blurred the sense of persona in any music that bears his pseudonym. Feeding voraciously into the Soundcloud/Bandcamp eco-system since 2011 as johnny ripper, he has revealed a plethora of digital releases …
Album Review: BIG|BRAVE – nature morte : a profound, powerful post-metal statement.
If nothing else the release of nature morte, the sixth album from the Montreal post metal unit BIG|BRAVE, is a testament to the band’s stamina and stoic dedication to their work. Exploring the challenging frontiers of drone-shaded, slow core, electric rock since 2014 and still discovering cracks of inspiration is a tough pursuit but that’s …