The Austrian Special - A focus on the non-metal music from Arnold's native land

One of my best online friends is from this mysterious country located near the Alps and we often share our local findings. He discovered Québec rock (Karkwa, Ponctuation, Galaxie…) because of me and I was pleased when he sent me a lot of Austrian suggestions. This is sort of related to my Local Sounds series but done with bands from cities located on the other side of the Atlantic ocean. Considering I don’t currently really have the means to visit Vienna or Graz, this exploration of Austria non-metal music will have to do for now. Summoning were the musical act I was thinking of when this country was getting mentioned but it’s always fun to expand our horisons. Let’s start.

Wanda-Amore (2014)
-Bussi (2015)

This quintet from the capital are one of the biggest bands in Austria right now and for good reason. Their blend of heartfelt rock integrates a lot of tasteful pop influences, folky overtones and even some Americana. Their singer, Michael Marco, has some roughness to his delivery, you can hear the fact that he’s a smoker though the German lyrics. Their indie pop with some slight symphonic arrangements is a bit too cheesy for me but you can hear that they’re deeply inspired by Bob Dylan’s electric material for some of their musical aspects. It’s old school pop, really but there’s this modern catchiness. They sort of remind me of Arctic Monkeys if they were not heavy at all. Interesting band, it’s refreshing to hear.

Witchrider – Unmountable Stairs (2014)
Josh Homme just turned 43 this week and he’s possibly the biggest influence here. The trio from Graz definitely dig the huge guitars of Queens of the Stone Age but they’re not a carbon copy of the seminal American band. They mix things up and add some occult rock to their huge and super catchy riff dirty rock fest. Signed on Fuzzorama records, Witchrider aren’t afraid to unleash the fuzz through their stoner rock and they even include some psychedelia to the mix. 

The song "Far From You" is particularly stellar. Legit band with super good vocals. All hail Austrian desert stoner rock!

Carousals – Unstable (2015)

This viennese quartet released their debut extended play last year and it’s a very enjoyable mix of post punk, indie rock and alt rock with a strong Sonic Youth influence. The riffs are loud and noisy and Sonja’s excellent vocals definitely recall Kim Gordon’s approach. Compared to a band like Savages, they take their time with those slow burning compositions full of distortion (like “No Good”). Great EP and I’m interested to hear their future material.

The Sado-Maso Guitar Club

-We Love You Too (2011)

-Sado Maso Guitar Club (2013)

Possibly my favorite band included in the folder than my friend Daniel sent me, SMGC are classic rock in the purest sense of the expression. They’re basically a modern version of the Rolling Stones and that’s a super good compliment. “Get the Sound” from their debut album has one of the best guitar melodies I’ve heard in a while and combined with the organ, it’s just an infectious and groovy bluesy rock tune. They worship the late 60s and 70s era of rock where things weren’t getting super yet and it was still highly mixed with folk, blues and singer-songwriter influences. They’re not reinventing anything but they do everything correctly and they’re just super fun to listen to.

Binder & Krieglstein 

-Alles Verloren (2007)
-New Weird Austria (2010)

Rainer Binder-Krieglstein‘s music is pretty unique and quite excellent. Combining ethnic music (arabic, german, austrian, gypsy) with soul, pop, electronic, reggae, hip hop, this project is all over the place in the best way possible. Mostly in German, the album has a variety of singers from soft female voices to deep male ones and it‘s literally insane. It‘s so different from what I‘m used to but I really enjoyed the wide array of sounds displayed by this Austrian producer, it may seem to be disjoncted but it‘s put together expertly.

Local Sounds: Volume 6.0

To celebrate the end of my spring break, here's two reviews of  some very interesting local bands and one observation about a young Québec rock classic.

Le Winston Band – Rembobine (2015)

Discovered once again with the help of the guys of Poulet Neige, this sextet plays an explosive form of folkloric music with a fun and interesting modern vibe. Inspired by Quebec trad music, there's also a strong Cajun side to 'em and it almost makes you regret the fact that Louisiana is American now. Armed with violins, accordion, Zydeco, lap and pedal steel, the band also incorporates the traditional rock instruments like the electric guitars and bass to insert a fresh breeze. Despite the young age of the members, authenticity is important for them and they totally achieved their goal. The vocals are nasally and recalls the 60s Quebec country legends that my grand father always liked.

Great album for those who think folk music is a dead genre, not trying to make their sound more accessible like Les Cowboys Fringants did. Le Winston Band are like an reinvented, version of the old Québec/French Canadian folk television show Soirée Canadienne and it's worth your time if you like the genre.

Bandcamp/PWYC

Vapeur – L'effort (2016)

A new project formed by 4 young musicians from Montréal, they share 3 members with Le Winston Band including Andrew Duquette-Boyte (guitar, vocals here, also in metal band Tribunal that I've reviewed some years ago) but it's a completely different beast. It's francophone rock with a strong emphasis on fast paced guitar riffs giving a dance rock feel to the songs. It reminds me of the early garage rock revival instigated by The Strokes or the dance indie of Franz Ferdinand. The 3 songs are well produced, the guitars are incisive and lovely as well, there's an urgency to their music and the flexible and airy production is really adequate. While the music is pretty damn good, the lyrics of Andrew were the clear highlights for me, they're intelligent without being pretentious.

À la vitesse sonore la vérité gravite autour . Tel un cercle de vautours vantera l'oreille d'un sourd 

It's international (in the best way possible) high caliber rock but there's still an interesting late 80s, early 90s Québec rock influence. A promising first offering from Vapeur, I hope that they'll play live soon!

Bandcamp/PWYC

Malajube – Trompe l'oeil (2006)

10 years anniversary observation

In my eyes and the eyes of many, this album is one of the most important Quebec rock records of recent times. I was 16 years old when it was released and it was an essential component of my musical diet back in the day and I've been revisiting it recently to celebrate its 10 years anniversary and it hasn't aged a day and I doubt it will ever become outdated. Anyhow, it made me realize how fast time flies, I still remember playing it to my dad in the car when I got the CD, it was a bit too insane for him!

The variety of Malajube's sophomore album (after the excellent Le compte complet released 2 years prior to this one) is astounding. From metallic rock like “Le crabe” to the poppy hit of “Montréal -40 C” with its glorious synths and the guest vocals of Pierre Lapointe, the ethereal and dramatic “Étienne d'août” or the contribution of local hip hop heroes Loco Locass on “La russe”, they do almost everything and they do it extremely well.

The vocals of Julien Mineau always made sure that the band never really became totally mainstream, like their lyrics (all about illnesses and the likes), they're peculiar and the fact that they're often buried under the instruments managed to get non-francophone medias interested in the bands despite the language barrier (Pitchfork wrote a positive review for the album as an example).

Malajube are now sadly split up or inactive, their 2 albums after Trompe l'oeil were good but they never managed to reach the same level of quality and groundbreaking emotional experimentation they did here. Mineau has a new more symphonic project called Fontarabie and they're also worth checking out.

Just like Karkwa's Les tremblements s'immobilisent, this album was highly influential on the Québec music scene and will be for years to come.

Local Sounds: Volume 5.0 - Poulet Neige 2015 Special

Poulet Neige is an awesome website that gives you a bunch of free (or pay what you can) albums from Quebec and Canadian bands for Christmas. It's unfortunately over for this year but be sure to keep in touch with them and register for the future edition. I got many albums thanks to this initiative and I've picked 4 of 'em for this volume. These bands all evolve in similar genres, blending indie, alternative, psychedelic rock and progressive rock together and they're all from the province of Québec and the Montréal area. 

Poulet Neige on Facebook

Uubbuurruu – Swamp Ritual (2015)

The debut EP by this Montréal quintet is quite cool. Due to the demented purple artwork, I was expeting some hard and heavy stoner metal but it's way more subdued than that. Dwelving into psychedelic rock, stoner rock, shoegaze and even blues rock, the band is definitely influenced by the excellent and popular british band Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats. They have the same sort of buried Beatles-esque vocals and super fuzzy riffs. While not totally metal, they deliver heavy tunes like the speedy “I Don't Mind” or the super psychedelic closer “Radio Waves”. With the track “Dear God”, they proved that they're also capable of writing excellent ethereal blues/folk as this song sounds like a mix of Dylan and My Bloody Valentine. Highly recommended extended play, the future is bright for these guys, you should learn how to pronounce and spell their name already.

Uubbuurruu on Bandcamp

Richelieu – Richelieu (2015)

The trio from Montréal released their debut full length this summer and while I totally love their musical abilities and the music created here, the vocals and lyrics weren't totally convincing. They're influenced by the old prog rock of Québec (see Harmonium or Octobre) but they also combine this with a singer songwriter approach and some indie leanings. I thought it was a bit kitsch but frankly it's hard to make the French language work in a rock setting, I can count on my two hands the artists I really like that use my mother tongue successfully (Alain Bashung being one of them).

It's a varied album, from rougher moments like “D'la scrap” and its garage rock feel to the soothing “Repos”. I think Richelieu is at their best when they're instrumentally minded and unleash their true prog rock side like on the Gentle Giant-esque instrumental track “Dernier tableau” where the guitarist David Chassé truly shines. The synths an mellotrons are sounding good and can recall Supertramp at times, it's a good album but there's some aspects I like more than others and I'd like to see some more of those proggy harsher explorations instead of pop songs but that's just me.

Richelieu on Bandcamp

Corridor – Le voyage éternel (2015)

After the excellent EP, “Un magicien en toi” released in 2013, Corridor released “Le voyage éternel”, their debut album, back in May. They play a vivid genre mixing jangle pop, psych/progressive rock and indie and it's super good! There's a lot of reverb in the vocals, a bit like Malajube used to do, this is one tactic to make French lyrics work in a rock environment, a recurring problem I've mentioned in the previous review. The highly layered vocals are creating a smooth and the duel guitars are often loud, juggling atmospheric riffs and cool bass licks. The musicianship is impressive but they keep things subtle, that's something that one of their main influence (R.E.M.) always did as well.

In the end, the songwriting is what matters the most and they truly deliver the goods. Corridor writes short song (for a psych/prog band...) but their compositions are rich, dense and rewarding. They convinced me with their unorthodox riffs by mixing a strange psych approach and an endearing romantic side. One of the best québécois albums of the year and it's much better than the last album by Tame Impala!

Corridor on Bandcamp

Renard Blanc – Empire Onirique (2015)

After Karkwa's impact on the Quebec music scene, it was logical to see bands follow their paths. Renard Blanc (white fox) is one of them. Hugely influenced by Radiohead's early stuff, the ten songs of this debut album are atmospheric proggy rock with layers upon layers of sounds. I really like the “La guerre des tuques” (a cult children movie) in “Doucement”, it was an original choice!

While it's usually a dark or introspective genre, this trio (with the help of a session keyboardist) are keeping things rooted in positivism but without being cheesy, overly sunny or saccharine. Their explorations are calm, often instrumental with interesting percussion and the Thom Yorke inspired vocals of guitarist Vincent Lepage. Certainly recommended for fans well written soothing alt rock.

Renard Blanc on Bandcamp

Corridor and Renard Blanc are playing with the excellent Ponctuation (another band I recently got into) in two weeks, I'll try to be there! Event: @Divan Orange

Stay tuned for a sixth volume of Local Sounds in the upcoming weeks.

Local Sounds: Volume 4.0

Christmas is near even if there's snow decorating the streets of Montréal and I felt it was time to deliver the fourth volume of this Local Sounds series. It's a series of short reviews about the best and most interesting non-metal music of Québec and its surroundings, sometimes it's artists in French, sometimes they sing in English but it's always meaningful and deep music. Also, I always try to focus on up and coming bands offering their music for free or pay what you can online. This edition has 4 unique projects all living in the province of Québec.







Le Pélican Noir - Le silence tendu au dessus de nos têtes comme un orage en suspens (2013)

The debut EP by this francophone collective is some sort of highly atmospheric instrumental indie rock/post with slight electronic touches. There's a lot of piano, accoustic guitars, synths, violin and a bunch of other weird instruments. They have the rich, entranced feel of Sigur Ros, the song “La quadrature du cercle” really reminded me of the renowned icelandic band with its subtle keys arrangements. Highly recommended release, it's relaxing in a strange way.

I'm excited to hear their 2015 record that I'll get on Christmas due to the very cool initiative of Poulet Neige. The platform is basically a bunch of local artists giving their music, you pick the number you want and you'll receive the files on the 25th.

More info here : POULET NEIGE

Free download : Le Pélican Noir on Bandcamp




Les Passagers – Le ciel est noir (2014)
Speaking of Poulet Neige, it's because of this website that I've discovered this next band! This quintet led by Andréanne Muzzo (vocals, synths) et Nicolas Ferron (guitars, synths) plays a form of ethereal indie pop with soft and cute vocals by Andréanne. The lyrics in French are lovely, poetic and full of imagery (especially “Acheter ta peau” or “Buy your skin”) but the band is never kitsch or too much despite the 80s synths influence. This will make you feel good in less twenty minutes. It's sunny but not overly so and fits all the seasons we can experience in Montréal.

Free download: Les Passagers on Bandcamp

Barricade – Rapide Sept (2015)
From Rouyn-Noranda (7 hours north of Montréal), this instrumental trio is quite interesting. They're groovy, atmospheric somewhat metallic post hardcore with a lot of feel and a solid, airy production. The songs, almost all titled with names like Tony, Max or Cindy are all quite short and never waste any time getting their point across, they're not a meandering band like many of the post-whatever acts we can encounter nowadays. They remind me a bit of Karma the Burn but without the stoner metal elements, just blistering instrumental energy thrown at you for a short while.

Free download: Barricade on Bandcamp



Nüshu – EP 2014

Sharing two members with Politess (a band featured on Local Sounds volume 3), this unisex project is also fairly weird. The noisy punky alt rock band has shouted, piercing vocals, flowing post punk riffs and groovy drumming. The lyrics in French are absurd or amusingly vulgar (like the surprinsingly aggressive song about the color blue). Fast paced blurbs of controlled insanity is what you'll find here and it's pretty enjoyable! This 10 minutes or so EP is promising and Nüshu is currently working on something new based on their Facebook page

Free download: Nushu on Bandcamp



Stay tuned for volume 5.0 due in early 2016!

Local Sounds: Volume 2.0

Here's the second volume of this series with five projects from the great city of Montréal. They're all widely different and that's a living proof of the quality of our music scene. I will not waste any time by talking about the weather or whatever, let's start with the first band!

Eliza - A Quit Smoking Soundtrack (2014)

This young Montreal band call their music « prog de casquette » or “hat prog” and while this is a weird description, it's oddly fitting. Their blend of super atmospheric and sad alternative rock certainly has progressive rock influences but the more ethereal ones. I was reminded of the Norwegian band Gaspacho a little since they both play this sort of adventurous but still accessible rock with superb, soaring clean vocals. It's romantic and the guitars are able to create these original yet familar melodies effortlessly. These Quebecois are one of the most promising bands in Montreal and hopefully their debut full length will live up to my expectations and by singing in English, Eliza can open the doors of interntational recognition a bit more easily, they're certainly quite talented and they deserve more admiration. I've missed one of their recent gigs with She Serpent (featured on Volume 1.0) and I feel bad about it.

Free download on Bandcamp

Carnior – Post-Sauce (2014)

Carnior are about to release their third extended play (and final one since they're breaking up) but this is one of their albums released last year. The instrumental quartet is quite interesting, they play an intriguing mix of neo progressive (think of The Flower Kings' love for Yes and Peter Gabriel era Genesis) with some post rock, some electro, some psychedelic, some experimental noise and a love of jazz technics. The bass is thick and heavy in the mix and the keyboard and pianos are really cool and in your face. The guitars are obviously influenced by Steve Hackett (one of the most underrated guitarists of his time) and are particularly juicy, check out the soloing midway through “Dark foncé (sul' sofa)”, it's super good. They'll play their last gig next week (September 23rd) and I'll try to attend!

Free download of Post-Sauce on Bandcamp

Basil Oussaint – Agile (2015)
This dude really managed to get me out of my comfort zone (outside of showcasing the best local music, this is certainly one of the purposes of this series) with this album. Agile, his sixth release overall, is a joyful and eccletic blend of pop, world music, electronic, house and synthpop and it's extraordinarly catchy. It's super sexy, the beats are awesome and his vocals and lyrics (all in French) are super attractive and corny in the best way possible. Basil has basically no internet presence outside of this Bandcamp page but fans of the great Philippe Katerine's most out there material will dig this record. Bonus point for having a cat on the cover art!

Free download on Bandcamp

Golden Python – Matt Damon vs. The World (2014)
Since I saw Team America in the theaters (damn, this was more than 10 years ago), the “MATT DAMON” joke has always been one of my favorite running gags so the title of this album by Golden Python got my attention. Their first EP is a fantastic experimental indie rock record with some math rock and screamo influences with fucked up lyrics. I was reminded of Modest Mouse a little mostly because of their unorthodox musicality and weird poetry. There's almost a video game music influence here but it's all played with the traditional rock instruments, the guitars are really playing these complex and strange melodies (check out “Flat Tree / Fat Tone”). Highly recommended for those who think indie rock is boring, this is far from being mundane.

Buy the EP on their Bandcamp

Growing Pains – Mood (2015)

Released back in June, this EP is simply a stunning piece of grungy power pop/punk/alternative rock and I can't get enough of it. It's very 90s and has the same mournful but uplifiting feel early Weezer had. It's all about being concise and punchy unlike some of the more intellectual and atmospheric picks of this Volume. I really like the four short pieces on “Mood”, especially the softer one “Paradox”. I want more of this! It's sweet nostalgic music, it's accesible, melodic but has enough power in the riffs to not be a sacharrine affair devoid of intellectual integrity like most of the mainstream pop punk projects.

Live with Pluum (featured on Volume 1.0), Golden Python and 2 other bands soon @Turbo Haus


Free download on Bandcamp

Bonfire Sessions Montréal: Half Moon Run + Young Galaxy & Young Rival

The event: http://jansportbonfiresessions.noisey.com/montreal.php

For something different than what I usually talk about, here's a live review of this awesome free event. I must say it was one of the best musical experience of my life and twinned with a beatiful sunny day, I had a lot of fun. The location was kept secret until our arrival and I was pleasantly surprised that it was in Old Terrebonne, a city on the North Shore of Montréal. The location was on island near the old watermill and it was very dreamy. I was with my friend Pascal (from Tribunal, reviewed here) and considering beer was free, it was orgasmic! The atmosphere was joyful and friendly and everyone (around 700 to 1000 people) were enjoying themselves. It was a park with lots of trees and the stage was very beautiful and cosy. The girls were pretty, the smores were tasty, the grass was green and the shades of the hipsters were reflecting the sun into our minds.

The first band was Young Rival from Hamilton, Ontario and they were pretty cool. They're a trio and play conventionnal indie rock with some surf rock and garage rock influences. They're catchy and the vocals are similar to Julian Casablancas from The Strokes, so lots of reverb. Good songs albeit a bit by the book.
http://www.youngrival.com/


The second band was Young Galaxy from Vancouver (yeah, they're both young bands!) and they were much better than the first one. The female singer with red hair had a really vibrant stage presence while the music was quite good. They're a new wave/electro pop band with lots of post punk and synth pop influences. The keyboardist played 2nd guitar often and they had an excellent bassist. Their atmosphere was fun and I was into their sound, all dressed in white they were classy and 80s as fuck. Cool discovery and they have a lot of albums to check out, their new one Ultramarine is nominated for the 2013 Polaris Prize!
http://younggalaxy.com/

And the band we were all waiting for, the new indie darlings of Montréal Half Moon Run. Formed in the Québec metropolis by Ontarians and British Columbians, this band is one of the most promising indie bands on the planet. With only 1 album under their belts, the young and charismatic guys offered a very great show and they played 3 new songs. Their brand of indie rock with many different influences ranging from dream pop to folk and country to electronica and post rock is very lovely and pleasing. A trio with a session multi instrumentalist dude, they have a real synergy and a lot of energy. Devon Portielje's voice is powerful and full of emotions and his guitar playing is exceptional. Combined with his brother in arms Connor Molander who plays keyboards and guitars and back/co lead vocals, they're in total symbiosis. The third member plays both drums and bass (keys) at the same time! They're very lush and the vocal lines are melodic and recalls Simon & Garfunkel at times.

A great band with an immense future ahead of them, can't wait to hear their new stuff! 
http://www.halfmoonrun.com/

Their setlist thanks to my friend Pascal: http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/half-moon-run/2013/ile-des-moulins-terrebonne-qc-canada-23c6b80f.html

Half Moon Run!