Montreal’s Eric Quach is turning his pseudonym and label into a very reliable outlet for genre-transgressive music. The label’s recent releases have included two excellent handmade EPs by Apillow (Below the Sea’s Patrick Lacharité) and the Sales Department (formerly Beef Terminal, MD Matheson). Quach’s music, released here by a Polish label, crosses boundaries where ambient guitar spills over into the world of doom/drone. Helping with the heavier lifting is guest Aidan Baker of Nadja, who adds portent to the opening track. The first four tracks work as an uninterrupted suite that undulates from the ominously shimmering hum of “Battlefield Arkestrah” through to “Warchitects,” where the drums are finally unleashed. The album’s second half lets a little more light in. “Death of Sailor” improvises watery travel around a slightly crippled guitar loop, while “The Great Escapist” features guest vocals by Meryem Yildiz, edging a too little closely to romantic metal territory, but without the synth or string section to truly wreck everything. Standout track “Mercenary Flags” imagines what Eluvium might sound like if more Jesu influence crept in. Definitely for fans of heavier ambience, Quach expertly avoids making an album from a single grey mood. (Foreshadow)
Arc -
Arkhangelsk 4257
Aidan Baker’s Nadja have been receiving more and more attention for their incredible fusion of metal, ambience and experimentation. Between his solo work and his doom-y Nadja project, Baker’s racked up well over 20 recordings in the last year. ARC, though, have been relatively less active. The “r”
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Shot x Shot -
Let Nature Square 2643
Philly’s Shot x Shot quartet delivered a striking debut a couple years back with their self-titled disc for High Two. Recorded in a hugely reverberant church, it showed the quartet reworking gritty free-bop into grandly overarching soundscapes. Their newest disc has more conventional acoustics but
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Scott Pilgrim may be targeting today's 20-something hipster, but the videogame-inspired book-turned-movie-turned-videogame franchise is embedded with references to creator Bryan Lee O'Malley's late '80s and early '90s youth.
So no surprise then that the game adaptation, which...Full Review
Ray LaMontagne & the Pariah Dogs - God Willin’ & the Creek Don’t 2272
As reticent as he can be, Ray LaMontagne has established himself over his previous three albums as one of the most compelling singer-songwriters in the world today. His country-tinged soul is often compared to Van Morrison's classic early work, something (as was the case with Morrison) that can be...
Full Review
The Sound Of The Drums
"Right now I am on a plane from Tokyo to London and I have no idea what day it is," says Jonathan Pierce, singer, songwriter and co-founder of the Drums. He and his band-mates have been forced to deal with a ridiculous level of demand as of late ― the kind of demand that fuels meltdowns, self-doubt and splits....
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Aidan Baker’s Nadja have been receiving more and more attention for their incredible fusion of metal, ambience and experimentation. Between his solo work and his doom-y Nadja project, Baker’s racked up well over 20 recordings in the last year. ARC, though, have been relatively less active. The “r”
...
Philly’s Shot x Shot quartet delivered a striking debut a couple years back with their self-titled disc for High Two. Recorded in a hugely reverberant church, it showed the quartet reworking gritty free-bop into grandly overarching soundscapes. Their newest disc has more conventional acoustics but
...
Scott Pilgrim may be targeting today's 20-something hipster, but the videogame-inspired book-turned-movie-turned-videogame franchise is embedded with references to creator Bryan Lee O'Malley's late '80s and early '90s youth.
As reticent as he can be, Ray LaMontagne has established himself over his previous three albums as one of the most compelling singer-songwriters in the world today. His country-tinged soul is often compared to Van Morrison's classic early work, something (as was the case with Morrison) that can be...
"Right now I am on a plane from Tokyo to London and I have no idea what day it is," says Jonathan Pierce, singer, songwriter and co-founder of the Drums. He and his band-mates have been forced to deal with a ridiculous level of demand as of late ― the kind of demand that fuels meltdowns, self-doubt and splits....
